GOED joins Suazo aiding minority communities

The Utah Governor’s Office of Economic Development (GOED) has announced a partnership with the Suazo Business Center to provide education, outreach and consulting services to Utah’s ethnic and minority communities. The Suazo Business Center has strong ties to Utah’s ethnic and minority communities and will use those ties in partnership with the Business Services team at GOED to help minority-owned businesses recover from the coronavirus pandemic, GOED said.

“Our agency is proud to announce this partnership with the Suazo Business Center to provide more support for Utah’s minority-owned businesses,” said Ryan Starks, GOED’s managing director of business services. “This partnership is one we hope Utah’s business community will take advantage of.”

Utah’s minority business community represents a significant portion of the state’s underserved population, Starks said. It is responsible for contributing hundreds of thousands of dollars to the state’s overall economy, and this contract with the Suazo Business Center helps ensure their voices are heard.

GOED received a legislative allocation of $90,000 in federal CARES Act monies to fund the Suazo Business Center’s outreach services to this historically underserved community through Dec. 30. The Suazo Business Center services will include webinars, blog posts, media interviews, translation services and general outreach and education to Utah’s minority business communities.

“We’re excited to partner with GOED as a community partner to provide support to Utah’s minority-owned businesses,” said Silvia Castro, executive director of the Suazo Business Center. “Because of the work we have been doing since 2002, we have strong ties to our community’s ethnic and minority groups. Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, we have become very familiar with various federal, state and local government programs and services available to these businesses and their owners. We look forward to uniting with GOED to serve these communities we know to be essential to the economies of our local cities and the state of Utah.”

Established in 2002, the Suazo Business Center is a business resource committed to the development and empowerment of the Latino/Hispanic and other underserved communities. It provides training, advising and resources to break cycles of poverty, build wealth and promote self-reliance.