The Program
The Fuerza Local Business Accelerator program is a six-month program designed to teach underserved micro-entrepreneurs important basics for financial literacy and business development. Participants attend weekly classes on a variety of topics including marketing, business planning, cash flow management, and many more. Participants also gain critical financial knowledge. During the program, students are encouraged to save $1,000 in their business accounts for the duration of the program.
Their savings is then matched by a scholarship from the Local First Arizona Foundation. Each graduate is offered the opportunity to access credit at fair market rates through several partnering financial institutions in lieu of any previous credit history.
Local First Arizona launched the Fuerza Local Business Accelerator in 2013 as a direct response to the influx of predatory lenders that target low-income Latinos who often lack financial literacy and access to resources that help build thriving businesses.
Investing in underserved communities through entrepreneurship is a successful strategy that in just four years has seen incredible job creation and business expansion, along with a reduction in reliance on social services. Creating opportunities for small business development in low-income communities helps build an Arizona we are proud to call home.
Fuerza Local is now accepting applications for Metro Phoenix, Tucson and Rural.
Program Alumni
MIRNA COTE, ESCUELA DE ELECTRICIDAD AUTOMOTRIZ
“The Local First Arizona Foundation has given me a platform that has facilitated my growth as a mom, wife, and now as an entrepreneur.”
FRANCISCO ALDACO, PONCH CUSTOM TEES
“For someone that didn’t go to college, a lot of people looked at me as if I wasn’t ever going to become anything. There’s no greater feeling than having your own business. For that, I’m thankful for Fuerza Local and the Local First Arizona Foundation.”
BERNI REINA, COLADOS COFFEE & CREPES
“The Business Accelerator helped us tremendously. We started from zero, but little by little, we obtained valuable tools from those 12 courses. Fuerza Local was an incredible tool that helped me grow as a new entrepreneur.”
MIGDALIA MORALES, MIG 'N MAIDS
“Fuerza Local helped give us the support to grow our businesses. In America, anything is possible no matter where you come from, no matter how limited your English. It doesn't stop me, we can achieve whatever we want.”
ALL ABOUT U HAIR & NAILS
INNER SHOT
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Pay It Forward
The Fuerza Local Business Accelerator features amazing graduates from around Arizona. These small businesses have created nearly 1,160 new jobs, and they add to the economic and cultural landscape of our communities.
If you are a Fuerza Local graduate, we ask you to help pay it forward so that another entrepreneur like you can experience the same opportunities that you have!
Contribute something meaningful to you- and remember that every dollar counts toward building another great company in Arizona!