City Workforce Investments Support Creation of Small Businesses
Published on February 25, 2025
Second Workforce Week event focuses on entrepreneurship program for immigrants
Mayor Leirion Gaylor Baird today said the City’s recent strategic investment of American Rescue Plan Act funds (ARPA) in an entrepreneurial training program for Lincoln refugees and immigrant women has helped them start businesses and contribute to the economic prosperity of the community.
“We deliberately allocated the largest share of our American Rescue Plan Act funds on workforce initiatives that help remove barriers to economic opportunity and that support the prosperity of Lincoln’s businesses, workers, and entrepreneurs,” Mayor Gaylor Baird said. “By empowering immigrant and refugee women entrepreneurs to launch their small businesses, we help ensure everyone in Lincoln has the opportunity to contribute to our local economy and create economic security for themselves and their families.”
The second Workforce Week event focused on the City’s support of the Empowering Communities through Her Opportunities (ECHO) program, which provides an intensive, four-month business education course for multiple cohorts of local refugee and immigrant women.
Joining Mayor Gaylor Baird at the news conference were Kelly Ross, ECHO Founder and Executive Director; Cheryl Horst, ECHO Board Vice Chair; and Heidi Martinez-Reyes, Kuro Neko Desserts Owner.
In 2024, the City awarded ECHO $200,000 in ARPA funds to support 22 participants, five of which graduated in a recent cohort. In partnership with American Job Center, the entrepreneurship program helps the participants design a business plan and learn from a variety of speakers on how to format, market, financially plan, and eventually start a business.
Ross said that the refugee and immigrant women who sell products at the collective’s cooperative store, Refined & Co., 2124 “Y” St., Suite 106, significantly impact Lincoln’s economy by creating jobs, paying taxes, expanding consumer choices and fueling economic growth.
“When you shop here, or support businesses like Kuro Neko, you’re investing in Lincoln’s future – keeping dollars in our community and strengthening the good life. Together we’re building a stronger, more prosperous Lincoln,” Ross said.
Reyes said that being an ECHO Collective graduate helped her make connections with other small business-owning women who offered inspiration and support.
“The knowledge I have gained has really helped me propel my business forward,” Reyes said.
Tuesday’s news conference was the second in a series of four Workforce Week events February 24 through 27. Each day Mayor Gaylor Baird and community partners will highlight how the City workforce investments are delivering results that support residents’ financial security, make life more affordable, and create economic opportunity into the future.
Visit lincoln.ne.gov/WorkDevProgram for more information on the $12 million in workforce development program grants awarded to nine non-profit organizations in Lincoln.