City of Austin's DECA Alliance hosts its first small business summit

AUSTIN (KXAN) — An alliance that sets out to provide opportunities and resources for minority communities in Austin, was able to put its partnership to the test in a big way.

The Diversity Ethnic Alliance (DECA), hosted its first small business opportunity summit through the City of Austin's Economic Development Department on Wednesday.

The chambers wanted to bring together diverse business professionals to network.

"We have four pillars that we're representing today, technical assistance, access to capital, workforce development, and certification and procurement, all opportunities that are going to help them grow," Katherine Sobel, program manager for the Small Business Division with the City of Austin's Economic Development Department said.

There are people here who are considered experts on a range of topics, helping out with information regarding city contracts, certifications, technical assistance, budgets, capital funding and recruiting.

All of this is meant to help businesses invest back into minority communities, so they can stay and thrive in Austin.

“A lot of times, minority communities have disadvantages that they have to contend with and face, and as a community, we need to make sure that we try to remove those barriers so that they can succeed and prosper," Monica Muñoz Andry, CEO of Greater Austin Hispanic Chamber of Commerce said.

According to DECA, over 200 people actually registered for the event.

“We just want to add water and do it again, hopefully bigger and better the next time around," Sobel said.