Emprende

The City of Little Rock’s Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion is partnering with the Department of Finance to offer Emprende as a pathway of BUILD Academy. Emprende is a comprehensive educational program that offers Little Rock’s Spanish-speaking entrepreneurs a series of free classes on establishing, managing, and growing a business.

Emprende is the only program of its kind in Little Rock. With a focus on the construction, professional services, landscaping, janitorial, food services, and real estate and housing industries, this comprehensive cohort-based program provides small businesses with the knowledge, resources, and connections to do business with the City of Little Rock. Emprende bridges access and opportunity, ensuring that our Spanish-speaking community is fully included in—and contributing to—Little Rock’s economy. 

The program provides information about types of business entities; finances and access to capital; taxes, licenses and permits; insurance; networking; customer service; marketing; and doing business with the City of Little Rock. 

Since launching the program in 2022, our team has hosted four cohorts, dedicating over 76 hours of training to empower 121 participants, 80% of whom graduated after completing 85% of coursework. We registered 19 businesses as new City suppliers in 2024, and we've seen a 22% increase in business-to-business networking. A recent survey of past Emprende participants reveals 76% of respondents increased their business income following the program. Half were able to hire additional part-time employees, and nearly one-third hired additional full-time staff. There is also some evidence the program is increasing access to capital.

Thank you to our 2025 Emprende sponsors!