Camino Al Éxito: Expanding Opportunity For Spanish-Speaking Entrepreneurs

On April 2, 2025, the Grand Junction Business Incubator Center (BIC) launched a new initiative called Camino al Éxito, or “Path to Success.” The program expands existing services and materials to include Spanish-language coaching and support, aiming to better reach and assist entrepreneurs whose first language is Spanish.

According to Chief Executive Officer Dalida Sassoon Bollig, BIC previously offered Spanish-speaking staff and resources in Spanish, including curricula, access to statewide Small Business Development Center (SBDC) classes and flyers. However, with Camino al Éxito, the center is providing dedicated learning and meeting space and working to ensure its existing services are accessible in Spanish. The goal is to attract and assist entrepreneurs from the 14.5% of Spanish-speaking households in Mesa County by offering additional support and resources.

“This is essential for our community. We want our community to be diversified and strong economically,” says Sassoon Bollig. “Every entrepreneur needs skills to make this happen, and by supporting Spanish speakers, BIC helps stimulate the local economy with job creation and sustainable business practices.”

Sonia Guiterrez and her brothers, Jose R. Gutierrez and Sergio Gutierrez, of Sierra Concrete Company. Photo courtesy of Sierra Concrete Company.

COMMUNITY-DRIVEN INSPIRATION

The inspiration behind Camino al Éxito came from two local businesspeople, Sonia Gutierrez and Eric Gil. Both were raised in bilingual households and recognize that learning in one’s native language aids in understanding, retention and, ultimately, success — even if your business operates entirely in English.

Gutierrez saw the importance of this firsthand, as her parents founded and operated a tortilla factory for two decades. “My dad, my family, they’re entrepreneurs. That’s what I grew up with and my dad is a very stubborn man — thank goodness — or he wouldn’t have had the success he did with his businesses,” explains Gutierrez, noting that her father spoke English “very well,” but still had difficulty navigating the business world.

When Gutierrez and her brothers opened Sierra Concrete Company in Grand Junction six years ago, they followed in their parents’ footsteps, becoming entrepreneurs themselves.

“It wasn’t until after we started Sierra Concrete that I learned about the Business Incubator Center,” shares Gutierrez, who is now one of 14 local business leaders serving on the BIC board of directors. “I did not know about all of the programs, and I wish I would have,” she says, explaining that she believes BIC services can useful to all business owners, no matter where they are in their entrepreneurial journey.

Strong Branch Learning SAT practice exam group show their positive attitude. Photo courtesy of Strong Branch Learning.

SUPPORT AT EVERY STEP

Gil arrived in the Grand Valley from Los Angeles in 2021 and established Strong Branch Learning, a tutoring and academic support business. Gil had previously been a public school teacher who tutored on the side. Upon arrival in the Grand Valley, he quickly availed himself of numerous business-support resources, including local chambers of commerce and BIC.

“I’ve utilized the Business Incubator services. Everything that they’ve offered, I’ve pretty much leveraged,” Gil explains, calling out BIC’s Leading Edge program, which helped him review and refine his business plan and practices, including accounting, bookkeeping, insurance liability and more. “It’s good to go over that again and make sure you have your head in the right place,” he shares.

With this positive firsthand experience, he was thrilled when Gutierrez asked him to help establish Camino al Éxito. “Sonia started with a kernel of an idea — the idea of growing the education piece at BIC to help business owners in the Spanish-speaking community,” says Gil. He believes that mentoring is one of the most valuable services he received from BIC, and is gratified that Spanish-language mentoring will be an important component of Camino al Éxito.

Reflecting on the importance of Camino al Éxito, Mike Ritter, the BIC’s economic development director, highlights the center’s mission “to support the launch, growth and stabilization of business enterprises.” Ritter adds that this “means a variety of different things for a variety of different people. But fundamentally, it’s that we can support you in the business side of your business, and that comes so much more easily when you can get support in your native language.”

Established in 1986, BIC offers a staggering array of business support programs. Ritter proudly shares that in 2024 BIC was ranked the “second-best incubator in the world” by the International Business Innovation Association (InBIA).

Every BIC program aligns with at least one of four organizational pillars: innovation; space and tools; funding and incentives; and mentorship and coaching. The programs housed at BIC include the regional SBDC, the Incubator Intensive Program, the Commercial Kitchen Program, the Mesa County Enterprise Zone, the Mesa County Business Loan Fund, GJ MakerSpace, F-Works Coworking Space, a regional Circular Economy Development Center office, the Workforce Innovation Project, AgriWest and Strategic Planning for Nonprofits.

Sonia Gutierrez, Eric Gil, Dalida Sassoon Bollig, Mandy DeCino. Photo courtesy of the Business Incubator Center.

CONNECTING + GROWING TOGETHER

Only a few months in, Gutierrez shares that business people are signing up for Camino al Éxito’s Spanish-language assistance and that she is currently acting as a mentor for a client, helping them “navigate some obstacles.”

Gutierrez adds that a top priority for Camino al Éxito is networking and spreading the word that Spanish-language services are available at BIC in a comfortable, dedicated setting where entrepreneurs can take classes, meet with mentors and connect with one another.

Gutierrez believes that the ideal clients for Camino al Éxito are people who want to start a business or are looking to expand an existing business. As the program becomes better known, she envisions a system of cohorts, groups of approximately 10 entrepreneurs at a time, who will go through a Spanish-language business development program together, with additional one-on-one advising provided as needed.

Mandy DeCino, SBDC program director at BIC, connects clients to Spanish-language educational resources at the state level and has been involved in building out Gutierrez’s and Gil’s vision. She is excited about Camino al Éxito’s prospects, especially BIC’s ability to respond to a client’s diverse needs in both English and Spanish.

“We won’t know what people need until they come to us and we ask specific questions,” says DeCino. “Then we can say ‘Oh, we need to guide you in this direction.’ That’s part of the beauty of us being who we are. We can pivot and change and identify what you need, and then find the resources to make it happen.”

If you are interested in learning more about Camino al Éxito and the Grand Junction Business Incubator, visit gjincubator.org.

Originally published in the fall 2025 issue of Spoke+Blossom.