Welcome to the quarterly MOBI newsletter for Summer 2022.  Each quarter we reach out to our alumni and readers to share important highlights from Santa Clara University’s MOBI program.  We hope you will enjoy these updates and continue your relationship with MOBI on your path toward entrepreneurship!

Feel free to opt-out of this newsletter by clicking the unsubscribe link at the bottom.  To read this newsletter in Spanish, please click here.

Thank you from MOBI!

MOBI has completed a research project examining factors that impact the economic success of Latino-owned small businesses in Silicon Valley to learn how policies and programs can best support this important segment of the economy. MOBI Executive Director and Leavey School of Business Professor of Information Systems and Analytics Drew Starbird, Ph.D. led the study assisted by Yacanex Business Group and funded by a grant from the Ciocca Center at Santa Clara University. The research and findings were summarized in a paper entitled, “The Impact of Formality, Integration, and Commitment on the Performance of Latino-Owned Small Businesses,” which was published as the September 22 cover story by Administrative Sciences, an international peer-reviewed open access journal published by MDPI (Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute). 

Photo courtesy of Yacanex Business Group, featuring client Yolanda Gomez, new owner of the City Diner, pictured with her husband.

The Minority Business Development Agency’s San José MBDA Business Center, operated by ASIAN, Inc. is leveraging its partnership with MOBI to help minority business owners pursue funding opportunities through the State of California’s Dream Fund, a Covid-19 relief program to support entrepreneurship in the state. San José MBDA/ASIAN, Inc., is one of the participating centers selected to provide the entrepreneurship training required in order to apply for grant funds through the Dream Fund program. San José MBDA/ASIAN, Inc. utilizes MOBI’s curriculum in its program, and translated the material into Chinese to provide greater accessibility for its participants. 

Read MOBI’s recent blog post to learn more about San José MBDA/ASIAN, Inc.’s program and meet two participants who have received funding, including WHIRED Wine Window of Sacramento, pictured above. (Photos from WHIRED Wine Window's website and social media.)

MOBI partners are an important part of the MOBI program!  By forming partnerships with diverse communities of students around the world, MOBI can inspire entrepreneurship in ways that best meet the specific opportunities of each group, and always for free. This quarter we feature the Wise County Office of Economic & Industrial Development in Virginia. MOBI spoke with Wise County Economic Development Supervisor Natalie Chapman to learn more.

The mission of the Wise County Office of Economic and Industrial Development (Virginia) is to increase economic opportunity and quality of life for Wise County citizens by assisting in the development, retention, and expansion efforts of businesses large and small. The pandemic sparked a downtown revival of small business in rural southwest Virginia, and inspired new entrepreneurs to invest in their communities. Wise County seeks to build on this momentum by offering resources, information, and educational tools to equip business owners for success through its new Small Biz Basics program featuring a customized version of MOBI’s Starting a Business course.

Why you chose MOBI?  Our target audience for the MOBI curriculum is new and expanding entrepreneurs in Wise County who need an easily accessible and flexibly formatted program. While other entrepreneurship resources and training programs exist in the area, they can be restrictive in that they occur in a fixed location and schedule. MOBI gave us the curriculum, flexibility, and accessibility we needed to offer Small Biz Basics as a convenient online and self-paced entrepreneurship training program for our growing entrepreneurial community.

How is MOBI making a difference for your students?  The Small Biz Basics program offered with MOBI’s curriculum provides students with the knowledge and tools but also the confidence to successfully open or expand a small business in their hometown.

Anything else?  The adoption of the MOBI program is a powerful addition to our toolbelt and helps us better serve our business community. Previously, our office made referrals to outside entities who offered resources and programming beyond our scope, and with MOBI we’ve been able to grow our own services and assist more businesses in-house.

Do you know an organization or school that might be interested in partnering with MOBI?

The past few months gave us several reasons to celebrate!

MOBI highlights one theme every week on our social media platforms.  We post blogs, videos, lists, and articles on a variety of topics relevant for aspiring entrepreneurs.  Based upon reader activity, here are some top stories from the past quarter. 

We wish you good health and all the best in business success!

The MOBI Team