The Jefferson County Commission on Thursday is set to provide $200,000 to a pair of organizations to bolster small businesses in the county. (Update. The commission did pass these appropriations 4.25.24.)

Central Alabama Redevelopment Alliance and Hispanic Interest Coalition of Alabama each is in line for $100,000 to aid with innovation, economic development and building a strong workforce to support the growth and development of Jefferson County.

Jeff Traywick, economic development professional in the county manager’s office, said Tuesday that the commission decided a while back to allocate as much as 10% of the economic development fund to help organizations that are performing work that contributes to the county’s goals for economic development.

“They’re doing things that we necessarily don’t want to take on, things like small business advisory services,” Traywick said. “The proposals we had today are both one-year proposals for funding for both organizations with the goal of providing those services to startups.”

The commission discussed the proposals during its committee meeting Tuesday and will take them up officially during Thursday’s meeting, which is being held in Bessemer.

Each organization addresses questions such as: How do I develop a business plan? How does a business handle its accounting? Who’s a good business attorney that I need to be talking with? Who’s the accountant that I might need to be talking with?

Traywick said CARA and HICA offer similar assistance to companies but they differ.

“CARA does a lot of localized seminars or training sessions for businesses,” he said. “They might team up with the Bessemer incubator system and host business seminars there. They might team up with the Trussville Chamber and do something there. They’ve got these seven locations kind of set up around the county.”

HICA is headquartered in Homewood, but its reach extends throughout Jefferson County and beyond. HICA CEO Carlos Alemán attended the commission’s committee meeting Tuesday.

“We are fortunate enough to know that there are folks who come to this country looking for great opportunities and contribute to their communities,” Alemán said. “We believe that entrepreneurship is the greatest tool for that. We are grateful that the county also agrees that supporting Latino- and immigrant-owned businesses is also vital for the community.

“Really, anyone who lives in these (surrounding) counties can approach HICA (for) support and apply for loans as well as receive technical assistance for small business development,” the CEO said.

Despite its name, HICA goes beyond the Hispanic community to aid a lot of recent immigrant communities.

“One of the things I really like about them (HICA) is they work with a lot of these cash-based businesses to get them legal, get business licenses in place and all that other stuff,” Traywick said. “Both of them were focused on that sort of startup and early growth phase for companies and allows them to expand their services in the county.”

The county development professional estimates that between the two organizations, a little more than 100 jobs can be created by the firms they’re assisting.

“We think this will help position a lot of those companies they work with (to have) more long-term growth,” he said. “Half of all small businesses fail by the end of year six. A lot of that is due to a lack of resources and a lack of understanding on how to run a business.”

Aside from being a certified community economic development organization, Traywick said, HICA also manages a loan fund.

“I think since 2019, they’ve lent out about $550,000 to small businesses with a 0% default rate,” he said. “They’re on top of their game. Both organizations really are.”