NAMPA, Idaho — Mari Ramos and the Idaho Hispanic Foundation cut the ribbon as the first major tenant of the Idaho Hispanic Community Center since the City of Nampa took control of the facility in October of 2023.
- The IHF is one of 43 organizations across the country that's been awarded funding from the federal Minority Business Development Agency.
- Like the IH2C, the IHF is also experiencing a comeback.
- Wells Fargo was on hand to donate $25,000 to the IHF.
(Below is the transcript from the broadcast story)
Mari Ramos and the Idaho Hispanic Foundation have been in the Idaho Hispanic Community Center since February, helping Hispanics in the community become entrepreneurs.
Thursday, they cut the ribbon on their grand opening. The IHF is one of 43 organizations awarded funding throughout the country from the federal Minority Business Development Agency. Through the MBDA program, the Idaho Hispanic Foundation is enhancing its small business development program, aimed at unlocking potential for Hispanic entrepreneurs
"We have literally taken somebody from being in their car living in their car to owning a thriving business and now working on home ownership," Ramos says.
Since October of 2023 the Idaho Hispanic Community Center has had a rough road. The previous tenants were evicted, and the city took the building back over in 2023. During that time, the IHF experienced a comeback and so did the IH2C.
"The Idaho Hispanic Foundation has been around since 2018, but it really started to disappear. All the other programs had dissolved so the IH2C was the perfect place to do [this] because it was already seen as a safe place. It was already seen as a place for the Hispanic community to go to," Ramos adds.
The IHF and IH2C are now looking forward to an optimistic future together, and the Idaho Hispanic Chamber of Commerce shares the same sentiment.
"It's very needed in the community because there's a lot of Hispanic entrepreneurs that do not know how to run a business. And the fact that we are trying to reach out to them to teach them, given the right tools to get the job done, is actually a great thing," Ivan Melendez of the Idaho Hispanic Chamber of Commerce said.
