Turnaround Entrepreneurship Program Celebrates Graduation

Turnaround Entrepreneurship Program Celebrates Graduation

By: Andrea Sidlauskas

The stigma faced by those who have been previously incarcerated oftentimes causes barriers for starting anew. But eight individuals this year, and 19 overall, have participated in the Turnaround Entrepreneurship Program (TEP) to overcome those obstacles.

TEP GRADUATES: From left, Marcus Wilhite, Richard Presley, Alphise Washington, Shante Delgado, Robert Green, and Anthony Graves celebrate their completion of the Turnaround Entrepreneurship Program. Not pictured are Darian Ansari and Otha Norton.

TEP, administered by the Office of Business Opportunity with support from Houston’s Complete Communities and the Houston Health Department’s Community ReEntry Network Program, was founded in 2019 as part of Mayor Sylvester Turner’s Turnaround Houston initiative, which was created to assist Houstonians overcome barriers to employment. There have been three cohorts since the program’s inception.

GRADUATION CELEBRATION: Richard Presley, a 2023 TEP grad, said financial mentorship was one of the biggest things he recieved through the program.

TEP teaches previously incarcerated individuals how to start and operate their own business by providing entrepreneurship resources, mentorship, and education throughout a 10-week course.

During the program, participants create a viable business plan and are given the knowledge and guidance needed to reach their small business goals with the assistance of SCORE Houston mentors. They also receive 1-1 financial mentorship from The BridgePath in efforts to increase their financial literacy and build their business credit for better access to capital.

This year’s cohort completed the program on March 30 at ImpactHUB Houston. At the event, each had the opportunity to speak about their business plan.

Richard Presley, a 2023 grad, said he had been in business before participating in the program. Even though he has small business experience, he said he gained insightful knowledge from the SCORE and BridgePath mentors.

“My degree is in business management,” Presley said. “In college you learn a lot of things, but when you actually start out doing your business none of that really applies. One of the biggest things I learned in TEP was the finances. I don’t care what kind of degree you have or what you know about business, if you don’t have your finances together, you’re going to fail.”

TEP not only imparts knowledge and resources to participants, but it also affords them the opportunity to overcome the stigma of being incarcerated. Many participants said they decided to start their own business because they had been unable to get or keep a job.

Robert Green, another TEP graduate and owner of XLR8 Pressure Washing Service, LLC, said he found it challenging to come out of the criminal justice system and find a job with a decent wage to provide for himself and his family.

“With me having a criminal history, one thing that I’ve noticed is that jobs would deter me from employment,” Green said. “But whenever I started to seek jobs on my own from the services that I provided, the majority of the people that I ever had an encounter with didn’t care about my criminal background.” During graduation, Presley presented his appraisal company, stating that he truly enjoys real estate.

“Purchasing a home is one of your biggest purchases as an adult, and I actually found out I really enjoy helping people, getting them to the closing, working with them through the process and seeing them happy,” Presley said. “It’s the American dream, everybody wants to have a home. And I found out I loved it.”

Green’s power washing service has operated for two years, and he has inspiring goals for the future of his LLC. “I want to grow my company to the point where I can become a second-chance employment company,” Green said. “That will allow for me to be able to put people immediately straight to work coming out of incarceration to where they would be able to make a decent wage. If they develop a passion within the pressure washing industry, then I’ll be able to help in guiding them into becoming an entrepreneur themselves.”

After ten weeks of hard work, commitment and many learning lessons, the eight graduates gained the tools necessary for their business to prosper, as well as resources to utilize in the future if necessary.

“I dedicated so many hours in order to be able to craft that business plan,” Green said. “But I believe that when you become an entrepreneur, you have to find something you enjoy doing so much that you’ll do it for free. And whenever you do, that allows for you to wake up everyday and be a contributing player within the community and enhance the community, keep the community clean, and keep the community safe.”

For more information about applying for the next Turnaround Houston Entrepreneurship program, contact Jessica.DelGreco@houstontx.gov. Applications are set to open in the Fall.