Winter 2021 | Insights to Opportunity
www.houstontx.gov/obo | Page 6
TEP Program Celebrates ‘Successful Six’ Entrepreneurs By: Damita Roberts
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fter nearly four months of virtual training, mentorship and camaraderie, six aspiring business owners – Preston Dillard, Michelle Freytag, Tommy German, Jr., Norman Harris, Sarah Mabry, and Quincy Moore – celebrated their graduation from the 2021 Turnaround Entrepreneurship Program (TEP), held Sept. 1 at Hilton University of Houston. Part of Mayor Sylvester Turner’s Turnaround Houston initiative, TEP aims to assist Houstonians touched by the criminal justice system start their own businesses and increase their credit scores for better access to capital. The program, established in 2019, was put on hold in 2020 due to COVID-19. This year, TEP returned in a virtual format thanks to partners and sponsors including Capital One Bank, Cadence Bank, the City of Houston Health Department and the Mayor’s Office of Complete Communities. Through a video message delivered at graduation, Mayor Turner expressed his pride in the graduates and acknowledged their contributions to the community. “I am truly proud of all of you, as I have been proud of the Turnaround Entrepreneurship Program since it first started,” he said. “Entrepreneurs like you are the heart and soul of our local economy. Your businesses will provide “Entrepreneurs like you are the heart and soul of our local economy.“ Mayor Sylvester Turner
essential services to our neighborhoods, they will create more jobs, and they will increase community wealth.” Held over 14 weeks, TEP included online evening classes with industry experts from SCORE Houston, Cadence Bank, Epic Collaborative Advisors, Joseph Consulting Firm, LiftFund, The BridgePath, and the U.S. Small Business Administration. The program’s curriculum focused on components of a business plan: business foundations; legal structure; products
OUT IN THE COMMUNITY: TEP graduates attend community event in Third Ward. Pictured from left: Preston Dillard, former City of Houston Councilwoman Jalonda Jones, Mayor Sylvester Turner, Quincy Moore, and Kenny Hill.
and services; market analysis; strategy and organizational management; financial planning and projections; and implementation. With each session, the cohort elevated their knowledge of business foundations and how operational principles affect all aspects of their business plans. They also developed their own business ideas and created business plans on the Live Plan platform. Participants also developed planning strategies and branding concepts, and improved their technical skills using planning applications such as Canvas, and online platforms such as Microsoft Office and Microsoft Teams. TEP also covered communication, writing, presentation, and networking, as well as financial counseling from The BridgePath. These counseling sessions provided individual consultations and custom credit rebuilding plans. Upon graduation, participants received certificates of completion and a curated business kit to help their business operations, which included a laptop, business supplies and a stipend to help with the formation costs of their businesses with the Texas Secretary of State.
Learn More About the Successful Six Preston Dillard Effective Revisions is a program designed to improve outcomes for individuals with co-occurring substance abuse and mental health disorders through the provision of appropriate evidence-based services. This includes addressing the individual’s criminogenic needs, and is based on a reentry plan that relies on a risk and needs assessment that reflects the risk of recidivism for that individual.
Norman Harris Promise Land Resources offers a Reentry Masterclass to returning citizens, equipping them with self-empowerment tools to successfully reenter society while Go to TEP, page 7
