Senator Cortez Masto and Isabel Casillas Guzman, Administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration visited three local small businesses. La Vencindad Cantina, owners Vanessa Barreat and her husband, Raúl Martinez, also a family operated business like so many others across the country, help contribute to the local economy and make a difference in the community in Las Vegas, Nevada on Friday, June 28, 2024.
Tuesday, July 2, 2024 | 2 a.m.
Vanessa Barreat, originally from Puerto Ordaz, Venezuela, opened La Vecindad with her husband in 2018. The Las Vegas-based authentic Mexican restaurant quickly sprung to success, and the couple recently opened a second location: La Vecindad Cantina on Sahara Avenue.
The site for the cantina was purchased through a loan from the U.S. Small Business Administration, which paid a visit to Barreat and her business last week. SBA Administrator Isabella Casillas Guzman and U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., both chatted with the owners in the colorful dining room, calling the food “delicious” and asking Barreat questions.
“It’s not easy for us wanting to start a business,” she told them, her emotions at one point overwhelming her to the point of tears.
She’s proud of the way her family business has expanded, Barreat told the Sun, pointing specifically to the number of jobs it’s created for the community. She expressed her gratitude for both the support of patrons and entities like the SBA.
“The tools are there,” she said. “The information is there. I think a lot of people — entrepreneurs — they don’t succeed, because they don’t know we can access all this help right there. And I’m proud to say that I was able to look for help, because it’s a learning process, and it was there. I was able to get it and I’ve been learning a lot as an entrepreneur, and I want to just keep growing my business.”
Guzman’s drop-by at La Vecindad Cantina was her first stop on the SBA’s nationwide “Small Business Boom Tour,” which launched Friday in Las Vegas, where Guzman — joined by Cortez Masto — also visited Artkore Printing & Signs, a Latino- and family-owned company, and RenuOil, a massive Latina-owned recycling enterprise.
Asked why she chose to kick off the SBA’s tour in Las Vegas, Guzman noted that there had been a huge boom of new business applications in Nevada, some “incredible innovation,” as well as some infrastructure being rebuilt — the latter of which she attributed to Cortez Masto.
“And those are opportunities for small businesses, as well — revenue-growth opportunities,” Guzman said. “And so, as those dollars come into the state, we want to make sure small businesses are part of that opportunity.”
There’s great opportunity on the horizon for the pursuit of small businesses, she emphasized, pointing to job creation, restoration and support of American industry and a future clean-energy economy, as examples. She also noted the significance of existing small businesses that have survived hardship through government funding and other resources.
“You see it in the vision of the second (generation), that’s starting to come into the family business and help to continue the legacy and build up the tradition,” Guzman said of the hope in small business, speaking at Artkore, where her entourage was greeted by the family behind the business. “And I know that as we travel around the country, we see similar examples.”
Cortez Masto lauded the Biden-Harris administration not only for its support of small businesses following the adverse challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, but also its efforts at outreach and education to ensure that entrepreneurs are aware of the opportunities available to them to succeed.
“Especially here in Las Vegas, the Strip being shut down was something unique,” she said. “Everything was shut down. Businesses, small businesses — which are the backbone for industry — everything here. They were struggling. And so, part of that was ensuring that, as we open those doors again, we’re helping the small businesses thrive.”
Sophia Salas Del Pozo seemed to agree, telling the Sun how important government support of small business can be to integrate community, and how it’s equally important for entrepreneurs to be aware of the opportunities available for grants and loans.
Del Pozo, chief marketing officer and general counsel at RenuOil, stepped in alongside the rest of her family to help lead the company, after the death of her father, who founded the business, more than 15 years ago
RenuOil, which does on-site sorting of recycling for many Las Vegas hotels and casinos, originally sold its services to businesses through an asset-recovery program, in which its employees would separate glassware or other hotel property that was accidentally thrown away, sanitize and then return it, Del Pozo said.
Now, it’s grown to be a source of sustainable practices for many of its partners.
During a tour of the RenuOil’s facility by Guzman and Cortez Masto, which included a visual display of just how many pounds of recycling the company deals with each week — from plastic bottles to bags and more — Del Pozo talked about how the company helped convert discarded recycling to biofuel, fertilizer and more.
And, though the pandemic may have thrown a curveball at RenuOil, Del Pozo said, she believes the business is “back on track.”
“There is no economy without a small business,” she told the Sun, after the departure of the SBA and Cortez Masto from RenuOil — the last stop on their tour Friday. “So, we know how important it is. And to continue to foster that growth is crucial.”
katieann.mccarver@gmg vegas.com/ 702-259-4059 / @_katieann13_
