Former Spanish teacher turned entrepreneur Lori Wall took a risk by moving her business into a brick-and-mortar store.
Wall is the proprietor of Spanish on the Fly, a conversational Spanish education and tutoring service. Her client base is wide-ranging, consisting of young professionals looking to learn Spanish for their careers and older people who are traveling or interested in picking up a new hobby.
After operating out of her home for nearly 20 years, Wall decided to take a leap of faith this past August by moving into a storefront at 311 Elm Street in Ludlow in an effort to expand her business.
So far, the move has paid off, Wall told LINK nky, but there is still room to grow.
Earlier this year, she applied for a small business grant for minority, women and veteran-owned businesses through the Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce in partnership with Duke Energy and Blue North. The funds could be put toward physical space improvements, technology upgrades, talent sourcing, job posting fees and professional development training.
Last week, it was announced that Spanish on the Fly was one of eight Northern Kentucky-based businesses to receive a small business grant this cycle. Wall’s business is slated to receive $5,000, which she plans to invest in software upgrades and newer signage for her storefront.
“I will be able to put up large visible signage out front, purchase some technology and software for my online presence and purchase some practical items like a printer which makes it more convenient to print any ancillary materials I provide to my students,” Wall said. “ It really is a huge help that will bring in more foot traffic and let me spend more time focusing on growing the business.”
In addition to Spanish on the Fly, the following businesses received awards:
- Aunt Kathy’s Child Care & Preschool — Highland Heights: $10,000
- Bradbury Design LLC dba Black Goose — Union: $5,000
- Greater Comfort Heating & Air Conditioning, Inc. — Newport: $5,000
- Honey Child Pops — Covington: $5,000
- Leila Urgent Care — Hebron: $5,000
- Misty Ridge Farm — Camp Springs: $5,000
- Unataza Coffee — Dayton: $5,000
Dashai Thompson, the NKY Chamber’s inclusive business strategies director, detailed in a press release that the grants were to help regional business owners from underserved communities achieve sustainability.
“In doing so, our region enhances its ability to support a thriving business landscape that values and promotes small businesses by removing a major barrier – funding – to entrepreneurs, especially those in often underserved communities,” Thompson said.
To qualify for the grant, businesses had to employ 50 or fewer people and be Duke Energy customers located in Boone, Campbell, or Kenton counties. Duke Energy contributed $25,000 to the program, with Blue North’s Northern Kentucky Entrepreneurship Fund matching the donation. The grants ranged from $1,000 to $10,000.
The Northern Kentucky Entrepreneurship Fund is specifically dedicated to supporting and funding Northern Kentucky-based entrepreneurs and organizations, including startups, support organizations, educational vehicles and accelerators.
“This year’s winners demonstrated a clear need for the capital and a clear plan of how they’re going to make it an investment in their business to drive growth,” Blue North Executive Director Dave Knox said in the release. “These are entrepreneurs that have thought about how they can be a flywheel and when they look at that investment, it can not only grow their business but also their community in Northern Kentucky as a whole.”
For Duke Energy, the grants were part of a larger effort where the utility company distributed a total of $122,000 to eight organizations throughout the Greater Cincinnati area, including the Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce.