HBDi: Beacon for Entrepreneurs

By Ilyas Choudry, TMO

A few success stories from Asian immigrant communities, like “Holiday Inn Express Downtown of Shan Siddiqui Sahab” and “Kim Son Restaurant”, funded by the Houston Business Development Inc. (HBDi), still this City of Houston (COH) entity HBDi has been unknown to the Pakistani and other Asian communities.

The Board of HBDi is appointed by the Honorable Mayor of Houston, and during this tenure, Mayor Annise Parker has appointed Tasleem Siddiqui (President of Pakistani-American Association of Greater Houston – PAAGH) and Chad Khan to the Board of HBDi, with Mr. Khan being the Vice President.

Through the efforts of PAAGH Office Bearers and volunteers, including President Tasleem Siddqui, this year, Mohammad Atiq Ahmed, Chad Khan, Farah Iqbal, Zaki Mirza, and Mian Mohammad Nazir brought an excellent informative Seminar “Small Business Owners and Aspiring Entrepreneurs” at Pakistan Center this past week.

Despite bad weather, more than 120 persons attended the event, and benefited much with the nice information & innovative manners of funding businesses. Pooja Lodhia of KTRK TV was Emcee at the Seminar.

A five member panel informed about the various sources and resources; and participants learned about the different ingredients needed for a successful business, like writing good business plan, knowing various loan products to establish & enhance ventures, bonding issues, etc.

Panelists included President of HBDi Marlon Mitchell, Senior Vice President Nasr Khan of Wallis State Bank, Vice President Jevaughn Sterling of Amegy Bank, Senior Vice President John Song of Golden Bank, and Deputy District Director Mark Winchester of the Small Business Administration (SBA) Houston.

Houston Business Development, Inc. (HBDi) is a non-profit 501 (c) (3) corporation established in 1986 by the City of Houston. The corporation’s mission is to stimulate economic growth, support the expansion of small businesses, community revitalization, and foster employment opportunities for low-moderate income citizens in the Houston metropolitan area and surrounding counties.

For any aspiring entrepreneurs and established business persons, Palm Center located at 5330 Griggs Road, Houston, Texas 77021; is the place to visit. HBDi offices are located here with other relevant resourceful offices & entities, at the 160,000 square-feet mixed-use commerce complex called Palm Center – Business Technology Center, in SouthEast Houston.

Palm Center has everything present for a successful business; and through this, HBDi accomplishes its mission through providing affordable, flexible small business loans and an array of business support services designed to enhance the growth of small businesses.

As a non-bank, community lending organization, HBDi has served as a catalyst in providing aspiring entrepreneurs and small business owners with debt capital and access to an array of resources to start and/or expand their businesses. Since inception, the corporation has participated in funding approximately $82 million in small business loans in Houston, resulting in nearly 2,500 jobs being created for low-moderate income citizens.

For more information, it is crucial to visit the Palm Center at 5330 Griggs Road, Houston, Texas 77021. Once can also visit www.HBDInc.Org or call 1-713-845-2400. Board members of HBDi can be called: Tasleem Siddiqui 1-281-236-7597; and Chad Khan 1-281-866-7000.

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