It doesn”™t matter if you were born in the city of Rio or the town of Ridgefield, Guayaquil or Greenwich, Beirut or Bridgeport.
As an entrepreneur doing business in Fairfield County, you likely face the same issues as every other small-business owner here.
The struggles of day-to-day operations. High costs of doing business. Time-consuming approvals and permits processes. Ever-changing rules and regulations.
And as daunting as these challenges may seem, not being familiar with the “language” of the land may compound the problem. This is not about the English language. It”™s about being informed and knowing where to turn for that information. It”™s about having a voice and getting that voice heard.
That”™s where the Tribuna steps in.
The Danbury-based bi-weekly, trilingual community newspaper covers relevant, timely news and issues and offers this information to its readers in Portuguese, Spanish and English (a fourth language ”“ Arabic ”“ may be added for the growing Lebanese population in the city).
Tribuna, which means “speaker of the people,” is comprised of a professional team dedicated to their mission.
Publisher Celia Bacelar explained that mission during a recent meeting with the Business Journal.
Bacelar and her daughter, Executive Director/Editor Emanuela P. Lima, and niece, Managing Director/Reporter Angela Barbosa, sat down with the Business Journal team to discuss collaborating on some of our news coverage for our respective readers.
Hearing Bacelar describe ”“ through Barbosa”™s translation ”“ her struggles and successes and how she started a newspaper to ensure a better future for her daughter was moving.
Hearing her detail the stories of small businesses there only confirmed our belief that we were on to something here.
Entrepreneurs in the Tribuna”™s coverage area share many of the same challenges and concerns as the readers of the Business Journal. And there are never enough resources and information sources for business people.
Many of the networking events and business seminars are held at lunchtime, the Tribuna told us, yet business people ”“ themselves included ”“ are busy running their businesses during the day. And, “We eat lunch at our desks,” Lima said.
So do we.
This is a natural collaboration for the Business Journal. Covering Fairfield County”™s business community gives us insight into the small-business world ”“ we hear the stories of fighting to stay alive, particularly in these tough economic times.
And ours is an independent newspaper ”“ so we”™ve seen, first hand, a small-business owner pour heart and soul into a venture.
“One of the great joys of being in a small business is the opportunity to meet people who have similar challenges and then be able to seize upon the moment to share each other”™s experiences,” said Dee DelBello, publisher of the Business Journal.
“The three women of the Tribuna are extraordinary for their vision, passion and work ethic. I”™m confident that our partnership in broadening and exchanging our news and markets will bring greater understanding among our readers.”
The Business Journal will begin sharing news with the Tribuna in the Aug. 30 edition. Each week, Business Journal readers will get a glimpse of the issues and events happening within Tribuna”™s coverage area. In turn, Tribuna readers will get a look at the latest news and topics affecting the local business community.
“The partnership expands our globalized view of the communities we serve into the business world,” Bacelar said. “There should be no borders to limit the exchange we can have in a community or business level with the different ethnic groups where we live and work. We”™re looking to partner to expand that concept and with the Tribuna bring it to the next level.”?Our goal is, together, to bring more awareness to both of our readerships about the issues facing our respective communities and to capture the similarities ”“ in terms of both challenges and opportunities.
In addition Andi Gray, author of the popular “Ask Andi” column in the Business Journal, will be sharing her expertise with Tribuna readers in a bi-weekly column.
“It is exciting to me personally to see Ask Andi expand its reach through translation into additional languages,” Gray told me last week.
“I see the Tribuna as an opportunity to work with an established, respected organization, to provide valuable support to a hard-working, dedicated business community.
“While the language is different, the message is the same: Teach sound business practices. Help business people to expand their personal wealth by teaching them how to build long-term, profitable, successful businesses that have significant exit value.”
Commenting on Gray”™s column, Bacelar said: “Andi”™s column will answer what they (immigrant business owners) didn”™t know they should know or did not have the opportunity or the resources to learn, giving them the tools needed to maintain and grow their business in today”™s world.”
The Business Journal, too, is excited to expand our reach. We agree with the Tribuna team ”“ language isn”™t the barrier. Lack of information is. And together we intend to give Tribuna and Business Journal readers more of the information, leads and resources they need to get over those barriers and get on to what they do best ”“ minding and growing their businesses.
