Delaware Business Times highlights an annual list of individuals as “People to Watch” in the new year as we believe they will leave a mark on their industries or communities.
GEORGETOWN — In March 2021, Mary Dupont came before Georgetown leaders with her vision of turning its downtown into a marketplace with Latino cultural flare, capitalizing on Sussex County’s large Hispanic population.
While that specific plan did not materialize, Dupont is now one of the driving forces behind La Plaza Delaware, a nonprofit that offers comprehensive business plan training, consultation services and access to credit. While she’s envisioning a place where the Latino community or other business leaders find their own voice, she’s a key figure in building the infrastructure to get to that point.
Since La Plaza officially launched, it has served more than 250 Latino-owned small businesses in Su
ssex County. It has solidified partnerships with Lt. Gov. Bethany Hall-Long’s office as well as the Delaware Hispanic Commission, and is helping form a chamber of commerce: Delaware Alliance of Latino Entrepreneurs (DALE).
In the new year, La Plaza will also help shepherd a Hispanic Alliance for Career Enhancement (HACE) affiliate, which offers a curriculum of hard and soft skills, including writing, public speaking, and project development. The nonprofit is also planning a business expo in the first quarter of 2023, and will be working on a brick-and-mortar location. Both initiatives will be made possible with the help of donations from M&T Bank and the Franklin P. and Arthur W. Perdue Foundation.
“What’s really behind this is trust,” Dupont said. “You have to partner with the faith-based community, because the priests and pastors are instrumental to offer counseling – and they’re eager to get more resources in their congregation’s hands. But it’s also about being in the community. I go to every event, and you see some of our board members at many of them.”
