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From Coaching to AI Accelerators: HCC Outlines What’s Next for Entrepreneurs
By Somdatta Basu
Feb.24, Houston, TX: IACCGH brought its Small Business Series to Elite Restaurant in Sugar Land on Feb. 24, 2026, with a packed, practical program built around one theme: how Houston Community College is expanding entrepreneurship support, training, and growth pathways for small businesses across the region.
Welcoming attendees, IACCGH Founding Secretary and Executive Director Jagdip Ahluwalia thanked the event’s co-sponsors – Wallis Bank and the CenterPoint Energy Foundation. He framed the luncheon as part of the Chamber’s monthly commitment to “handhold” entrepreneurs through credible resource partners, and he acknowledged the presence of IACCGH’s leadership and visiting sister chambers and partner organizations.
Ahluwalia then introduced the day’s featured HCC delegation, led by Dr. Maya Durnovo, Ed.D., Associate Vice Chancellor for Entrepreneurship, alongside a slate of campus leaders who would speak about specific programs and entry points for business owners. He thanked the HCC team for “accepting our invitation and for sharing your expertise with our business community today.” In a practical aside meant to help founders avoid surprises, Ahluwalia flagged a recent SBA lending change and advised attendees to confirm details directly with SBA or their bank. “Previously a green card holder was eligible for an SBA loan,” he said. “Now, you have to be a citizen.”
IACCGH President Rajiv Bhavsar followed with welcome remarks, describing the purpose of the series as connecting entrepreneurs to resource partners who can help with “education, talent, and growth opportunity.” Thanking the sponsors for sustaining the series, he urged attendees to make the session count: “Let’s engage, learn and make magnificent connection.”
From there, the program shifted to Houston City College’s entrepreneurship story – both its track record and its newest expansions. Taking the mic, Dr. Durnovo thanked IACCGH for its support and emphasized that partnerships are central to HCC’s impact. “We really do believe that it’s the partnerships that really make us as successful as we are,” she told the audience, calling that collaboration “the fabric of our city” and a key reason Houston’s business ecosystem continues to strengthen.
Dr. Durnovo traced HCC’s entrepreneurial work back more than a decade and a half, noting that the college has been building programming steadily “for the past 17 years.” She pointed to long-running efforts such as the Business Plan Competition housed at the Northwest College, which she said is now in its 19th year. She also highlighted what she described as one of HCC’s most consequential wins: securing the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses initiative in 2011. Since then, she said, the program has operated for 14 years and has “graduated 1,200 small businesses,” an outcome she tied directly to local economic impact. “It’s an amazing success,” she said, adding that the initiative “attributes $2 billion into the local community.”
With the foundation established, Dr. Durnovo explained what was changing now: more centers, more staff capacity, and more targeted offerings for different stages of business growth. HCC, she said, now operates four Centers for Entrepreneurship across the district – an expansion from earlier years – so that support is not concentrated in a single location. She also used the moment to spotlight new team members and the specialized programs they are building, introducing April Felton, Connie Leon, and Taraneh Zekavat as leaders who are “creative, innovative, dynamic,” and entrepreneurs “in their own right.”
April Felton, Director of Entrepreneurial Initiatives and Community Relations serving HCC’s Central and Northeast colleges, outlined how the centers are tailoring programming to the neighborhoods and industries around each campus. She described the Central College area as closely tied to downtown and Midtown activity, while also referencing outreach designed to connect the Houston footprint with growth corridors near Pearland. Felton repeatedly returned to one idea: entrepreneurs need more than inspiration – they need practical tools, consistent advising, and a community that makes the journey less isolating.
That is why, she said, HCC is preparing an AI-powered accelerator designed specifically for existing businesses ready to move beyond the “ideation phase.” The goal is to adopt practical adoption how owners select tools and apply them for productivity and smarter decision-making – rather than technical theory. Felton called the session a “sneak peek,” telling the room they were hearing about it early and inviting interested owners to stay connected as the program launches. She also emphasized that HCC’s support is not meant to be one-size-fits-all: one-on-one coaching and advising, she said, is a “standout” component, and the center plans to partner with the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses network to strengthen mentorship and business coaching.
Felton added that HCC will continue working with SCORE and the SBA, including what she described as one-on-one “office hours” on Saturdays beginning in March at multiple campuses. Beyond training, she said, the centers will keep building networking opportunities that connect entrepreneurs to nearby communities and partner organizations – because small businesses grow faster when relationships grow with them.
Connie Leon, introduced as the new Director of Entrepreneurial Initiatives and Community Relations at HCC’s Southeast campus, shared a complementary perspective shaped by a program she helped build during her earlier work at the college. Leon described launching a brand called “HCC Made,” designed to support creative, product-based entrepreneurs – particularly those who need space and equipment to develop, test, and produce. She pointed to a 10,000-square-foot maker space at HCC’s West Houston Institute campus, explaining that the brand was “born” in that lab. With grant funding, Leon said, the effort supported nearly 300 small business owners within an 18-month period.
When the grant ended, she noted, the funding to continue the exact model wasn’t there – but she said her return to Dr. Durnovo’s team opens the door to reviving and expanding the concept, including pursuing funding that can bring structured support back at scale. Like Felton, Leon said the immediate demand she sees is centered on AI – less as a buzzword and more as a set of tools owners are trying to use to organize operations, improve marketing, and generate revenue. Her focus at Southeast, she said, is to connect those tools to the entrepreneurs who need them, while also bringing proven programming from other campuses into the Southeast footprint. She closed with an open invitation to partner, telling the room that if organizations want to co-create programming at the Southeast campus, her team is “more than happy to host and to create that programming in that space.”
Building on these programmatic efforts, Tara Zekavat, Director of Corporate Training & Development at HCC, focused on workforce development as a key enabler of business growth. She outlined how HCC collaborates directly with employers to design customized training programs tailored to operational needs, delivered by industry professionals through flexible formats including online, hybrid, and on-site instruction.
Zekavat emphasized that these training initiatives are results-driven, helping businesses enhance employee skills, improve productivity, and align workforce capabilities with growth objectives. She also highlighted funding opportunities available through the Texas Workforce Commission — including the Skills Development Fund (SDF), Skills for Small Business (SSB), and the Lone Star Workforce of the Future Fund — which provide critical support for companies investing in workforce development.
Throughout the luncheon, the message was consistent: HCC is not positioning entrepreneurship as a single program or a single campus – it is building a districtwide pipeline of training, mentoring, community partnerships, and specialized support that meets owners where they are, whether they are launching a first idea or trying to scale what already works.
As the session moved toward Q&A, the Chamber reinforced its broader goal for the series: to keep Houston’s entrepreneurs connected to credible institutions, clear pathways, and practical resources – so that growth is not left to trial and error but supported by a network that is intentionally designed to help small businesses succeed.
Pic Credit: Bijay Dixit (photographer)