TAMPA, Fla. — Enterprising Latinas is making access to capital easier for Latinas looking to venture into the business world.

It is thanks to funding from the National Association for Latino Community Asset Builders and is helping residents like Alejandra Pacheco.

For her, creating a charcuterie food board is a labor of love.

“I had a huge one and it took me 20 hours to make all of this, but I just love it,” she said.

She started her business, Ales Charcuterie Boards, in March.

It’s been a passion of hers to create unique boards for her clients.

But it wasn’t easy to get to this point, facing rejections from many lending companies.

“They say, 'Yea, it's easy, you can come (apply), but you have to have two years in business,'" she said. "But I say, 'Aw, why or how can I do that?'"

That’s the case for many Latinos. Reports show language barriers, along with barriers securing contracts from government sectors.

It’s why Enterprising Latinas is opening the doors for more minority business owners. A grant it received is part of a $1.5 million investment from the Minority Business Development Agency.

Ludovina Moronta, the loan manager for Enterprising Latinas, said this will provide a big boost to what the program already does.

“This grant will provide the assistance for us to become a certified community lender and be able to serve is a wide range for all Tampa Bay business owners," she said.

Moronta said it will help provide capital for underserved entrepreneurs like Pacheco.

As an immigrant from Venezuela, Pacheco said receiving a loan has given her a second chance at her American dream of sharing her passion with others, one charcuterie board at a time.