MOBILE COUNTY, Ala. (WKRG) — This Hispanic Heritage Month, we highlight a local college course that’s giving Hispanic adults a taste of entrepreneurship.

“I want to learn more about kitchens, about business,” said student Karla Negron.

That’s exactly what can be expected in the Intro to Culinary & Business-Spanish course. Learning the correct way to work out of a commercial kitchen and how to start one’s own food business is what it’s all about.

Taught by Nailim Sanchez at Bishop State Community College, the class is made up mostly of women but men are welcome to join as well. The class is taught entirely in Spanish, a need Sanchez recognized after previously being a translator for the class.

“Obviously with the translating, it took a lot longer. It became a lot, even though it was good, it worked,” said Sanchez. “It just works better when you have a person who’s actually teaching in the language that these people speak.”

Offered in the evening, and with a sister course at Coastal Alabama Community College, the program’s flexibility makes it easier for students to work their jobs during the day and still have time to develop their culinary and business skills.

Since the program began two years ago, 38 people have graduated from the course. Sanchez says some of those graduates have already started their own small businesses, and some will be putting their dishes on display at this year’s Mobile Latin Fest.

“We have people from Mexico, people from Venezuela, people from Chile,” said Sanchez. “This was the goal, to be able to share our culture and our good food.”

If you’re interested in learning and enjoying more aspects of Hispanic heritage, visit downtown Mobile on Oct. 13 and 14 for Mobile Latin Fest 2023.