Miguel Candelaria knows how to make the most of an opportunity. The plasterer moved his family to Atlanta in 1995, figuring that the Olympics would bring plenty of construction work.

That year, he founded MA&O, a specialty contractor company in Chamblee that supplies Hispanic framers, insulation workers, drywall installers and painters to construction sites all over the United States. Today, the company has about 60 full-time employees and supplies hundreds of subcontractors to job sites for office buildings, hospitals, casinos and schools. His company helped build Atlanta's city courts buildings and is presently working on the Georgia Aquarium. By teaching his workers English and honing their skills through supplier training programs, Candelaria has built one of the 100 fastest-growing Hispanic-American-owned businesses in the country, according to "Hispanic Trends" magazine.

So when the Latin American Association told him about COMED, a Construction Micro Enterprise Development initiative to help Latin American contractors achieve a bigger piece of the metro Atlanta construction pie, Candelaria enrolled immediately.

"I believe in the American dream," he said. "I want to be a general contractor who can construct a building from start to finish and hand over the keys to the owner. That's my goal and COMED is helping me to accomplish it."

COMED is the brainchild of Karen Curry, economic development director at the United Way of Metropolitan Atlanta, and Patricia Williams, president of Georgia Micro Enterprise Network (GMEN). Both felt that their nonprofit organizations could have a bigger economic impact by sponsoring a specialized training program for small businesses within a major industry.

In metro Atlanta, that would be construction.

With the $5.4 billion Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport expansion heading the list, the city expects to see about $10 billion in new construction projects in the next five to seven years.

"All of These projects demand the fuel of skilled workers and knowledgeable contractors," said Hebrew L. Dixon III, president of the Greater Atlanta Economic Alliance, whose mission is to increase the pool of skilled workers and assist minority-owned construction companies in Atlanta. "More of that fuel could come from the large Hispanic population working in the building trades if it were not for one problem: Too few of those small businesses have the knowledge and experience to bid on public works and large contracts."

Thanks to a $50,000 grant from the United Way and support from the Latin American Association, GMEN, the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and the Mexican-American Business Chamber, COMED is changing that. For a nominal fee of $100 each, the first class of Hispanic contractors recently completed an eight-week Construction Business Management Institute course. CBMI was developed through the Greater Atlanta Economic Alliance (see www.atlantaalliance.org).

Taught by volunteer experts in their fields, CBMI classes teach contractors the essential nuts-and-bolts of running a business: construction safety, cost management, scheduling, contract administration, taxes, construction accounting, project management and marketing.

"By helping me look at my company from the outside in, COMED gave me focus. It helped me define my goals," said Candelaria said. "It taught me to understand my company's capabilities, our niche in the market and to see what we needed to do to stay strong and grow with the industry."

In the six weeks since graduating, Candelaria has secured a generous line of credit with Bank of America and become a bonded company. "We had tried to do those things before, but never approached them the right way to be successful," said Candelaria said. "I now realize that one person can't do everything. You need a strong team," he added.

He now delegates more work and holds weekly company meetings to stay on top of operations. He's Candelaria has already enrolled his company leaders in the next COMED class, knowing that the two nights a week, plus studying time are a valuable company investment. "It's just a start to where we plan to go, but thanks to COMED, it's the right start," he said.

Ismael Cordero, director of programs at the Latin American Association, is extremely pleased with the first class of 19 COMED graduates.

"They were the first Latino group to attend 'The Sky's the Limit Conference,' " he said. That's where contractors hear from the U.S. Department of Transportation and other government administrators about upcoming metro Atlanta construction projects.

The Latin American Association has set up an office with computers where member contractors can work on their business plans and network with other microenterprises cq.

"We know that the quality of these businesses is up and that's in everyone's best interest," said Cordero said.

To learn more about the next COMED class, starting September 7, contact call Martha Issa at 404-982-6895 or email missa@latinamericanassoc.org.