Just 15 months since it first met, the Greater Quad Cities Hispanic Chamber of Commerce is seeing positive results within the Latino business community.
“I am pleased to say it has been on schedule in meeting our expectations and goals to further the growth of Hispanic business and the contributions made to the economic vitality of our community,” chamber founder and chairman Bob Ontiveros recently wrote to th e board.
Members and supporters of the new chamber will gather Thursday night in Moline to celebrate the group’s first year. Later this month, it will open an office at 511 17th St., Moline, with a part-time manager.
The group first met Oct. 14, 2008, at Stern Beverage in Milan. Mr. Ontiveros — founder and chairman of Group O in Milan — started the chamber in part because of the benefits he gained by joining the United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and the Illinois Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.
Milestones achieved in the group’s first year include:
—Membership growth to 70 on both sides of the river, with a mix of small business owners, corporations and municipal governments. Members come from as far away as Muscatine and Sterling.
—Monthly board of directors meetings.
—Establishment of a strong brand identity by participation in many local Hispanic cultural events, such as Viva Quad Cities, Mexican Independence Day Parade and Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish Fiesta.
—Initiation of a sound fiscal reporting program.
“The greatest benefit is, Hispanic-owned business and Latinos are uniting, finally starting to work together to help ourselves better not only our businesses, but the community as well,” chamber vice-chairman Greg Aguilar said.
“It’s surprising that it took off a lot faster than we thought,” he said, noting that the Hispanic community was ready to bond like this. Monthly networking and business education events are also invaluable for members, said Mr. Aguilar, community development coordinator for Ascentra Credit Union, a gold member of the chamber.
“We’re finally starting to network with each other,” he said. “It helps the business. Hopefully, you can raise your profit, expand, hire more people and create more opportunities for the Quad-Cities.
“For 2010, we really want to produce more educational opportunities to better their businesses,” Mr. Aguilar said, adding that there have been workshops so far on marketing, advertising and accounting.
The chamber wants to provide expert counseling on all matters related to business: planning, financing, management, marketing and advertising.
It has developed partnerships with Black Hawk College’s Small Business Development Center, Business Training Center, International Trade Center and Illinois Procurement Technical Assistance Center to help members.
The new chamber’s value is “the opportunity for different businesses to get together, to share their successes and their challenges,” Ascentra CEO Paul Lensmeyer said. “Also, an awareness amongst the community of products and services they make available.
“It’s important not just for the Hispanic community, but the general public as a whole,” he said, adding that Ascentra has bilingual staff in each of its five credit unions because of the growing Hispanic population.
“It’s a win-win situation,” said Mr. Lensmeyer. Businesses can access information they need and help promote themselves more effectively, he said. “It’s really getting our name out.”
“I love it,” said Virginia Castro. She and her husband, Alfredo, own El Mariachi restaurant, 1317 15th St., Moline. They’ve been chamber members since it began
“It’s brought me business,” Mrs. Castro said. “I made a lot of contacts, met a lot of good people there. It’s helped me be more involved in the community, and it’s helping the community also with fundraisers, different things.
“I think the networking is what helps me, meeting people you’re actually going to do business with,” she said. “We give each other suggestions. I feel we’re getting more united than before, getting to know other people in similar businesses. You need to drum up more business to keep going.”
“The biggest benefit is, it opens a bridge to Latino business owners, which has been a segment that is very hard to reach by regular chambers,” said board member Tarsicio Macias, publisher of the bilingual newspaper Hola America.
“Big corporations can tap into this, business owners can have opportunities by networking, looking for a diverse work force,” he said. While some Hispanic businesses also are members of the main Illinois and Iowa Q-C chambers, many are not because of an “intimidation factor,” Mr. Macias said.
“Because it’s a Hispanic chamber, it’s a little more embracing to their culture, to their needs,” he said. “They find it less intimidating. They can relate better.”
He said he hopes the chamber can help Latino businesses better assimilate into the mainstream, and a new office manager will be a great help.
Mr. Aguilar said the public and other companies benefit from the Hispanic chamber by having an accessible directory businesses can use. There currently is an online directory with a printed directory in the works, he said.
If you go
What: Greater Quad Cities Hispanic Chamber of Commerce annual meeting
When: 6-8 p.m. Thursday
Where: Moline Community Center, 1613 5th Ave.
Tickets: $10. Call (309) 721-9072.
At the meeting, the chamber will present awards to a Volunteer of the Year, Latina Small Business of the Year, and Latino Small Business of the Year. Membership for individuals and nonprofits is $75 a year; small business is $125; corporate membership is $500; gold membership is $1,000, and platinum is $5,000.
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