Latino internet site founder to speak at conference

Internet Entrepreneur Selected as Keynote Speaker for 2010 Hispanic Chamber of E-Commerce Expo
The Latino Journal E-News Weekly, Vol. 2, Issue 3

San Diego, CA. Oct. 26, 2009 – The Hispanic Chamber of E-Commerce (HISCEC) has chosen Fernando Espuelas, the founder of StarMedia and now the host and managing editor of Café Espuelas, to deliver the keynote address at its convention in San Diego in September, 2010.

The President of the Hispanic Chamber of E-Commerce, Tayde Aburto, said Espuelas will provide an important message at the inaugural event. “Fernando Espuelas was one of the first to recognize the value of the Internet as an important business tool”, said Aburto. “His experience and success will inspire all the people who attend the convention to continue to pursue their entrepreneurial goals.”

Espuelas founded StarMedia, the first multi-platform digital media company for Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking people worldwide. StarMedia transcended national barriers, becoming the most recognized pan-Latin new media brand, eventually serving 25 million people per month. Espuelas went on to raise $500 million dollars for StarMedia in a combination of private and public offerings, including raising the first dollar of venture funding and the first IPO for a Latin Internet company. Recognized as one of the Internet's pioneers by the New York Times, Harvard University and media across the world, Espuelas has been at the forefront of online communities and social networks.

Espuelas is now the host and managing editor of Café Espuelas, a radio talk show broadcast live M-F on 1020 AM, the top-rated AM Spanish language station in Los Angeles. It is part of the Univision Radio Network. Espuelas is a frequent contributor on TV, print and online at www.espuelas.com.

The two-day Hispanic Business and Technology Expo will feature a Business Showcase where exhibitors will have the opportunity to increase their company’s awareness within the Hispanic community. Information about how to become a sponsor and/or an exhibitor at the 2010 Hispanic Business and Technology Expo can be found at www.hbshowcase.com, or by contacting Richie Matthews at (858) 456-5552.

About the Hispanic Chamber of E-Commerce (HISCEC): The Hispanic Chamber of E-Commerce (HISCEC) is an online Hispanic business association focused on promoting Hispanic businesses via the Internet and the use of e-business tools. More information can be found on the HISCEC website: www.hiscec.com

Hispanic Investors group buys environmental companies

Hispanic Investors Group Purchases Traverse Environmental & Enovis, Changes Name
The Latino Journal E-News Weekly, Vol. 2, Issue 3

Dearborn, Mich., October 27, 2009 - A group of highly acclaimed Hispanic business leaders have purchased Traverse Environmental, Inc., an environmental consultancy and Enovis, Inc., an environmental data management company. The two companies have merged and are now operating under TEI Environmental Solutions, LLC.

TEI Environmental Solutions (TEI) helps clients in the municipal, industrial and commercial sectors resolve their environmental issues while also ensuring government compliance and community responsiveness to human health and safety issues. Currently TEI is managing a major lead hazard remediation program through a grant from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) designed to protect Wayne County’s children from lead exposure.

Investors Elizabeth Ardisana, CEO of ASG Renaissance, Ruben Acosta, founding partner, Williams Acosta PLLC, and Jesse Lopez, CEO and President, BAE Industries formed a partnership and purchased the companies because they saw exceptional growth opportunities for the newly reorganized company. “It was also a chance for a group of Hispanic business owners to partner on a new venture that while slightly different, is interconnected,” said Lizabeth Ardisana, TEI investor and CEO, ASG Renaissance.

“Williams Acosta has been involved with Brownfield Redevelopment and consulting, BAE in manufacturing and ASG has a long history of environmental marketing and consulting. Together our experience and expertise will enable us to grow TEI Environmental.”

About TEI Environmental Solutions
For more than 30 years, TEI Environmental Solutions, (formerly The Traverse Group), has been providing environmental engineering and consulting services to municipal, industrial and commercial clients. A certified Minority Business Enterprise, TEI services include environmental engineering and consulting, facility support, environmental assessment, industrial hygiene, data management and program development. For more information visit www.teienvironmental.com.

US Hispanic Chamber launches interactive bidding portal

USHCC launches interactive bidding portal
The Latino Journal E-News Weekly, Vol. 2, Issue 3

The U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce has recently developed a database of all current bid opportunities offered by the U.S. Government through its (Government) electronic commerce sites. The USHCC now provides not only all bidding opportunities from 7 different Government sites but is providing research of past awards and expiring contracts to assist Hispanic companies in identifying contract potential prior to opportunities being posted on each of the Government sites.

Primary issues which concern the Chamber would be lack of knowledge by the Minority business community as to the huge potential for business by selling to the Government as well as the process required by the Government to market and register as a potential vendor. While there are thousands of opportunities posted each day by the Department of Defense and Federal Government, research shows that the Government does not select Minority companies as vendors via the current vendor selection process. One example is that of the approximately 250,000 Hispanic companies only 2,898 received awards in 2008- also less than 16,000 Hispanic companies registered with the Government as a potential Government contractor, further that the Defense Logistics Agency, the world’s largest buyer of products/parts issued over 2 million competitive awards in 2008 and of that, less than 300 companies received contracts while on one day the USHCC identified over 25,000 potential solicitation/opportunities which apply to USHCC members and that of the existing bid opportunities on the primary Federal Electronic Commerce site, 5,521 Hispanic companies provide products and services that could have met the requirements of the Government for a total of over 30,000 contracts in one day.

The USHCC intends to “push” potential contract s and associated technical/contract data to all Minority Businesses and educate them as to how to market to the U.S. Government. The Chamber, in attempting to stimulate registration of Minority companies, has contacted the Procurement and Technical Assistance Centers in order to develop a plan to assist the Minority Business community. The current effort by the USHCC to provide bidding opportunities relies solely on individual companies to subscribe to the Bid Line database.

For only $60 dollars a month you will be able to be part of this tool with capabilities such as:

- Daily bid opportunities delivered via email
- Database of contracting officers who have acquired products or services over the last 3 years
- Listing of all expiring service contracts to the year 2012
- Technical specifications referenced in solicitations
- Award history of all contracts including awarded dollars (contractors who received awards, contract numbers and purchasing agent that issued the contract)
- Database of all DoD bases and contact name on each base
- Teaming partners and contact information
- Expiring contracts complete information to the year 2012

Register at www.ushccbids.com.

Latino job expo expands to provide answers

Latino community expo aims answers
Sy Becker, WWLP, 24 Oct 2009

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WWLP) - Saturday’s 3rd annual Latino community expo combined a job fair with a chance to go back to school and live a healthier life.

The event attracted at least one thousand people to the Springfield YMCA for the multi-faceted expo that tapped into many Latino concerns.

There were people looking for work. Others wanted to go back to school. One woman told 22News, she's impressed with everything that's available.

“I came last year and I saw there are benefits to the Latino community and found out what's going on in our community, we need to know what the services are in our community,” said Feliciea Lopez of Holyoke.

Virna Quinones of Springfield said she was pinning her hopes on the expo to help cope with a family concern, “we need to stick together and support each other. In terms of any needs, like in my case Autism.”

By providing as many answers as there were concerns, this Latino community expo covered a wide range of human issues.

Now in its third year, the event has proven itself indispensable to the lifeblood of the Western Massachusetts Latino population.

Hispanic Senator calls for business legislation

Senator Correa Calls upon the Governor to Approve Vital Small Business Bill
PRESS RELEASE

SACRAMENTO, CA – State Senator Lou Correa Orange County) issued the following statement urging Governor Schwarzenegger to sign Senate Bill 66 (SB 66), introduced by Senator Curren Price (Los Angeles):

“California’s small businesses are the backbone of our economy and a primary source of job creation. It is vital for our state’s economic recovery that Governor Schwarzenegger approves SB 66 into law, providing small businesses with the necessary tools to gain access to federal and private loans and services,” said Senator Correa. “I commend Senator Price for introducing this legislative measure, which is a step in the right direction for our economic upturn.”

The Small Business Loan Guarantee Program was eliminated due to cuts in the last state budget. Without this program, California’s small businesses will not be eligible for federal government loans and private financial, technical and education aid. Once signed into law, SB 66 will save this program by retaining the majority of trust fund assets and will be able to resume services to small businesses.

Senator Correa was recently named “Legislator of the Year” by the California Small Business Association (CSBA) and California Small Business Roundtable (CSBR). He represents the 34th Senate District, which includes the cities of Anaheim, Santa Ana, Garden Grove, Westminster, Stanton, Buena Park, and Fullerton.

MicroTech Hispanic exec continues to impress

MicroTech Named Top Unified Communications Solutions Specialist
Ranked on CRN's Fast Growth 100 as Industry-Leading Business
PRESS RELEASE

Vienna VA – October 26, 2009 — MicroTech has been the Number One Fastest Growing "Unified Communications Solutions Specialist” in the country by CRN Magazine. MicroTech President & CEO Tony Jimenez received the special award designation October 21, at CRN’s 2009 Fast Growth Awards in San Francisco. The industry event brought together top channel executives from around the country who are leaders in their respective market segments, heading the fastest growing Solution Provider organizations in North America.

MicroTech (www.MicroTech.net) is a global provider of Information Technology solutions specializing in the Design, Implementation, Operation, and Administration of government and corporate computing environments. MicroTech uses Customer Relationship and Project Management tools to enhance productivity and features a Virtual Infrastructure that allows for business mobility and faster customer service.

CRN is the channel reseller resource made up of a worldwide community of product resellers, product vendors, distributors and customers, accounting for about two-thirds of all technology products and services sold each year. The 2009 Fast Growth 100 is featured at ChannelWeb.com. MicroTech was recognized as the No. 2 Fastest Growing Solutions Provider for companies under $50 Million in revenue.

“Unified Communications is one of the hottest technology trends for consolidation, and MicroTech is well positioned to provide cutting edge Unified Communications solutions to all our customers, clients and partners,” said Tony Jimenez, MicroTech President & CEO. “MicroTech’s move into Unified Communications and our investment in Voice, Unified Messaging, Video, Mobility, Web Collaboration, Conferencing and Presence Management has not gone unnoticed by the industry. Our capabilities, complemented by our product portfolio, new channels into emerging markets, solutions for large enterprises, and growing geographic reach make us the leader in a very competitive industry.”

MicroTech offers a customized, scalable, modular vendor agnostic Unified Communications solution. MicroTech’s expert team of certified engineers and developers work closely with customers to integrate Video Teleconferencing, Web Collaboration, Streaming Video, and IM/Chat Presence into a single, secure and effective communications network.

Robert C. DeMarzo, Sr. Vice President and Editorial Director for CRN said, "The companies that we honored at our event are channel industry leaders. They offer business-oriented IT consulting and work closely with their customers to integrate multivendor IT solutions as well as cutting-edge technologies.”

As a fast growth business leader, MicroTech has been named this year to the Virginia Chamber of Commerce “Fantastic 50” as one of the fastest-growing private companies in the state; the Washington Business Journal Fast 50 Growing Companies in the region; the Number One ranking on the Washington Technology Top 25 8(a) – recognizing the most successful 8(a) businesses in the government market; the Deloitte Technology Fast 500 ranking North America’s fastest-growing public and private technology companies; and as America’s Fastest-Growing Hispanic-Owned Business by Hispanic Business; along with a second consecutive year on the prestigious Inc. 500, moving up 109 spots from last year.

Census spends big to reach Hispanics

U.S. Census Spends Big to Reach Out to Minorities
Government Bureau Works With Ethnic Shops to Build Trust, Allay Fears
By Laurel Wentz, Ad Age, October 26, 2009

NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- Multicultural experts expect the 2010 census to boost ad spending toward minority groups as awareness of their numbers grows -- but first, they have to be accurately counted.

To overcome immigration-status fears and general mistrust of the government, the U.S. Census Bureau is allocating the majority of the estimated $145 million paid-media budget -- out of a total census effort of $300 million -- to multicultural audiences. It's working with five ethnic shops, plus general-market agency DraftFCB's Puerto Rico office to cover its territory. Their ad efforts to reach the hardest-to-count U.S. inhabitants will kick off in January 2010.

Separately, Spanish-language broadcasters Univision Communications and Telemundo have already started aggressive public-service campaigns with the theme "Be counted" and are integrating their own messages about the value of the census for the Latino community into all their platforms. Univision is building off its previous push to mobilize Hispanics to apply for citizenship -- 1.4 million did -- and to register to vote last year, said Cesar Conde, president of Univision Networks. "We've put the gang together again [for the census campaign]."

Univision anchor Maria Elena Salinas, part of the earlier effort, appears in Univision's census ads explaining, "If they don't count us, we won't count."

Don Browne, president of NBC Universal-owned Telemundo Communications Group, pointed out that Nielsen will use census figures to allocate its meters, adding more Hispanics where the Latino population is growing rapidly. "If you're in the Hispanic media business, this will dramatically affect ratings and growth in Spanish-language media," he said.

Big shift
The census will also highlight demographic changes, such as U.S.-born Hispanics surpassing immigrants as the biggest source of Hispanic growth, and will encourage marketers to shift more dollars to target Hispanics, he said.

GlobalHue, the biggest multicultural agency, is handling census ads targeted at Hispanics and blacks. For multicultural audiences, agencies are picking from the five mind-sets identified by DraftFCB that are most relevant for their groups (see story, adjacent page).

Luciana Gomez, the GlobalHue VP-group account director in charge of the Spanish-language census campaign, said Hispanics tend to fall into the "head nodders," "insulated" and "unacquainted" categories. The last group consists mostly of recent immigrants unfamiliar with the census and suspicious of what the government will do with the information.

Ms. Gomez said copy testing indicated that a focus on children and their future, and how the census influences funding and helps their community grow would work best for all three groups. "Hispanics will go through a lot of sacrifice for their children, and we're just asking for ten minutes of their time," she said.

For the black community, "there's knowledge of the census, they just haven't seen evidence it makes a difference," said GlobalHue VP-account director Damien Reid.

Beyond Hispanic
Another Hispanic shop, D Exposito & Partners, is responsible for local media, digital and PR for Hispanic audiences. The agency also came up with the creative concept for all audiences, including the general market, for the crucial phase when census workers go door-to-door in pursuit of non-responders who ignore the census questionnaire and follow-up mailing. That message is: "Open the doors to the census, and the census will open doors for you."

Of the estimated $82 million destined for paid ethnic media -- although those numbers could change -- about $28 million would go to Hispanic media, $24.5 million to black media and $18 million to Asian-American media. Another $12 million would target other multicultural audiences, from American Indians to Arabic speakers. For the first time, the census website will be fully bilingual in English and Spanish, and will include assistance guides in 59 other languages.

*Allied Media Corp. has a tough task in reaching speakers of Arabic, Russian, Polish, Ukrainian, Armenian and Farsi, many of whom fled their nations out of fear of the government, said Account Manager Paul Young.

But Asian-American agency IW Group's job is the most complex of all the census agencies. Although Asian Americans only account for about 4% of the U.S. population, there are so many different language groups that advertisers often stretch their budgets by casting generic pan-Asian actors in ads and do voice-overs for different languages.

"We're in uncharted territory," said IW Account Director Charmaine David. Her agency is doing 24 TV commercials -- one spot for each of the three census phases, in eight different languages, plus 36 radio spots in 12 languages and 39 print ads in 13 languages.