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The Latino multi-media marketplace where businesses have been selling products and services to the Hispanic community for more than 27 years has been honored for helping small businesses thrive in Los Angeles.

 May 27, 2015 – Los Angeles, CA – What started as a small free publication in 1988 to connect buyers and sellers in East Los Angeles has now become the multi-media marketplace of choice for more than 200,000 small businesses that advertise in El Clasificado to reach the Hispanic market. Many of these small businesses meet their weekly marketing needs with as little as a $9 ad in print or free ads online.

Not only does El Clasificado provide easy and economical print and online channels for small businesses to advertise, but the company also offers free training and expos through their Su Socio De Negocios brand that educate and inform entrepreneurs about opportunities and tools to grow their businesses. To honor this visionary product and service, the Small Business Administration, Los Angeles District, is recognizing El Clasificado as “Minority Small Business Champion of the Year.” 

“After 27 years, El Clasificado is still fresh and inspiring because we love enabling the smallest business owners with limited marketing budgets and business skills to successfully sell their goods and services in Latino communities. Most of our business customers are not trying to be high flying entrepreneurs. They just want to build a business that feeds their families and builds a foundation for future opportunities. We have many customers who started with a humble office and no employees that now have bustling multi-office businesses with many employees. We have plumbers, attorneys, mariachis, car dealers, and many types of businesses that want to reach the Hispanic audience in a local marketplace. Over the years, it has been necessary to innovate and transform El Clasificado to be relevant and to continue to serve the needs of our small business advertisers. It is a great honor to be recognized for these tireless efforts by the SBA. On behalf of our entire El Clasificado team, we are very grateful,” said Martha de la Torre, CEO.

Co-founder, Chairman and husband, Joe Badame adds, “This award reflects our connection with the community and the mutual understanding that has existed all these years. We are proud to continue serving small business owners not only with our flagship publication of over 500,000 weekly circulation, but also with our small business expos, micro web sites, social media services, and digital marketplace that helps connect millions of potential buyers with sellers.”

The ceremony to honor El Clasificado will take place during the annual Small Business Week on June 2nd at the Westin Bonaventure Hotel in downtown Los Angeles. Other honorees include Travis Mack from Saalex Solutions, Inc. as the Small Business Person of the Year, and Mary Wagstaff from Wagstaff Worldwide Public Relations, Inc. as the Women in Business Champion of the Year, among others.

“National Small Business Week gives us a chance to honor the Los Angeles District’s small businesses’ hard work, innovative ideas, and dedication to community,” said Los Angeles District Office, District Director, Victor Parker. “The diversity of the businesses and of the honorees are prime examples of what makes the Los Angeles District so great and embodies the spirit of why we celebrate National Small Business Week,” said Parker.

These awards, presented now for over 50 years, represent a direct effort from the White House to promote the proliferation of Small Businesses Nationwide, the true engine of the economy in terms of creating employment opportunities. El Clasificado’s vibrant marketplace is the confirmation that small businesses are empowering our community.

Contact:
For interviews about El Clasificado’s recent recognition please contact Alicia García de Angela, Director of Content and Communications, [email protected], 1-800-450-5852.

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