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Latino entrepreneurs learn how to grow their businesses at Emprendedor LA

By April 19, 2018April 24th, 2018Company News

500 Latino entrepreneurs gather to access knowledge on how to grow their businesses in LA’s thriving economy from local experts at Emprendedor LA, Su Socio de Negocios 2018 annual Expo

Over 500 people attended Wednesday’s Su Socio de Negocios event, Emprendedor LA, to learn more about business opportunities with the City of Los Angeles. The event brought together entrepreneurs and startups as a symbol of strength for Southern California’s Latino community, a unique gathering held in Spanish.

Attendees participated in workshops, received valuable information from a range of companies, and networked with Hispanic entrepreneurs. The event wrapped up with a panel about obtaining LA city contracts, presented by Beatriz Devis, Specialist in Economic Development of the Small Business Administration (SBA); Miguel Acuña, Microcredit Manager for the City of Los Angeles; Luis Rivera, Community Business Manager of Los Angeles; and Verónica Corona, entrepreneur and owner of a cleaning company.

“This event was specially relevant because of the mix of entrepreneurs and startups from the Latino community”, said Kenny Salas, Chief Operating Office of Camino Financial, one of the sponsors of the event. “We are definitely seeing an evolution in this business community”.

To open up the panel, Luis Rivera, backed by years of first-hand experience working in the mayor’s office, assured attendees that “there are many opportunities right now, and it’s time to take advantage of them.” 

Meanwhile, Acuña referred attendees to nine business centers in Los Angeles. The centers can help give Latino entrepreneurs access to capital, advice with business plans, and other tools to open or expand their projects.

“Every year, the city spends two million dollars on contracted services for the city,” Acuña explained. “We have to decide what can be proposed to the city based on what industry it’s in.”

Devis recommends making a business plan to qualify for an SBA loan and to have all the documents in order. “It’s important to put finances, papers, and everything in order to access more capital and expand your company.”

Corona, who has past experience in working with the public administration said: “Everyone wants to do business with the city, but they’re not prepared to do it. Keeping account of your company and having things in order is always vital to participating in those projects.”

Those attending Emprendedor LA also had the opportunity to visit the exhibitors. Paychex was one of them. Cristina Huízar, Multicultural Manager of the firm, described the event as “phenomenal” and as an opportunity to “empower the Latino market, create an ecosystem, and let our diversity grow.”

The Expo was sponsored by the SBA, Camino Financial, the California Hispanic Chambers of Commerce, SBDC, Google, Norwalk Chamber of Commerce, BLAT, and the Office of the Mayor of Los Angeles.

About Su Socio de Negocios and El Clasificado

Su Socio de Negocios (Your Business Partner) has presented events and exhibitions hosted in Spanish by El Clasificado since 2006. El Clasificado is a Hispanic media company that serves the Spanish-speaking communities with a multiplatform format of marketing tools. The printed version of El Clasificado is a publication with verified circulation of over 510,000 copies per week, reaching a million and a half readers, and is distributed from Fresno to San Diego and even Yuma, Arizona. EC Hispanic Media also includes elclasificado.com, which generates 15 million page views per month.