Program launched to help Hispanics in small businesses

Friday, April 28, 2000 | 9:11 a.m.

The Las Vegas-area Latin Chamber of Commerce, the city of Las Vegas and the federal Small Business Administration are teaming up to promote small-business ownership in the Hispanic community.

The groups are sponsoring a program Saturday that will provide information on business licensing, contracting requirements, financing and the availability of technical assistance for starting a small business.

"The Hispanic American population is the fastest-growing ethnic community in the state," said John Scott, SBA district director for Nevada. "The best way to serve this dynamic population is to reach out and present opportunities to help individuals and families become financially strong and prosperous with their own small business."

The Las Vegas program coincides with a national effort by the SBA to reach out to Hispanic communities. According to the SBA, the number of Hispanic-owned businesses nationally grew by 232 percent between 1987 and 1997, to a total of 1.4 million businesses.

"Despite this rate of growth, Hispanic Americans remain underrepresented in the ranks of business owners," SBA Administrator Aida Alvarez said. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Hispanics make up about 10.9 percent of the U.S. population but own just 4.5 percent of all businesses nationally.

Mario Garcia, city of Las Vegas manager for business assistance, said federal, state and local agencies from throughout the Las Vegas Valley will be at the program.

Among those to attend are public and private assistance and licensing agencies from the Las Vegas Valley's cities and Clark County, the Clark County Health District, the state Contractors Board and others. Financing agencies, public and private, also will be there, Garcia said.

While representatives from the agencies will speak Spanish or have interpreters on hand, Garcia said the program is open to anyone who wants to start a small business or expand an existing business.

The program will include the signing of an agreement between the Latin Chamber of Commerce and the SBA to foster a cooperative effort to increase the number and dollar amount of SBA-guaranteed loans to Hispanic businesses, improve educational and government contracting opportunities and provide training for female Hispanic entrepreneurs.

The Hispanic Business Day program will be Saturday from 9:30 a.m. to noon at the Rafael Rivera Community Center, 2900 Stewart Avenue. The program is free.

For information, call the city of Las Vegas at 229-6437 or the Latin Chamber of Commerce at 385-7367.