ROCKFROD, Sick. (WTVO) – September 14th has been formally deemed “Help Latino Enterprise Day” in Rockford.
The proclamation got here on the identical time the Rockford Regional Hispanic Chamber of Commerce workplace, 4249 East State Road, Ste. 202, was revealed.
Latinos make up almost 20% of the native inhabitants, and Enterprise Forecasts recommend Hispanic enterprise house owners will open much more outlets in Rockford within the coming years.
The chamber’s Vice President, Ricardo Montoya Picazo, stated the general public can assist their trigger by purchasing.
“Go eat, go store. We’ve nice enterprise house owners with jewellery, clothes, downtown on the Broadway intersection,” Picazo stated. “We’re rising. As you heard the mayor stated, we now have grown by 23%. That may be a huge development.”
The chamber additionally works with native organizations to advertise accountable financial improvement, in addition to long-term sustainability for minority neighborhood leaders.
Many Hispanic owned companies struggled because of COVID-19, however now there’s a new useful resource accessible to assist these place thrive.
Melissa Santillan opened “Magnificence by Melissa Santillan” 4 years in the past, however the salon was compelled to close down final yr, taking toll on her backside line.
“Once we have been advised we may now not work, that was a tough hit that plenty of us took,” Santillan stated. “I used to be unable to work, and it was troublesome for us, particularly sole proprietors, the place they weren’t certain assist us with unemployment as a result of we don’t receives a commission by the hour, we receives a commission by the service.”
Enter the Rockford Regional Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, a brand new useful resource to supply Hispanic and Latinx enterprise house owners the instruments wanted to succeed.
Sully Cadengo is the President of the Chamber, and he or she knew this was needed for the neighborhood.
“The pandemic severely affected lots of our enterprise house owners, specifically our Latino neighborhood, and didn’t have entry to data or assets, and achieve help to those applications,” Cadengo stated. “As a enterprise proprietor myself, I confronted many obstacles once I first began, and I spotted I will not be the one one. I communicate english, so it’s simpler for me to navigate all of those searches, and looking for assets.”
Santillan hopes the Chamber will help any Hispanic enterprise proprietor who wants it.
“There are a number of grants accessible at present, and earlier than that I had no thought about that. I certified for not just for being a sole proprietor or a personal enterprise, but in addition as a result of I’m Latina and I’m a girl, so issues like that which can be delivered to the desk that assist my job be just a little bit simpler,” stated Santillan. “So this can be a nice stepping stone. We nonetheless have plenty of work to do, however that is undoubtedly a begin, and I can’t wait to see what the long run holds.”
Just some weeks in the past, the Chamber held a enterprise workshop, serving to out 12 native companies, eight of whom have been eligible for a grant.
