Latino Entrepreneur or Business Owner It’s Time to Grow Your Business
The West Michigan Hispanic Chamber of Commerce provides the Latino community and Hispanic-owned businesses in West Michigan a full range of benefits and programs to improve their businesses and fulfill their goals of becoming successful business owners.
The West Michigan Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (WMHCC) started in 2003 with one special goal in mind: to support the economic advancement of the Hispanic owned businesses and to assist in the professional growth of Hispanic business leaders in West Michigan. Since then, it has grown exponentially in the number of partners, event turnouts, and membership enrollment.
Membership at the Hispanic Chamber continues to grow monthly as new members benefit from the outstanding services provided by the Chamber. For instance, the chamber offers free monthly business workshops in Spanish and free bi-weekly business consultations with the Small Business Development Center (SBDC), which has allowed small business owners to gain business literacy and resources to grow their companies.
“Just recently, a young mother visited our office with the idea to start a commercial cleaning company, and now she is meeting with the SBDC twice a month to create a financial plan and brand. This is exactly what we are aiming for every day: to help local Hispanic individuals and families to take the necessary steps to create sustainable success,” said Executive Director Guillermo Cisneros.
The chamber offers more than 500 members different kinds of programs. Every third Thursday morning, a different member hosts the Conecta Membership Meeting. “This is a wonderful chance for our members and prospective members to not only meet the WMHCC Board of Directors but also meet other members, ranging from corporate executives to local artists, to professors and students,” added Mr. Cisneros.
Additionally, WMHCC is running a program that provides participants with financial literacy and food safety certification in Spanish, which is helping many local businesses create a business plan, apply for a loan, and much more. The end goal is for the Chamber to always act as a resource and connection between the Hispanic community and the professional world.
In regard to the benefits for its members, the chamber offers great tools to market its members’ events, services or job opportunities. These include free services like job and event postings on their website, announcements in the eNewsletter, and one free radio interview per year to promote a service or event to the Latino community, plus access to their annual events, such as the Awards Gala or the Latino Health 5K.
Their membership fees are based on the size of the organization and range from $250 for a Small business or non-profit with less than 25 employees to a $1,000 for a corporate business with over 300 employees. These fees occur once a year and the memberships expire a full year from the renewal month, ensuring maximum time to use the benefits.
“The networking component that we offer to our members is our added value. Not only do we provide a space for connection and open discussion, but we also truly do work with the Hispanic community in the forefront of our programs. We promote minority businesses that have previously gone without a voice. Our members remain loyal because they feel value in their membership, and our annual fees for membership are quite nominal and occur only once,” explained Mr. Cisneros.
The West Michigan Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (WMHCC) is open for anyone who wants to enroll. Business owners, entrepreneurs, business hopefuls, students, and independent professionals are part of this network. If you want to join and network with like-minded business people, you can apply at www.hccwm.org or call the chamber’s office for more information at (616) 4523960.
Haz clic para leer en Español: Emprendedor y empresario latino es hora de hacer crecer tu negocio