Latino Business Alliance Aims to:
Unite and strengthen the Latino business community.
Contribute to a stronger Oregon economy.
Create awareness of the positive economic impact of the Latino business community.
Connect the general business community with the Latino business community.
By:
Empowering Latino business owners through profitable opportunities and resources.
Providing networking opportunities, business workshops, and seminars.
Our History
In 2009, a group of concerned group of Latino business owners and professionals came together to build trust, first among themselves, and then to create a plan to help each other through the Great Recession. The idea grew and word spread through the whole community.
In 2010, The Latino Business Alliance was born. Officially, we are the Willamette Valley Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, but in order to better connect with our community, we chose “La Alianza de Negocios Latinos” as our public name. We received our tax-exempt status from the IRS in September 2010 and were 100% volunteer-run until early 2014.
What We Do
Latino-owned businesses have grown substantially since 2000. As exciting as this is, Latino-owned businesses’ sales are 10% of that of the general community. We have also learned they are less likely to be able to access affordable credit, have health insurance, or have the ability to receive public and private contracts.
Our work is threefold:
• Gain the trust of the Latino small business community and strive to create a method of communication between us
• Build bridges in the general community in order to create awareness of the positive economic impact these businesses bring to our local economy
• Identify resources available to help them begin and grow their businesses and assure they are offered in a way to correctly interface with them
Where Are We Today
The year 2014 marked a turning point for the LBA. Thanks to grants received from the Kaiser Permanente Community Fund and the Oregon Community Foundation, an 18-month Strategic Planning process began and the hire of our first employee, an Outreach Specialist. Success for us will mean we were able to assist as many Latino entrepreneurs as possible through mutually-beneficial collaborations with our community partners.