Dear members,
At the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Louisiana (HCCL), we facilitate opportunities for Hispanic professionals and Hispanic-owned businesses, large and small. In partnership with the HCCL Foundation (HCCLF), our Young Professionals committee (HCYP), and thanks to your generous support, we provide labor and workforce training programs, facilitate public and private partnerships, and develop funding and educational prospects for Louisiana’s Hispanic business community. The Chamber also provides a networking platform for Hispanic professionals and businesses to interact with each other and the Louisiana business community, at large. It is an honor to serve you and our Hispanic community, at large, as Chair of the HCCL’s Board of Directors.
When I last wrote to you, I said my goal as Chair was to “add practical value to our members’ business pursuits”. Now, midway through my second year, I am proud to share the progress we have made towards that goal in this – our second edition – of the HCCL Directory. For starters, we have revamped our Directory with an industry-related categorization in order to better facilitate diversity sourcing from within our membership. We have also added additional substantive content detailing the many workshops, programs, certifications, and other opportunities, which HCCL, HCCLF, and HCYP provide throughout the year. I encourage each of you to take advantage of these additions and use the Directory as a tool to advance yourselves and all Hispanic-owned businesses in our community!
Over the past year, the Chamber also offered a much broader spectrum of small business workshops designed to assist entrepreneurs build, grow, and manage their businesses. These programs included presentations on developing your business plan, creating your website, managing your message, leveraging your network, and cyber and data breach security. We also hosted courses designed to create business opportunities for our membership including the Louisiana Economic Development’s (LED) Small and Emerging Business Development Program (SEBD) certification event and the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) System Award Management (SAM) series and registration.
The HCCL Foundation diversified its career counseling, web-based employment training, and job placement programming. Our young professionals created the Lunch & Learn Ejecutivo to give our millennial members an opportunity to ask questions of, and learn from, successful Hispanic entrepreneurs. Going forward, we will continue to streamline our programming to better serve your business needs. And your feedback will continue to shape our efforts. I urge you to contact me, our President, Mayra Pineda, and our Board of Directors to make your concerns, feedback, and interests known. Join a Committee, participate in as many events as you can, establish relationships, visit the Chamber, and ultimately you will grow your business. We welcome your contributions with open arms!
In closing, I’d like to thank HCCL President, Mayra Pineda, for her tireless representation of the Chamber and our community. I also thank my fellow Officers and Directors, our strategic partners in the region, and the HCCL Foundation and HCYP, for their trust, dedication, and leadership. Finally, I thank each of you: members, volunteers, and sponsors, for your commitment to the Chamber and its programming – none of which could be accomplished without your support.
Together, we will continue shaping the future of our community.
Jacqueline M. Brettner
HCCL Chair, 2018-2019
