Hispanic-American Chamber of Commerce of Greater Boston
| SITE MEMBERS: | ||
| Member Information | |||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||
| Search | ||
| Local / National Resources | ||||
|
||||
| Our Website Policies | ||
| Service Agreement Privacy Policy Download Policy Upload Policy |
||
| Welcome to Hispanic-American Chamber of Commerce of Greater Boston | ||
Event Highlights!
Business
Breakfast
2010 Business Morning Session: Fascinating Insights on the EconomyBy: Ileana Jiménez García For the fourth year in a row, Boston Private Bank & Trust Company hosted the Hispanic American Chamber of Commerce’s “Business Morning Session” on March 23rd. This year’s hot topic, “What Businesses and Investors are Thinking: An Economic and Capital Markets Review,” addressed the economic anxieties and opportunities of our era. In his opening remarks, HACC President Nader Acevedo celebrated HACC’s long relationship with the Boston Private Bank & Trust Company as he introduced Chief Operating Officer and Treasurer George G. Schwartz. As host, Mr. Schwartz reaffirmed the bank’s partnership with HACC as he welcomed the attendees and introduced the speakers. The bank’s presenters, Christopher T. Casey, CFA, Director of Equity Research and Senior Vice President and Equity Analyst and Assistant Vice President, Jason T. O’Connell, CFA began with an overview of the U.S. economy and employment market. “The underemployment rate, 17% of our economy, must come down,” declared Casey, citing U.S. Department of Labor reports. Casey advised the captivated audience to look beyond the unemployment numbers to consider how many people are underemployed in our economy. Mr. Casey touted labor statistics as essential data that can be mined, analyzed and interpreted for signs of where the economy might be headed. He noted that the current rebound in temporary employment has not been matched by the hiring rate for regular workers, an indication that businesses remain cautious. “Temporary employment always rises before full-time workers are hired,” he said, stressing how changes in underemployment are an important indicator. For his part, Mr. O’Connell cited surveys of business and investor confidence to gain further insights into the direction of the economy and the prospects and pace of recovery. He shared the results of the CEO Magazine Survey and the A.I.M. Business Confidence Index. “Apprehensive is a term that I think sums up the general sentiment of corporate management teams as shown by their words but, more importantly, their actions,” Mr. O’Connell summarized. Turning to the investors, he added, “there are always opportunities to make money in the equity markets but the easy money has already been made during the recent rally. We’re entering a market where security selection is going to matter.” When the time came for questions from the audience, quality of the discussion remained strong. Looking beyond the shores of the U.S., “the most critical thing in the global economy is what governments are going to do next,” Mr. Casey observed. He cited the example of one emerging global economy. “When we look at Brazil we see a country with low debt, energy efficiency, and support for social investments…all significant components for developing a sustainable economy,” he noted. Returning to the domestic front, Casey reminded the audience that manufacturing has led past recoveries. He closed his remarks with a question of his own. “What’s our economy’s next transition, are we going to revert to a manufacturing economy in the future?” It was one more thing to consider on top of the other lessons and insights from the experts at the Boston Private Bank & Trust Company. Thanks to them, the Business Morning Session is an essential part of the calendar for members of the Latino business community, its friends and allies. Event Highlights!
Governor
Patrick addresses Boston's
By: Marcela García*
Hispanic Business Community
 The Hispanic-American Chamber of
Commerce held one of its signature events the morning of Thursday,
February 25, at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. More than 100 businesses and Government Officials attended the Chamber’s Business Morning networking session and had the opportunity to hear Governor Deval Patrick speak about the Commonwealth’s economy and his administration’s commitment to the Hispanic community. “The members of the Latino-American Advisory Commission get together periodically, and they’re getting ready to launch a series of regional meetings with the community at the end of March and running through May,” said Patrick a few moments after his speech in an exclusive brief exchange with El Planeta. The first of such public hearings will happen on April 8 in Worcester State College, with the focus on education of Latinos. 
During the event and after a
brief introduction by David Leavell, Director of Diversity and Equal
Employment Opportunity at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, Yolanda
Kodrzycki, Vice President and Director of the New England Public Policy
Center in the Boston Fed, gave an outlook on Massachusetts’ economy,
stating gloomily that “the weak economy is depressing state revenues and
straining state budgets throughout the nation.” She warned that
“there’s more pain coming.”When Governor Patrick took the podium, he readily admitted that while the state government faced $9 million in budget gaps and cuts in many programs and services, plus the elimination of “over 2,200 jobs (and more to come),” the Massachusetts economy is slowly but sure coming around.” “CNBC ranked us the 8th best state in the nation in which to do business, up from 15th a year ago. Business confidence has improved 10 of the last 11 months,” said Patrick, adding that many other things are happening in different areas all over the state. And the Hispanic community is no exception. 
The Governor referred to specific examples of Latino-owned businesses
across the Commonwealth that have been benefiting from the current
economic situation, as paradoxical as that may seem. The key thing for
those businesses has been the federal stimulus funds fed into the
Massachusetts economy, along with a set of tax credits and incentive
programs. “All of [that] meant jobs and new businesses for hundreds of businesses across the state. For the electrical company owned by Ms. Ada Alfonso, a Cuban-American who last year formed the first joint ventured minority woman owned Electrical Contractor in the Commonwealth. For Geo Villegas and his company, New England Building Services,” he said. Along that line, Patrick shared the stories of 16-year-old Domingo Quiroz, who is part of an after-school program at the North Shore who is now housing specialist at the ARRA-funded Greater Lawrence Housing and Homeless Prevention. After his remarks, the Governor spent about 20 minutes leading a Q&A session with the audience. People like Betsy Cowan, from Egleston Square Main Street in Jamaica Plain, did not miss the chance of sharing with Patrick how close her organization works with the Hispanic community in that area, and what their needs are. * Marcela García is the Editor of El Planeta, the largest Spanish-language newspaper in the Boston area. |
||
| Upcoming Events | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Our Upcoming Events | ||