Growing Business With Latino Leaders
Breakfast Illuminates Growing Latino Business Power
By Allana Haynes
Over 100 entrepreneurs gathered for the 4th Annual Latino Business Networking Breakfast at The Hotel at the University of Maryland in College Park in recognition of Hispanic Heritage Month, Sept. 18.
Hosted by the Prince George’s County Economic Development Corporation, the event brought together business leaders, community stakeholders, corporate partners and government officials for a morning of networking and inspirational conversations.
Themed “Juntos, Somos Más” or “Together, We Are More,” the event celebrated the achievements, leadership and economic impact of the county’s thriving Latino business community.
Prince George’s County Executive Aisha Braveboy and PGCEDC President and CEO Ingrid Watson were among the attendees.
Braveboy addressed the growing influence of the Latino business community within Prince George’s County.
“When you think about construction, landscaping, tech companies, companies that provide us with the best food and entertainment, many of those companies are Latino companies,” she said. “They have done a tremendous job helping us grow our economy here in Prince George’s County and I look forward to seeing them thrive.”
Watson highlighted the PGCEDC resources designed to support the county’s Latino business community.
“We should support all of our businesses, but especially our Latino businesses because they are here and there’s some struggles that they’ve been through, especially with the federal government,” she said. “We want them to know that they have a safe place here at [PGCEDC].”
Throughout the event, attendees heard from a distinguished lineup of speakers, including Rocio Treminio-Lopez, PGCEDC Latino Business Development Manager; Cesar Cucufate, PGCEDC Small Business Development Manager; Anthony Ojeda, owner of Brothers Landscaping, LCC and Jose Sueiro, owner of El Latino & La Nacion Newspapers. Additional speakers included, E. Darlene Perkins, Deputy Director of the Prince George’s County Office of Procurement; Vanessa Cabrera, founder of the Financial Awakening Movement; Karla Bermudez, M&T Bank Vice President and Iris Veronica Jimenez, co-founder of La Casita Pupuseria, Inc.
Together, these speakers shared key insights on accessing capital and contracting, fostering growth and innovation, leveraging technology and overcoming challenges.
Treminio-Lopez has helped organize the event for four years.
She wanted to create an event that directly connects small business leaders with government resources.
“It’s important to recognize that a lot of the needs in the Latino business community is access to capital and access to contracting,” she said. “The procurement with the county executive pushing these initiatives to get more small companies involved in government contracting has opened a lot of doors for the Latino business community.”
Ojeda shared his experience obtaining a contract to better inform the Latino community.
“I wanted to speak so everyone can understand how the process works, what it takes and that everybody has an opportunity in this county,” he said.
Cucufate hopes the Latino business community will continue supporting one another.
“I hope that the Latino business community continues meeting at events like these and continues having that dialogue,” he said. “What I’m really hoping is that we can see the growth of local chambers and local organizations that help.”
