Business Symposium 2019 by the East Valley Hispanic Chamber of Commerce
The EVHCC Business Symposium 2019 was a success, thanks to all the attendees and our main speakers: Mayor John Giles, Joselyn Cousin from the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, Panel Representatives from National Bank of Arizona, Alliance Bank, La Raza Fund, Prestamos LISC, and Accion.
We had a fantastic event at the Mesa Convention Center on May 22nd, 2019. We received much helpful information on how Hispanic Businesses and Small Businesses are impacting the U.S. Economy and how important it is to provide more solutions to access capital.
Interesting enough, we learned that most capital funds small businesses use is personal funds and also Online Loans that in most cases, provide funds at an extremely high interest rate. We also learned that when local or National Banks are not able to provide funding to small businesses, then they can contact a CDFI Organization (Community Development Financial Institution) where they will be able to get funds in most cases.
CDFIs are not well known or marketed in the Small Business community, and this is why there is not much demand from Small Business to these organizations. It was highlighted at the Business Symposium that Online Banks are doing a better job to market their products and online marketing to Small Businesses and Entrepreneur via Social Media and Digital Marketing compared to CDFIs or even banks. Another critical point is the customer service received from Online Banks in comparison to other Banks or CDFIs, where Online Banks are more aggressive in their communications and trying to get the funding application in as little as 24 hours.
The Panelists and Speakers agreed that there is much to do in reaching the Small Business community through Digital Marketing but as well to provide better process guidance where if the Small Business is not able to get a loan through a traditional bank, then they can be referred to a CDFI.
We look forward to next year’s Business Symposium, and if you missed it, stay tuned or sign up as a member of the East Valley Hispanic Chamber of Commerce to always be notified about the monthly networking events and the signature events throughout the year.
Here are two resources Joselyn Cousins encouraged to review, we share them with you:
Gabriel Ortiz
Gabriel is the CEO and Founder of Primero Negocios, a company based in Arizona focused on providing high quality Digital Marketing Solutions to Hispanic Businesses in the U.S. He also has over 6 years of experience managing Digital Marketing Strategies for local business and national brands.
