Hispanic Enterprise - June/July 2008 - (Page 10)

BRIEFCASE BizBuzz POLITICS, MARKETING, TRADE & TRENDS SPORTING GOODS: HITS, RUNS AND NO ERRORS Sporting-goods maker Jorge Medina has hit a homerun with his company, Controlling the Game, or CTG.Whenever he watches a ballgame on TV, he’s likely to see major leaguers like Carlos Beltran, Carlos Delgado and Albert Pujols swatting the horsehide with the bats that he provides. It’s hard to believe that just three years ago Medina, now 34, was struggling selling T-shirts from a basement apartment in the South Bronx, whereas today he has a bat factory in Jamestown, New York and a 5-percent share of the baseball-goods market. No fewer than 55 major leaguers rely on his bats to get the hits they’re looking for. “We look for the winning edge and build it into everything we make,” according to CTG website controllingthegame.com. Commissioner Bud Selig’s Diverse Business Partners Program enabled CTG to become the ﬁrst and only Hispanic company licensed to provide gear and sportswear to Major League Baseball. It had to happen, one might say, in a sport where Latino athletes play such a dominant role. Although an unlucky injury at Fordham University where he was a star baseball player ended his hopes of playing in the big leagues, nothing could keep Medina out of the game for good. BUSINESS IN BRIEF BANKING: IMMIGRANTS’ MONEY GLADLY ACCEPTED Banks in the United States lose a lot of business among the immigrant population due to their habitual indifference and lack of information they provide newcomers, according to the Boston Globe. They get little information about savings accounts, ways to increase their earnings, or anything else. But while many banks seem not to care about winning immigrants as customers, a newcomer to San Diego County, California is making that its main goal. Vibra Bank, founded chieﬂy by U.S. Latinos and Mexicans with banking experience in both countries, intends to create a ﬁnancial institution culturally in tune with the Hispanic community, the fastest growing market segment in the area. “We are going out of our way to ser ve the Hispanic community,” Mexico-born Dan Schon, Vibra Bank vice president of Business Development, told the local daily La Prensa. “We know Mexican culture and business.” He also said that Vibra Bank’s unique vision is just what local Latino businesses need to help them grow. While the new bicultural bank, located in Chula Vista near San Diego, will also ser ve the general public including long-established Hispanics, there seems little doubt that by catering to the influx of immigrants from Mexico it will post an impressive rate of growth in a ver y shor t time. X-ECUTIVE CALENDAR June 23-26: Women’s Business Enterprise National Council; 9th Annual Women in Business Conference, Atlanta, Georgia. www.wbenc.org July 12-15: National Council of La Raza Annual Conference, San Diego Convention Center, San Diego, California. www.nclr. org July 15: Shomex Professional and Diversity Career Fair, Navy Pier, Chicago. www.diversitycareerexpos.com 10 July 30-Aug. 2: Texas Association of Mexican-American Chambers of Commerce Annual Convention, Austin Convention Center. www.tamacc.org Sept. 24-27: 29th Annual USHCC National Convention & Business Expo, Sacramento Convention Center, Sacramento, California. www.ushcc.com. Oct 9-ll: National Society of Hispanic MBAs 2008 Conference & Career Expo, Atlanta, Georgia. www.nshmba.org. HISPANIC ENTERPRISE June/July 2008 http://controllingthegame.com http://www.wbenc.org http://www.tamacc.org http://www.nclr.org http://www.ushcc.com http://www.nclr.org http://www.diversitycareerexpos.com http://www.nshmba.org

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Hispanic Enterprise - June/July 2008

Hispanic Enterprise - June/July 2008 Contents Briefcase: BIZBUZZ: Business Briefs Briefcase: Dynamic Trends Briefcase: Q&A Briefcase: Trendsetters BizLife: BizTech BizLife: Travel Feature: Target: Hispanics Cover Story: A Legend in His Own Time Feature: Top 25 Franchises Success & Motivation: The Talent Scout Education: Success by Degrees Finance & Investing: A Tough Sell Social Events: Emerge Dallas Politics & Government: The Accidental Americans Managing: Deconstructing Networking

Hispanic Enterprise - June/July 2008

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