Hispanic Enterprise - October/November 2007 - (Page 62)

REGIONAL REPORT LOUISIANA MOVES FORWARD FULL FORCE By Millie Acebal Rousseau t’s been two years since Hurricane Katrina pounded Louisiana, forever changing the landscape. Even the way the state does business was altered. Suddenly, workers had nowhere to live. Small businesses were shuttered, never to reopen. Social services agencies were stretched to their limits. Among the agencies that responded was the state’s Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, which not only pitched in to strengthen the community after the disaster, but also grew from it. “When Katrina happened, it was a new ball game; it was no longer business as usual,” says Darlene A. Kattan, the chamber’s executive director. The chamber dates back to the late ‘70s. It started as one entity, then split, and then regrouped again in 1999 to form the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Louisiana, as it is known today. Membership stood at around 150 in the mid-80s, and approximately 200 pre-Katrina. Today, there are about 300 members and growing. The chamber serves the entire state, but after the storm, there was a shift—or rather a redeﬁnition—of its mission. “The chamber focused on promoting trade with other states and interna62 I tionally,” says Cynthia M. Ceballos, Esq., chamber president. “Since Katrina, we expanded to [include]community-based projects.” After the storm, there was a big demand for social services since nonproﬁts were at full capacity trying to serve the community, Ceballos says. The chamber responded by launching the Hispanic Business Resources and Technology Center just seven months after the storm. The center offers business start-up and expansion courses, seminars, workshops, tax assistance, job placement, ESL (English as a Second Language) training, mentoring programs and health screenings. The United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce provided the seed money to start the project, a unique venture between the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Louisiana, Jefferson Parish School System, Hispanic Apostolate and Southeastern Louisiana University. “It’s the only partnership of its kind in the U.S. in which you have a chamber, social services agency and a school district [involved],” says Kattan, the chamber’s executive director. The school district provides space at the Theodore Roosevelt School annex building, as well as Internet access and ESL instructors. The university contributed the initial computers and sends instructors to teach business courses. The Hispanic Apostolate provides the social services—counselors, access to pro bono legal services, after-school tutoring and medical services including prenatal care. Although not usually associated with business development, ensuring the availability of social services was a key part of the recovery efforts, Kattan says. After the storm, workers needed time to recover, and unless they and their families had access to food and shelter, they couldn’t focus. “You need a workforce that’s emotionally together,” she says. After Katrina, the chamber also had to rebuild its membership. “Many of our members dispersed or didn’t come back,” says Ceballos. In doing so, an interesting thing became clear: The post-Katrina Hispanic population burgeoned. “The Hispanic population almost doubled,” Ceballos says. Although there is no ofﬁcial data yet, it is estimated that there are now about 150,000 Hispanics in the metropolitan and surrounding areas. Ceballos has witnessed more supermarkets and restaurants spring up that catering to Hispanics. Prior to the storm, she says there were a good number of Hispanics, many in KenOctober/November 2007 HISPANIC ENTERPRISE

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Hispanic Enterprise - October/November 2007

Hispanic Enterprise - October/November 2007 Contents BIZBUZZ: Business Briefs Trendsetters BIZTECH: Personally Digital BizLife - Travel: The Mobile Meeting Motoring: Is What You Drive, Who You Are? Q&A - Fact Tank for the Hispanic Population Hispanic Commerce Cover Story: Tiles with Style Success & Motivation: Grammy Whammy Finance: Talking Code Event: Masterminds NCLR Report - Improving your Triple Bottom Line Politics & Government: Keep on Truckin' Managing: Avoiding an Identity Crisis Franchising: Beyond the Brand Finance & Investing - Talking Money Movers & Shakers Regional Report - Louisiana, Louisiana Chamber Focus - On the Island of Enchantment

Hispanic Enterprise - October/November 2007

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