| Local chamber members network with ethnic business leaders |
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| Wednesday, 24 June 2009 | ||
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Staff writer More than a dozen business people from the north metro met with leaders from chambers of commerce that represent Hispanic and Muslim business owners to network, learn more about how the organizations’ work and how they can market to different ethnic communities.
Tom Snell, executive director of the Metro North Chamber of Commerce, said his chamber members have occasionally met with members from other chamber organizations who represent different ethnic businesses, but his goal is for them to meet more often. Muslim chamber Snell said the business community has under-utilized working with the Arab and Muslim communities probably because of cultural differences and a certain amount of hesitation from his chamber members and Arab and Muslim business owners because of what’s happening in the world. “We want to be able to have opportunities for both people in the Arab business world and for people that are members of our chamber so that we can all join together and make money off each other,” Snell said. Hussein Khatib, executive director of The Unity Cooperative Council of Fridley, spoke with chamber members about how there are numerous Arab and Muslim nationalities. He told the chamber members that if they are hosting an event it is OK if there is pork and alcohol, but said they need to be respectful of others’ beliefs and be able to furnish food and drink for them. They should also be mindful of when the approximately one-month long Ramadan holiday is each year because there is a sunrise to sunset fast each day, Khatib said. Wherever an event is being held, there should also be a place for prayer because Muslims pray five times a day, he said. Khatib suggested that if the Metro North Chamber of Commerce members want to find Muslim mosques, organizations and schools, they can Google “Islamic finder.” The Unity Cooperative Council is a power buying group more than a chamber of commerce, Khatib said. The organization is in its fifth year and has about 315 members, most of whom are business people who own retail stores such as restaurants, grocery stores, tobacco stores and gas stations, according to Khatib. “Basically we go and broker and negotiate contracts on their behalf with the vendors that they deal with,” Khatib said. It helps when multiple businesses are negotiating instead of individual businesses, he said. Hispanic chamber Val Vargas, president and chief executive officer, talked to Metro North chamber members about her Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Minnesota, which is in its ninth year. Vargas, who lives in Andover and previously lived in Blaine and Fridley, said the Hispanic chamber is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that has five program areas. There is business and technical assistance. Training products on-line are in English and Spanish. The chamber provides information on human resources, immigration, banking and budgeting. The emerging leaders program recognizes 25 people each year in all walks of life including the legal, educational, medical and business fields. One year a priest received the distinct honor of being named. The Hispanic chamber is a certified Homestretch provider, Vargas said, so it can offer classes to help first-time homebuyers understand the complexities of buying a home. It also offers downpayment assistance. There is a very high drop-out and teen pregnancy rate in the Hispanic community, Vargas said, and her chamber’s goal is to break that cycle and have young girls meet with mentors in fields they are interested in to help lead them down a successful career path. The Hispanic chamber has a strong devotion to technology, according to Vargas. It has a Twitter account. Each of its members gets a “catch page,” which can serve as a businesses Web site. For example, this service makes it possible for a small restaurant to put its menu and coupons on-line. Members can be notified of special offers that other Hispanic chamber members may be interested in. The average Hispanic chamber business member has eight to 10 employees, but some of the largest Minnesota corporations such as 3M, Best Buy and Cargill are also members so they can have access to the membership. “That is one really big thing that we’re hoping as the economy rebounds we’ll be able to grow our membership base, not only with the Hispanic business, but with businesses that want to do business with our community,” Vargas said. A Metro North chamber member asked what precautions they could take to discretely find out the legal immigration status of a Hispanic person they are working with to make sure their business is obeying the law. Vargas said employers are now required to send a personal identification (PIN) number through a state of Minnesota database to check the legal status of all employees being hired. The background check by the IRS can sometimes take six months to a year, she said. Vargas said there are different levels of being a legal worker. There are visas, worker permits, temporary resident, permanent resident and a person with a green card. Like every other community, however, the Hispanic community has diverse opinions on the topic of immigration, she said. “We don’t directly work in immigration because it’s very touchy,” Vargas said. The chamber does not ask the legal residency status of people when offering programming. Eric Hagen is at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it |
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