As Guillermo Cisneros celebrates the groundbreaking of the future Center for Latino Economic and Talent Advancement, the president and CEO of the West Michigan Hispanic Chamber of Commerce tries to anticipate future needs the center will meet.
“We are projected to grow 130% as Latinos by 2045 so we identified the needs in Grand Rapids to make sure that we have the proper infrastructure to be able to keep up with this exponential growth.”
A growing community demands increasing space for services and programs, better technology and business training in English and Spanish.
Cisneros says investing resources into Hispanic businesses will be good for all of West Michigan.
“If we invest resources - I mean, education, technical assistance, opportunities, connections - and these businesses become successful, these people will hire more people. These people will also sustain families. Businesses will pay more taxes, so the economy grows.”
Cisneros says challenges include helping Hispanics and Latinos adapt to changes and connect to the larger community.
“It's important for us to make sure that the entire West Michigan community sees us as possible partners in business, you know, friends, but also a community that is helping to support the economy of this region.”
