Five Questions

As the first-ever executive director of the Southwest

Florida Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, Leonardo Garcia has been busy since

starting the job a year ago. The non-profit group, which has an office on

McGregor Boulevard in Fort Myers and welcome centers in Fort Myers and Cape

Coral, assists in the development of Hispanic-owned businesses and markets and

serves as an information source regarding Hispanic trends in Southwest Florida.

Garcia, who previously worked for a social service non-profit agency, has lived

in Southwest Florida since 1989 and witnessed the population explosion that has

made Hispanics the region’s fastest-growing minority group.

What types of Southwest Florida businesses are owned by

Hispanics?

Charlotte, Collier, Hendry, Glades and Lee counties host an

estimated 10,000 Hispanic home businesses. About 40 percent of local Hispanics

own and operate retail, travel, real estate, cleaning, landscaping and

restaurant businesses. Media include seven Hispanic newspapers and three

Hispanic radio stations. Sixty percent of Hispanics work for companies in

similar industries, as well as in hotel and agricultural businesses.

How are Hispanic-owned companies

faring?

A pattern of steady growth is evident. Greater growth will

come as community chambers of commerce reach out and realize the economic

benefits of linking Hispanic and general markets.

Your group sponsored a trade mission to the Dominican

Republic in 2001. How will the local business community benefit?

Our first trade mission identified several opportunities for

mutual economic development. Two local companies returned for a second visit.

Promising collaborations include tourism, business development and workforce

training, and shipping and cargo warehousing.

Historically, the Dominican Republic has looked to New York

City and Miami as its primary centers of business exchange. But Miami is

running out of room. And Southwest Florida, which still has space, is closer

than New York. Also, the Dominican Republic’s upper and middle-income classes

routinely travel to the United States to shop and vacation. Currently, these

tourists tend to migrate to New York,

Miami and Orlando. With baseball the No. 1 sport in the Dominican Republic,

Southwest Florida’s spring training camps could prove a competitive draw.

University students comprise another opportunity. The number

of Dominican students here for higher education continues to rise. Texas and

Massachusetts need not be the only North American states to benefit.

What were your biggest achievements and challenges in your

first year?

Trade missions to the Dominican Republic have set the stage

for another outbound trade mission to Mexico in April. For that, we are

collaborating with the Mexico Trade Commission in Miami and Enterprise Florida.

Close to home, the Hispanic Chamber is accelerating local

networking opportunities, from inviting non-Hispanic speakers to business

after-hours events to offering management training. Hispanic professionals

often need to become fluent in English before they can move to a position

better suited to their credentials and training.

Hispanic youths also face challenges. One is graduating

greater numbers from high school. Another is general suspicion, after Sept. 11,

of anyone who looks different. In addition, a new Hispanic Youth Leadership

Program will show young people opportunities for business success outside the

sports and entertainment arenas.

We see few Hispanic businesses represented at the area’s major

business events. How can these forums be made more welcoming and inclusive?

We all need to reach out to each other more by expanding

beyond the way we’ve always done things. For example, the Hispanic Chamber

endorsed The Chamber of Southwest

Florida’s Regional Economic Outlook 2001, but little thought was given to our

taking a larger role. I am interested in having Hispanic business people

participate in general-market trade events. We also need to look beyond our own

membership for involvement in a Hispanic Chamber-sponsored trade show.