Hispanic Chamber hopes to boost membership, Celina Record

Celina-Prosper Hispanic Chamber of Commerce looking to boost membership Lisa Ferguson, lferguson@starlocalmedia.com Apr 21, 2016 Local Hispanic business owners now have an organization to call their own. The Celina-Prosper Hispanic Chamber of Commerce was formed in February and is working to attract new members according to Arturo Nevarez, who serves as its executive vice president. The chamber chapter is part of the nonprofit Tri-County Regional Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, which was founded a dozen years ago. It includes chapters in 19 cities throughout the Metroplex whose members represent 12 nations including Mexico, Peru, Brazil and Columbia. “We’re definitely anticipating growth in the Hispanic community” in Celina and Prosper, Nevarez said. “We all know that there’s a lot of land that’s being gobbled up for development and it’s just prime for other businesses to come in and take advantage of that.” Nevertheless Nevarez people have questioned whether the chamber, which also welcomes non-Hispanic business owners as members, needs a chapter in the area. “The Hispanic Chamber of Commerce will act and do pretty much everything the [Great Celina Chamber of Commerce] does, but we’ll try to help the Latino community and not so much segregate ourselves … but more so to build that bridge” between Spanish-speaking and English-speaking businesses and business owners, he explained. “We always try to promote business for our members,” said Nevarez, a Relator in Plano whose wife, Indira Garcia, is also a Realtor and serves as president of the Celina-Prosper Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. “We always want to keep [members] informed about what’s going on in the communities, let them know about other events going on, other opportunities that might be there, educate them as to businesses coming (into the area), the potential impact that will have, educate them about what other businesses are doing to see if they can partner up, things of that nature,” he said. So far, the local chamber’s only member is Lucy’s on the Square, 127 N. Ohio St., in Celina. Owner Moises Casillas said he joined earlier this month for the same reasons he previously joined the Great Celina Chamber of Commerce. “It’s because we help each other to be a good community, we talk about businesses,” he said. “It’s a good way to improve my knowledge about businesses because they [have] meetings every once in a while and you have a chance to hear or to see many different options for your business and how to improve.” In an effort to boost its profile and membership, the Celina-Prosper Hispanic Chamber of Commerce will host a kickoff event beginning at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at Carmela Winery, 132 N. Louisiana Drive in Celina. The event will feature wine tastings, networking opportunities and entertainment provided by a mariachi band, Nevarez said. “We’re the new kids on the block,” he said. “We just want to let people know that the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce is here now in Celina and Prosper and if they want to come out to this event, they are more than welcome.” Scheduled to speak are Garcia; Tri-County Chamber founder and chairman Herb Moncibais; Celina Mayor Sean Terry; City Manager Mike Foreman; and Corbett Howard, executive director of the Celina Economic Development Corp. “We have a lot of Hispanic business owners in Celina,” Terry said, adding that the chamber “is just another way for them to reach out through their own cultures … to have more of an opportunity to get their businesses recognized out there, and get their people involved in the city and what’s going on. “Anytime you can get organizations that want to come in to help benefit your city, we’re all for that and we want them to work great with our current chamber.” Great Celina Chamber of Commerce President/CEO Melissa Cromwell said she is excited about the Celina-Prosper Hispanic Chamber of Commerce’s entry into the area. “They really kind of enhance what we do as far as getting Hispanic business owners involved in the community, so I think it’s awesome,” she said. Follow the Celina Record on Twitter @celinarec