“You’ve seen how much that we’ve grown since the beginning … since we were in our infancy … and this grant just solidified that the work we are doing is needed and is impactful,” Jessica Cavazos, president and CEO of the Latino Chamber of Commerce, tells Madison365. “As Latinos, we are the biggest (minority) group and we can have some power. We have to learn how to work in unity. We are a strong economic arm for this state. Our workforce and our businesses are the fastest-growing so I think we have to be at the forefront of creating that bullhorn for the community.”
Last week, Gov. Tony Evers awarded the Latino Chamber of Commerce a $3.4 million grant which the chamber plans to use to increase its reach, hire more staff, and to support those businesses in most need within Latino communities around the state.
Cavazos says that she is appreciative of Gov. Tony Evers and his administration for making it possible. The grant was part of $57.6 million in pandemic relief funds awarded through the Diverse Business Assistance Grant Program, $8 million of which went to organizations based in Dane County.
“We had a deadline back in November to get these proposals in and basically my concerns were: How do we create impact? and what do we really need monetarily to bring the impact that they’re saying that we need?.
“That $3.4 million was what we needed to hire more people for the type of work we’re doing,” she continues. “We also want to be able to give out some more revolving loan funds out to businesses that need cash flow, and increasing our microloan program … which we’re going to roll out hopefully in June.”
Founded in 2003, the Wisconsin Latino Chamber of Commerce’s mission is to maximize economic development and job creation through advocacy and programs that generate success and value for our Latino and non-Latino business community.
“As a chamber, our desire is to continue to impact the economic prosperity of Latino-owned businesses in the state, but also to move the economic equity conversation forward,” Cavazos says.
She adds that sometimes people don’t understand why there are ethnic chambers, including the Latino Chamber of Commerce.
“The reality is that the concept of business in a lot of our disadvantaged communities is a new concept, and so, there’s a lot of need for support,” Cavazos says. “And after COVID, the impacts were so negative and the number of businesses that closed down that were [run by people] of color doubled. A lot of people didn’t have the equity and the 30-day liquidity to keep their businesses going.
“I think as an organization, we are not only trying to create more businesses, but you know, for the ones that are around, we want to make sure that they are healthy and that they get all the resources and they know what to do in order to upscale and to grow … because we know that they’re so imperative to our communities,” Cavazos adds. “When one small business closes down — especially when they are in a community that really needs it — it really impacts everybody.”
According to the most recent census, the number of Latinos in Wisconsin grew by roughly 33 percent over the last 10 years. The Latino Chamber has kept up with that growth. Cavazos says there are now 620 businesses in her organization.
“We’re happy to have such a growing membership. Sometimes I feel like because we’re growing so rapidly, we don’t get to connect with all of the businesses like we used to when we were smaller,” she says. “But, you know, the brunt of that those members – that 60% of our membership – is still is in Dane County, which is a beautiful thing. Even though now we’ve changed our name to Wisconsin Chamber of Commerce, we still operate, for certain things, as the Latino Chamber of Dane County, just because our focus is to continue to serve the community that gives us an opportunity.”
Cavazos says that this grant money is going to not just help businesses in Dane County, but it’s going to be for rural communities that continue to lack the resources or the connectivity. “So we’re going to them and that’s what we’re gearing up this money to be for,” Cavazos says.
About 370,000 Latinos reside in Wisconsin – and not just in its two biggest cities (Milwaukee, Madison) either. The rural areas of Wisconsin are seeing a boom in Latino populations.
“I always call it the browning of Wisconsin. These communities are seeing a high number of diverse populations moving into areas that normally you wouldn’t think they would live in,” Cavazos says. “For example, we were in Platteville several weeks ago, and the diverse businesses that came in to visit our chamber were amazing, you know, from Native Americans, African Americans, of course, our Latino base, right? And so there is that need out there for connectivity and what chambers do are add a platform for connecting businesses, a platform for getting and sharing information as a collective.
“Latinos are going to continue to grow outside of Dane County and Milwaukee. All these other areas are very competitive right now in their growth,” she adds. “And, you know, as we travel the state, we see how robust these businesses are to serve those communities. And we just want to help them have the tools to do it the correct way, but we also want to let Latinos know, they’re not by themselves. We’re here to advocate for them and we really care about them.”
