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The company was created in the Fall of 2007 to help gain media attention for McGilvray’s family’s lawsuit against a large concrete company who had dumped hundreds of tons of concrete rubble and rebar on the family’s land (see www.obsnews.com/hanson.htm). The site soon mushroomed into a news destination.
The U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (USHCC) today announced the selection of the host cities for its 2010 and 2011 Annual National Convention and Business Expo. The sites will host the largest gathering of Hispanic business owners in the country, and contribute an anticipated $10 million to the local economy of each city.
“On behalf of the USHCC Board of Directors and our 200 local chambers nationwide, we look forward to working with local business and government leaders to host what will be one of the most successful national conventions on record in their respective city,” stated Board Chair David C. Lizárraga.
Dallas was chosen as the 2010 convention site in part because of its large concentration of Hispanic residents and Hispanic-owned companies. According to the state census, one-third of Dallas’ population is Hispanic, and there are 55,000 Hispanic-owned businesses in the state of Texas. The 2011 convention site will be Albuquerque, with a population that is two-thirds Hispanic. There are 30,000 Hispanic-owned businesses in the state of New Mexico.
“The USHCC is very excited about the prospect of showcasing our Hispanic business community on a national stage,” said Eric L. Carson, USHCC Site Selection Committee Chair. “Hosting this type of event puts Dallas and Albuquerque on the map as two of the nation’s top centers of Hispanic business activity and development. I want to express my personal thanks and gratitude to the site selection committee who did great work in the selection process.”
Convention sites are selected through an RFP process supervised by the USHCC Site Selection Committee. Committee members measure RFP respondents in areas ranging from the ease and cost of reaching the location, to the ability of the local host committee to raise financial support and promote attendance,
This year, the USHCC Convention will be held in Sacramento, California, from September 24 -27. Additional information about Sacramento sponsorship call Manny Fernandez (916) 868-3033
Additional information about the 2010 and 2011 in Dallas and Albuquerque, respectively, can be obtained by contacting Oda Solms at (202) 842-1212 or via email at osolms@ushcc.com.
About the United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce
Founded in 1979, the USHCC actively promotes the economic growth and development of Hispanic entrepreneurs and represents the interests of more than 2.5 million Hispanic-owned businesses in the United States that generate more than $388 billion annually. It also serves as the umbrella organization for 200 local Hispanic chambers in the United States, Puerto Rico, Canada, Mexico, Bolivia and Uruguay.
The U.S. population will soar to 438 million by 2050 and the Hispanic population will triple, according to projections released Monday by the Pew Research Center.
The latest projections by the non-partisan research group are higher than government estimates to date and paint a portrait of an America dramatically different from today’s.
The projected growth in the U.S. population — 303 million today — will be driven primarily by immigration among all groups except the elderly.
“We’re assuming that the rate of immigration will stay roughly constant,” says Jeffrey Passel, co-author of the report.
Even if immigration is limited, Hispanics’ share of the population will increase because they have higher birth rates than the overall population. That’s largely because Hispanic immigrants are younger than the nation’s aging baby boom population. By 2030, all 79 million boomers will be at least 65 and the elderly will grow faster than any other age group.
The projections show that by 2050:
•Nearly one in five Americans will have been born outside the USA vs. one in eight in 2005. Sometime between 2020 and 2025, the percentage of foreign-born will surpass the historic peak reached a century ago during the last big immigration wave. New immigrants and their children and grandchildren born in the USA will account for 82% of the population increase from 2005 to 2050.
•Whites who are not Hispanic, now two-thirds of the population, will become a minority when their share drops to 47%. They made up 85% of the population in 1960.
•Hispanics, already the largest minority group, will more than double their share of the population to 29%.
•Blacks will remain 13% of the population. Asians will go to 9% from 5%.
•The gap between the number of working-age people and the children and seniors who depend on them will widen as boomers age. There will be 72 young and elderly for every 100 people of working age by 2050 compared with 59 in 2005. The gap would widen more if immigration slows because immigrants tend to be of working-age, the report said.
The projections are based on detailed assumptions about births, deaths and immigration levels based on recent trends. Those trends can change. For example, a new immigration policy could substantially limit the growth.
“Immigration has long-term consequences on the make-up of the country and the size of the population and we need to take those results in account when we make immigration policy,” says Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, a group that promotes limits on immigration. “Growing our population by 100 million more than we would otherwise is a choice. Immigration is a choice. … It’s all up to us.”
The ethnic and racial profile of the nation could change because of inter-marriage. It’s not clear how the children and grandchildren of multiracial and multi-ethnic unions will identify themselves in the future.
“We’ve assumed that the definitions and categories that are being used today will continue to be used in the next 50 years,” Passel says. “Fifty years ago, we didn’t have the definition for the Hispanic population.”
Adds Krikorian: “Will that category of who’s white be redefined? What is a non-Hispanic white?”
Suzie Rivera’s dream of home ownership may soon be within reach.
The 53-year-old housekeeper for a local hospital lives in a rental home — a neat, two-bedroom dwelling on 39th Street in Oak Park. Her daughter, Margarita, age 9, lives with her.
“I’d like to buy a house, not so much for myself as for my daughter,” Rivera said last week. “Home prices are climbing so fast that by the time she’s an adult, she won’t be able to buy one.”
The house Rivera is eyeing is the one she’s living in — one of five homes that recently got bright new paint jobs and other renovations on the 2700 block of 39th Street. The homes, along with an adjacent duplex at Second Avenue, will be sold to low-income families this spring as part of a plan to increase home ownership in Oak Park.
Pride in home ownership is a big factor in the ongoing rebound of Oak Park, said Manny Fernandez, the young private developer who has played a key role in the turnaround at 39th Street.”The great changes in Oak Park are occurring because many homeowners are moving in with pride in ownership,” said Fernandez, 30, a former amateur.
With a new era dawning, he said, Oak Park is discarding its old reputation as a neighborhood beset with criminal activity and neglected infrastructure. At least four of the homes were vacant when Fernandez bought them from their former owner in mid-2004 for about $600,000.
Renovations, costing a total of more than $100,000, began immediately. “The homes were in good shape, but they had some deferred maintenance,” said Fernandez, who noted that all but one of the reconditioned homes are now occupied.
Because the houses sat on a single lot, he needed city approval to rezone the parcel into six individual lots. When his request went before the City Council in September, Councilwoman Lauren Hammond, who represents Oak Park, supported Fernandez’s plan.
The rezoning was approved.
“I wanted more homeowners in that neighborhood because I believe it will help stabilize that neighborhood,” Hammond said last week.”When people invest in their homes, they tend to be invested in their neighborhood,” Hammond said. “They’ll care about the appearance of their home, their street and so on.”
Before the homes can be sold, Fernandez must satisfy two city-imposed conditions: He must build sidewalks along the 2700 block of 39th Street, and he must install a fire hydrant by the duplex.
The sidewalks and fire hydrant are expected to be in place by March.Soon after, Fernandez will put the homes up for sale — with priority to first-time home buyers who can qualify for special loans at a number of institutions.
The rehabs range in size from about 1,000 square feet to a total of about 1,820 feet for the two-story duplex.
Each will sell for between $199,000 to $230,000.
“I enjoy living in this home,” said Rivera while standing by her tidy front porch. “It’s very comfortable. Nobody bothers us.
“I want to be one of the buyers,” she added, gazing down the equally spotless block, which resembles a wide alley.
Fernandez is pleased that the project is almost done.
“Many naysayers tried to discourage me from investing in Oak Park,” he said. “I never saw so much laughter. It was like a joke.”
A co-investor in the plan is Kyriakos Tsakopoulos of KT Communities.
“I received great support from Kyriakos,” Fernandez said.
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