Open for business: Camino al Exito reaches Hispanic community
Published 12:12 am Friday, November 1, 2019
- Luis Figueroa addresses attendees at Camino al Exito. Figueroa owns and operates Figueroa’s Welding Wear, with locations in Port Arthur, Bridge City and Beaumont. (Stephen Hemelt/The News)
It was a great problem to have.
Jacob Quinones and Ivonne Zabolo show off their smiles during Camino al Exito. (Stephen Hemelt/The News)
Hispanic Business Council organizers needed to break out more chairs as Wednesday morning’s Camino al Exito got underway inside the Carl Parker Multipurpose Center.
The large turnout demanded it.
The inaugural event delivered in Spanish and dubbed “way to success” featured four speakers and a dozen informational booths.
Maria Villegas and Gracie Garcia of Region 5 Education Service Center attended Camino al Exito, where they reached out to parents who moved to the area in search of agricultural or fishing-related work. Their children may be eligible to receive additional educational benefits. Call 409-951-1877 for more information. (Stephen Hemelt/The News)
The Council, which operates under the Greater Port Arthur Chamber of Commerce umbrella, targeted existing Hispanic businesses and future entrepreneurs with a goal of getting them more acclimated to the larger working community,
“We had around 105 people; it went great,” Hispanic Business Council leading manager Raquel Ochoa said. “The four speakers did amazing, speaking on their life stories from the bottom of their hearts. Everybody kept telling me how good the stories were based on their experiences.”
Ochoa hopes to expand Camino al Exito into a yearly event. She would also like to add business trainings and networking events to help Hispanic businesspeople get to know each other and get involved with the Chamber.
“We don’t see in reality how many Hispanic businesses there are in Port Arthur, but there were a lot of businesspeople asking to join the Chamber and get more information to create a new business,” Ochoa said.
“This really helped our business community and those who have a vision of creating a business in the future.”
Targeted to members of the Hispanic business community and delivered in Spanish, organizers were extremely happy with the large turnout for Wednesday’s inaugural Camino al Exito at the Carl Parker Multipurpose Center. (Stephen Hemelt/The News)
