October 4, 2000

The San Diego County Hispanic Chamber the pride of San Diego.

Patrick Osio, Jr.

HispanicVista.Com

The June 4, 2000, announcement that Robert M. Villareal had been named as the first Executive Director of the San Diego County Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (SDCHCC), brought to mind the Chamber's quantum leap since its inception in 1989.

There are many business people in San Diego that would like to keep memories of 1989 in deep freeze. The real estate boom had fizzled, the real estate industry was sliding into a serious recession, S&L's were closing faster than they had opened, and were fraught with scandal. The economy in the San Diego region was about to go bust, and the sinking into an overall major recession was just around the corner.

In the midst of this, a group of young Hispanic visionaries gathered to organize the San Diego County Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. Didn't they know better? Did they realize the insurmountable odds of starting a membership business organization in the face of an economic storm?

Manny Aguilar, the Chamber's 2000 President recently asked the question: "How do you eat an elephant?" The answer: "One bite at a time."

And that is what Gil Partida, Reneé Estrella-Teran, Jesse Navarro, Xavier Corona, Victor Calderon and Guillermo Marrero started to do in 1989.

Obstacles? Insurmountable odds? Recession? None of that, all they saw was a big elephant that needed eating one bite at a time. That's vision. That's leadership.

From 75 members in 1989, the Chamber today counts with over 1100 active members. And recognition for the Chamber's accomplishments is growing. In 1998, the California Hispanic Chamber of Commerce named SDCHCC Large Chamber of the Year. And, on its 10^th anniversary, the Chamber was chosen by the United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce to host in San Diego the national convention of Hispanic chambers, which turned out to be the most successful convention in the twenty year of USHCC history.

The success of any civic or business organization or chamber is measured by the quality and dedication of those who volunteer their time to the objectives of the group. The SDCHCC is no exception to this rule. Looking over the roster of past presidents, officers and board members it becomes easy to understand why the Chamber is so successful.

Start with Gil Partida, Founder and 1991 President. He went on to become President of the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce and is today the President for International business for Price-Cosco. Linda Stepp, 1992 President. Linda is the President and co-owner of Televideo, offering state of the art professional television equipment to the television industry. Enrique Morones, President for two terms 1996 and 1997; he is the Vice President for Hispanic & International Marketing for the San Diego Padres. Manny Aguilar, 2000 President, and is Pacific Bell's Director for External Affairs for San Diego County.

Then we look at some of the Board Members.  Jesse Navarro, Founder, First President, and continues as an active member. Jesse is President of Pax International, an investigative and consulting company. Guillermo Marrero, Founder, and Legal Counsel (Pro Bono) during the Chamber's formative years and beyond (6 years). Guillermo heads the International Law Practice for Gray, Cary, Ware & Freidenrich, one of San Diego's leading law firms. Xavier Corona, Founder, is the Director of the newspaper "El Informador." Viviana Ibañez, is the International Affairs Coordinator with the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce.  Dr. Ricardo Felix, is the Director, Latino Community Relations with Viejas Enterprises.

Clearly all of them are active leaders and a great resource to the entire San Diego region, not just the Hispanic community. What better role models? What better ambassadors of good will and understanding can a region have? And due to space limitations, I didn't name them all.

With this caliber of leadership it's easy to see why the Chamber is increasing membership at such rapid pace (over 500 in just the last two years). The services and events the Chamber offers members is a magnate to businesses. The Chamber's community outreach programs are making a real difference.

For instance, the Chamber signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the SBA to provide technical and administrative support to Chamber members. Helped SDSU Latino students create Hispanic Student Business Association chapter. Hosted the most successful binational mixer in Tijuana with Assembly Marco Antonio Firebaugh, Chairman of the Select Committee on California-Mexico Affairs. SDCHCC joined the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce's Educational Roundtable, as the only Latino organization member to support school reforms. Has hosted 4 Annual Latino Children's Book Drives, donating over 14,000 books in English and Spanish to children throughout the county.

On October 8^th the Chamber is sponsoring its second annual "Viva el Mariachi" music festival at the Coors Amphitheater in Chula Vista. The proceeds are used to teach Hispanic children throughout the county appreciation for Mariachi music and discover those with musical talent.

And now they recruit Roberto Villareal as Executive Director to work with the President and Board in making the Chamber the best of its kind, and in which all San Diegans will take pride.

With such a positive, we can do anything, attitude, Manny Aguilar's answer to the question of how do you eat an elephant, needs to be changed to read: "One taco at a time - pass the salsa."