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 Business News | September 2007 
Hispanic Expo is Opportunity for Networking
 Alejandro Bodipo-Memba - Free Press
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| | Joe Reyes is president of Integrated Media Technologies, which has a contract with the MGM Grand Detroit Casino. He credits the Hispanic Business Alliance. (Mary Schroeder/DFP) |
Joe Reyes' story of starting from nothing to build a successful security business that serves as the "eyes in the sky" for MGM Grand Detroit Casino is one that couldn't have happened without the Hispanic Business Alliance.
The 41-year-old entrepreneur started his company - Integrated Media Technologies - with a credit card, a business partner and a dream in 1998. Little did he know that connecting with the HBA would help grow his company to annual sales of nearly $5 million today.
"When I joined the HBA, I was green and didn't understand the whole political and social aspects of networking and how important it is for business," said Reyes, who is a first-generation son of a Mexican father and a Maltese mother in Corktown. "Working with the HBA has really opened my eyes to what else is out there and the power of networking."
Integrated Media Technologies, with 27 employees, specializes in video surveillance, installation of high-end fire alarms and other security-related products.
Reyes, who credits his connection with the HBA for helping him get a security contract with MGM, will be on hand for the annual Hispanic Business Expo and Economic Summit Thursday and Friday.
The event, at the Marriott Hotel in the Detroit Renaissance Center, promotes economic development networking for Hispanic-owned businesses.
The expo will feature workshops, speakers, a job fair and networking opportunities.
The speakers include GOP presidential hopeful Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and author and entrepreneur Jack Canfield.
"There is really no other event in the region that addresses comprehensive approaches to marketing to the Hispanic community," said Fred Feliciano, HBA president. "The expo showcases Hispanic entrepreneurs and gives non-Hispanic corporations and leaders an outlet to reach out to minority-owned firms and potential partners."
Currently, there are more than 1,000 Hispanic-owned businesses in Detroit and at least 10,000 across Michigan, according to Feliciano. Estimated revenue for those businesses totals more than $2 billion.
Nationally, Hispanic consumers are projected to have $928 billion in spending power by the end of this year. The U.S. Hispanic population will be the third-largest economy - bigger than those of Canada and Mexico - by 2010, according to U.S. census data.
"I think what's happening throughout the country is the changing nature of the consumer base," said Joseph Weglarz, an economics professor at the University of Detroit Mercy. "The Hispanic population is changing the direction of the Michigan economy, not only in terms of traditional jobs, but those in service industries in southeast Michigan."
The Hispanic population represents one of the few areas of growth in Michigan's economy, according to Charles Ballard, an economist at Michigan State University.
Ballard points to the creation of small- and medium-size businesses.
"You've got a source of growth that may partially offset some of the problems facing the state's economy, especially in the auto industry," he said. "They don't get as much attention, because they add jobs in smaller increments. But if you add two here, six there and 20 over there, pretty soon you've got a lot."
For Reyes and other local entrepreneurs looking to grow their businesses, that incremental approach has been one of the keys to success in Detroit.
Now as a member of the HBA board, the father of four hopes the expo can be an inspiration to other aspiring Hispanic business people the way it was for him.
"We're probably not going to change the world, but we're trying to make an impact on our local market and looking at expanding business opportunities in our region," Reyes said.
Contact Alejandro Bodipo-Memba at abodipo@freepress.com. |
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