Latin Business Assn. Elects New Leaders
The Latin Business Assn. has elected a new chairwoman and board of directors to lead the Los Angeles-based organization--the state’s largest Latino chamber--into the next millennium.
Ruth Lopez Williams, chief executive of El Monte-based Beverly Oncology & Imaging Centers and administrator of sister company Americade Home Health Agency, was sworn in as the new chair of the 1,200-member organization last week. She replaces Hector Barreto, who raised the LBA’s profile during his tenure, doubling membership and helping to build an annual expo that drew 3,000 entrepreneurs and featured a keynote address by Republican front-runner George W. Bush in September.
Lopez Williams headed efforts to link Latino entrepreneurs with corporate contracts through the expo’s procurement pavilion, which in September hosted 500 one-on-one appointments. She plans to focus her efforts during her two-year term on bringing resources and opportunities to more of the Southland’s hundreds of thousands of Latino entrepreneurs. The LBA has developed a mailing list of 35,000.
“We want to increase the business-to-business activity, not only among members but with the broader . . . economy. That’s where the wealth lies in multipliers,” she said. “How many businesses can I get into the broader national and global economy? That’s what makes my heart beat.”
Lopez Williams said she will also work to build the LBA Institute, launched last year. Through the nonprofit institute, Latino entrepreneurs will be directed to existing training and consulting in the community as well as independent services to help them become more competitive and tech-savvy, she said.
The LBA is also conducting a national search for a full-time president, who is expected to be hired in January.
Also elected last week was Ruben Arenas, of Arenas Travel Inc., as vice chairman; Maritza Mendizabal, of MSM & Associates, as treasurer; and board members Roxanne Zavala of Anaroc Precision Sheet Metal, Ray Durazo of Durazo Communications, Frank Villalobos of Barrio Planners, Richard Lopez of Vargas Lopez & Associates and Luis Castaneda of Enlace Communications.
