Illinois Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (IHCC), President & CEO, Jaime di Paulo was invited this Wednesday, 6h May, to participate at the Illinois Governor JB Pritzker daily press briefing on Covid-19.
The event was broadcasted live by Univision, Telemundo, ABC7 News, CBS, Facebook Live and YouTube.
Jaime di Paulo detailed all the actions taken so far by the IHCC to help Hispanic small businesses in Illinois.
In addition to this, he revealed our organization’s new strategy to support those who need it most when the gradual reopening of the economy begins.
https://vimeo.com/415693668
Read Jaime Di Paulo full message:
Governor Pritzker, thank you for inviting me to speak today and for highlighting measures your administration has taken to support the Latino and Hispanic community during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Illinois Hispanic Chamber of Commerce’s mission is to cultivate knowledge, connections and collaboration to effect transformational social change and achieve sustainable economic impact through entrepreneurship.
In 2019 we helped many businesses get started, created over hundreds of jobs, served over hundreds of business members and SBDC clients and provided over 2,500 counseling hours through our many bilingual programs and resources.
Over the past few weeks, we have received thousands of inquiries from Hispanic business owners across Illinois that is why we activated a bilingual call center to answer all business-related questions.
Our team has dedicated 100% of efforts working with the Small Business Development Center (SBDC) and have assisted hundreds of clients with the necessary tools for them to access all loan and grant programs including the most popular, Payment Protection Program (PPP).
We have developed close relationships with three community banks and 90% of our referrals where awarded the loans.
We are now planning phase 2 of the plan that is helping all business stay open with a program we call Coaching4Growth.
As we all know, many Hispanic businesses have been impacted by this public health crisis, many are small businesses.
While the amount of information can feel overwhelming and the need for our business community will continue to grow; our focus has been to guide Hispanic small business owners to available resources and helpful information.
We are here to help and will continue to assist Hispanic business owners across the state.
Small businesses play an absolutely critical role in the fabric of their communities and our State, this is why I urge all small businesses to follow the guidance issued by Governor Pritzker and his administration as many begin to re-open.
The safety and well-being of our communities is our first priority.
I also urge that employees of small businesses contact their local health department or local authorities if their employer isn’t following the guidance issued through the governor’s executive order.
As businesses begin to safely re-open, we have a plan to provide personalized assistance to many Hispanic business owners that continue to struggle. Our organization and community have overcome many crises. Together we will overcome this one.
Governor Pritzker, GRACIAS for all that you have done. We are proud to keep working alongside of you.
Read: IHCC Letter of Appreciation to Governor Pritzker and Mayor Lightfoot for Their Leadership on Behalf of Small Businesses in Times of Crisis
