Business group works to help Hispanic-owned enterprises get their share of public sector contracts

Written by Michael Keating

The United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (USHCC) is working to level the playing field for more than 4.7 million Hispanic-owned businesses, says C. LeRoy Cavazos-Reyna, the USHCC’s vice president of government and international affairs. Those businesses, according to Cavazos-Reyna’s group, contribute over $800 billion to the U.S. economy every year. The USHCC advocates on behalf of its network of more than 260 local chambers and business associations nationwide. The group has a Corporate Partner Membership (CPM) Program. It provides USHCC corporate members with a platform and leadership opportunity to get involved with the USHCC.

Cavazos-Reyna tells Co-op Solutions that his group is aiming for equity in representation before federal agencies. He notes that in 2023, Hispanics represent roughly 20 percent of the total U.S. population. “If we are not rightfully represented, we will not create systemic change in the fields of equity and inclusion. Currently, the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) only tracks minorities through the term ‘disadvantaged business enterprise’ (DBE). We highly encourage the SBA to start tracking minority businesses by ethnicity.” Cavazos-Reyna believes that breaking out the DBE category by race would give the USHCC a better understanding of how much federal and other government contracting is being done with each community.

The USHCC offers several programs that assist Hispanic vendors and contractors on winning government contracts and selling to government agencies. At its legislative summit and national conference, the group offers business matchmaking sessions for its members. “This provides a unique forum for Hispanic business enterprises (HBEs) to meet in-person and virtually to engage with supplier diversity and procurement officers from federal agencies and Fortune 500 companies,” Cavazos-Reyna explains. He says attendees at the matchmaking sessions collectively represent hundreds of millions of dollars in business and government contract opportunities.

The USHCC advances the interests of more than 5 million Hispanic-owned businesses through its advocacy initiatives. The group, for instance, argues for key Hispanic business issues in front of U.S. Congressional committees. The group’s efforts aim to ensure the economic prosperity of the more than 62 million Latinos/as living in the U.S. In December 2022, it offered written testimony for the hearing titled: “Unfinished Business: A Review of Progress Made and a Plan to Achieve Full Economic Inclusion for Every American.”

In late 2021 the USHCC urged Congress to maintain full support for the nation’s small businesses in the final rewrite of the Build Back Better Act. The group told Congress: “We must invest in training initiatives, incubators, accelerators, mentoring and technical assistance networks that will work together with chambers of commerce and Hispanic serving institutions (HSIs) to make sure that evolving entrepreneurs and business owners with strong business models have the tools they need to compete in a fair economy.”

The public sector, Cavazos-Reyna believes, can locate good candidates to join the government workforce in a variety of places. He says public procurement teams can also recruit candidates in these venues. “Government entities can use local chambers of commerce, procurement technical assistance centers and business development centers in a collaborative manner to help identify businesses and individuals who have the expertise needed to accomplish their procurement goals.”

Cavazos-Reyna says cooperative procurement contracts can sometimes be used to enable or encourage governments to buy products and services from Hispanic vendors and vendors from other under-represented groups. “This technique should aim to scale minority businesses instead of being used as an end-all solution to increase minority contracting with public entities. We must think of minority businesses as prime contractors in the public sector.” He adds that there are many businesses in his community that have the expertise and abilities to serve and fulfill these government contracting needs.

Michael Keating is senior editor for American City & County. Contact him at [email protected].