Hispanic firms at expo, job fair stress need to grow

Amy Wexler, career development specialist with Herzing University, talks with Herzing graduates from left, Veronica Sanders, Olean Cherry, and Gwendolyn Mitchell, all of Toledo, at the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Expo and Job Fair at the University of Toledo. THE BLADE/DAVE ZAPOTOSKY Enlarge | Photo Reprints

When Vicente Sanchez Ventura arrived in Detroit in 2006, "Business was one of the most important topics when I got here."

As the newly appointed consul of Mexico based in Detroit, Mr. Sanchez Ventura said it was his job to attract more business to his country. In 2008, he helped open a business incubator office of TechBa, a program sponsored by the Ministry of Economy of Mexico and the United States-Mexico Foundation for Science, to support 14 small and medium-sized auto sector companies. Today, the Michigan TechBa office oversees 40 companies.

Trade between Mexico and Michigan and Ohio also is rising, with Michigan trade reaching $35.6 billion and Ohio $9 billion in 2010.

"Mexico has a place in the world. Let us continue working with you," said Mr. Sanchez Ventura, the keynote speaker yesterday at the Northwest Ohio Hispanic Chamber of Commerce's sixth annual Business Expo & Job Fair, held at the University of Toledo student union.

The purpose of the daylong event was to get local companies to recognize that Mexico is anxious to expand its business opportunities to Toledo, Ohio, and the Great Lakes area.

Gary Johnson, president of the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, said the 10-year-old organization, which has about 40 members, is eager to serve as a "cultural bridge" to help all companies find ways to do more business with Mexico and Latin America.

"We know how to take the Hispanic companies and teach them how to do business in a non-Hispanic environment, and likewise, help non-Hispanic companies operate in a Hispanic environment," he said. Whether companies know it or not, there are cultural traditions and etiquettes that can lead to greater success that each side would benefit from knowing, he added.

Mr. Sanchez Ventura said Mexico has growing auto, aerospace, and electronics sectors, offering a lot of opportunities for companies in those fields. With a gross domestic product of $1.1 trillion, it has the world's 13th-largest economy.

The consul said Mexico has been criticized because American companies have moved jobs there to have lower labor costs and for other advantages.

But, he added, Mexican companies are just as anxious to expand in the United States and many have done so, employing American workers.

"I think that's an example of how business can be good for both sides," Mr. Sanchez Ventura said.

Contact Jon Chavez at: jchavez@theblade.com or 419-724-6128.