December 10, 2009 --Los Angeles, CA-- With lending by US banks experiencing the biggest decline since 1984, many small businesses have been left with dismally few alternatives for financing.  Hope was raised last week, however, for a packed room of Latino micro entrepreneurs eager to learn about available financing opportunities at El Clasificado’s latest small business breakfast workshop, “Su Socio de Negocios”. The free event featured presentations in Spanish by the LA City Minority Business Opportunity Center (MBOC) and the Pacific Coast Regional Small Business Development Center (SBDC), which centered on financing procurement opportunities during tough economic times.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act), signed into law in February 2009 enabled the Small Business Administration (SBA) to guarantee America's Recovery Capital (ARC) loans offered by commercial lenders. ARC loans are intended to help small businesses suffering temporary financial troubles due to the slow economy, and are available to qualifying established for profit businesses. The ARC Loan program offers interest-free loans of up to $35,000 that can be repaid interest only for 12 months followed by a five-year repayment plan. 

The Pacific Coast Regional SBDC presented key free services offered to small businesses including help in putting together loan packages and matching qualifying loan applicants to the appropriate financing institution.

The LA City MBOC, on the other hand offered advice on seeking new revenue streams by stressing the importance of minority business certification to take advantage of the numerous contracting procurement opportunities available through the federal government and other state and local government agencies that specifically target opportunities for small vendors.

“Recently I decided to be innovative and try selling my products directly, instead of only offering my full services to customers,” said Raul Fernando Higuera, who founded and has operated RH Flooring Services for three years now. “I’ve learned that in order to try something new, I need access to capital, but I’ve been turned down by five banks already, so I’m looking forward to discussing more options with both the MBOC and the SBDC.”

El Clasificado’s “Su Socio de Negocios” small business breakfast event, which was the last of a four-event series for the 2009 calendar year, also included informational booths by event sponsors Verizon, Wells Fargo, Social Security Administration and State Farm. The next event is scheduled to take place on Wednesday, February 24, 2010 and will be focused on tax strategies for small businesses.

Su Socio de Negocios is a series of events and expos designed to educate Spanish-speaking micro entrepreneurs on the current and most useful information to help optimize their business operations, and to date has helped more than 1,000 Latino small business owners. The event series was established in 2006 by El Clasificado, a leading interactive media/advertising company that has connected buyers and sellers in the Hispanic marketplace since 1988. The award winning weekly classified shopper is read by over 1.5 million Latinos throughout Southern California and receives close to 3 million page views each month through ElClasificado.com.

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Contact: María Elena Aguilar
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