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IBM is big supporter of Latino/a businesses and the USHCC

By La Prensa Staff

San Juan, Puerto Rico, Sept. 21, 2007: IBM Corporation has participated in the United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce’s convention for the past three years, including this year’s highly successful expo in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

As part of its participation in this year’s convention, IBM was a platinum sponsor and unveiled a new business toolkit that was recently launched in conjunction with the international finance corporation.

Board Of Directors ribbon cutting ceremony for Business Expo & International Pavilion

Two of IBM’s top mangers are Patt Romero Conin (General Manager, Integrated Technology Delivery Productivity Initiatives, Integrated Operations) and Luis Cuneo (Business Offering Manager; Marketing Development), who presented the workshop using technology to advance your business (“Latinas Success in Federal Corporate Procurement.”)

In an exclusive La Prensa interview, Romero Conin discussed IBM’s globalization efforts to its clients. “IBM does 60 billion worth of revenue working with clients in providing IT delivery solutions, part of that effort is figuring out how to transform and transition current processes to be more effective.

“Our focus right now is continuously improving quality and standardization and having the ability to provide global services around the country and world to all of our clients.

One of the tools that they presented was the SME toolkit—it is an online resource that addresses: accounting, finance, business planning, human resource, legal and insurance, marketing and sales, operations and technology. This toolkit has all of the information in one area rather than from a variety of different sources.

The market development targets Latinos, Asians, African-Americans, Native-Americans, and women-owned businesses. According to the presenters, “it is essential for businesses and especially small businesses to have direct access with technology. It seems without something as simple as a website, that people are unwilling to do business with companies.”

One of Romero Conin’s memorable projects and IBM’s initiatives was at the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games, which provided all IT services, including internet, measuring performances, and posting scores and communicating results.

Hon. Anibal Acevedo Vila

With the advancement of technology, developing the process and IT’s solutions for the Olympic games not only came out of Australia but most of the technology was tested and developed in Spain.

According to Romero Conin, “we found that with the team in Spain, we needed Spanish-speaking people with deep technical skills in very specific areas.” Romero Conin helped develop a network of Spanish-speaking IT specialists and Latino/a executives. They found Latina executives to mentor other Latinas, to take them to the next level to become executives.

“Since this initiative, we have moved several Latinas into executive positions,” said Romero Conin.

At the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce convention, it was noted that while the Latino businesses are the fastest growing in this country and around the world, 63% of the new Latino businesses are Latina owned.

IBM Express solution for small to mid-sized businesses was also on display at the convention. IBM desires that Latino business owners “to know that we are a strong IT provider with affordable business solutions that can help them grow their businesses globally.”