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Cornejo plans database of bilinguals
CINCINNATI, Jan. 15, 2012 (AP): The head of a southwest Latino
organization is working to create a database of college students
who speak Spanish and English to help southwest Ohio businesses
fill their need for bilingual employees.
A
business needing more Spanish-speaking employees would be able
to search the database to find local bilingual students who
could perform those jobs, The Cincinnati Enquirer reported (http://cin.ci/yIfz8i).
Alfonso Cornejo,
president of the Hispanic Chamber Cincinnati USA, is
working with Cincinnati State Technical and Community College to
develop the database. It will include about 300 Hispanic
Cincinnati State students and their majors, and Cornejo hopes
that the database will be expanded eventually to include
students from other universities in the area.
A
goal also is to connect students and businesses through
internships or co-ops while the students are in the early part
of their college careers.
Cornejo is not happy that Spanish-speaking, bilingual students
in the region are being recruited by businesses in other states
and that Chiquita Brands International recently moved its
headquarters from Cincinnati to Charlotte partly because of the
North Carolina city's high bilingual rate.
``We think that we have some of the best schools in the entire
region and nation,'' Cornejo said. ``And people come from other
states to steal our people, and I think that's just not
acceptable.''
Cornejo says he wants companies in the region to have ``the
first shot in connecting our students, evaluating them and
offering employment or internships so they try them out.''
The former Procter & Gamble Co. executive has led the 285-member
chamber for seven years. Cornejo, 64, has supported many other
projects, including expanding the region's Minority Business
Accelerator program to include Hispanic businesses and mentoring
young Latino business leaders. He also helped bring the League
of United Latin American Citizens convention to Cincinnati last
summer.
Information from: The Cincinnati Enquirer,
http://www.enquirer.com
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