Last week the SC Hispanic Chamber of Commerce honored Hispanic entrepreneurs at its first annual Impacto awards ceremony at the Hyatt in downtown Greenville.
The dinner replaced an annual corporate gala the chamber previously held at the end of each year. The ceremony recognizes businesses throughout the state, but this year’s winners were from the Upstate.
Leovick Martinez, owner/operator of multiple McDonalds restaurants, won the business of the year award. Beatriz Hernandez was named entrepreneur of the year. Her company, Nail Artistry and Esthetics, is the first bilingual nail technology school in South Carolina.
Chamber President Evelyn Lugo said more than 200 Hispanic and non-Hispanic-owned businesses had participated in its Entrepreneur Empowerment Series.
Keynote speaker Ignacio Veloz, chairman-elect of the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, flew from Puerto Rico to present. He said Hispanic businesses are first and foremost American businesses and they just happened to be Hispanic. He said Hispanic-owned businesses contribute more than $3 trillion annually to the national economy and are growing at a rate three times faster than that of overall business growth.
“We always can get the big cheese because we speak two languages,” he said, discussing the advantages of multicultural businesses. He said access to capital, healthcare reform and immigration policy remain among the most pressing issues for Hispanic-owned businesses.
