About Us
What is the Mid-Atlantic Hispanic Chamber of Commerce about?
Quite simply, we are about business. We are about keeping the spirit of entrepreneurship alive and protecting the free enterprise system, so that new and established business owners can grow their companies, create jobs, and prosper. Browse our website and discover how their dreams can be yours as well!
About Our Website
You may connect with us anytime from anywhere: On fixed or mobile systems, by phone, fax or the Internet. You can count on us—day or night, seven days a week. And that's a promise we'll keep every day. Our flagship website— MAHCC.org —and the twenty-plus related but independently maintained chapter websites are force multipliers in our overall strategy to increase traffic to your business and keep you informed about the latest developments in the business world.
Who we are
The Mid-Atlantic Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (MAHCC) is one of the most active business organizations in the Mid Atlantic region. We are proud to represent small businesses in general and women, veteran and minority businesses in particular, as well as to promote economic, workforce and community development in the Nation’s Capital and throughout the Mid-Atlantic Region.
What we do
We help member businesses throughout the Mid-Atlantic region gain a competitive edge, and we champion them, large and small. Because of our expertise in the English- and Spanish-speaking communities, we can facilitate companies to gain greater access to either market. Hispanic-owned businesses need to understand potential customers of northern European descent and American companies need to be able to respond to the needs and buying power of minority consumers.
Where we are
From humble beginnings in the fall of 2002, the MAHCC has grown by December 2010 into a thriving regional chamber of commerce with members in Maryland, Virginia, Pennsylvania, the District of Columbia, Delaware and West Virginia.
Mission / Vision
As a regional organization, the Mid-Atlantic Hispanic Chamber of Commerce intends to advocate for economic, workforce and community development, and to unify and strengthen Hispanic and other small businesses in the Mid-Atlantic Region.
Strategic Plan
The current update of the strategic plan provides an overall framework for action during a five-year span (January 2011 – December 2015). The plan was developed over a nine-month period in 2010 using the following guiding principles.
Standards for Excellence
In early 2004, the MAHCC Board of Directors adopted the Standards for Excellence® of the Maryland Association of Nonprofit Organizations as a guideline for the Chamber's organization and growth and as a reflection of the Chamber's founding culture and its future direction.
Board of Directors
The Chamber's governing body is the Board of directors. The Board determines the Chamber's vision and strategic plan, approves policies and procedures, ensures that adequate human and financial resources are available, actively monitors the Chamber's financial and programmatic performance and its compliance with applicable laws and regulations.
Board of Directors Chairman
Mr. Lou Cáceres has over 25 years of sales management experience in banking and investment services. He joined Sandy Spring Bank in 1999 and was promoted to Executive Vice President in 2002. A graduate of the University of Maryland, he holds a BA in Economics and an MA from American University. Mr. Cáceres is Chairman of the Board of Directors for the Mid Atlantic Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.
Board Committees
The work of the Chamber is carried out by regular or (standing) committees and by special (ad hoc) committees. Members of the Board of Directors are required to serve in at least one committee. General members are encouraged to join a committee and to contribute time and expertise. By working in a committee, members help move the MAHCC mission forward.
Board of Advisors
The Chamber's success as a leader in organized business and as a force of good in the region depends not only on the services it provides to its dues-paying members, but also on its sound governance, the quality and effectiveness of its programs, its innovative solutions and its value-added investments in the different communities it serves. As a proactive organization engaged in a wide range of activities, the Chamber requires outside expert advice. . .
Board of Advisors Chairman
Mr. Luis Lobo, President of BB&T Washington Metropolitan Region, is the current Chairman of the Board of Advisors of the Mid-Atlantic Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. He has more than 23 years of banking experience. He joined BB&T in 1983, and has served in most facets of commercial, retail, mortgage and international banking. . .
President & CEO
Dr. Jorge Ribas is a co-founder and first President and CEO of the Mid-Atlantic Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, a multi-state business organization based in Washington, DC. He has been recognized as an effective and visionary team leader who enjoys fast-paced, entrepreneurial environments.
Regional Demographics
The geographic extent of the Mid-Atlantic region, also known as middle Atlantic region or the Mid Atlantic, generally includes Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Washington D.C., and sometimes New York and West Virginia. However, the Chamber's Board of Directors has defined its area of service as the Chesapeake Bay watershed and have exclude New York and New Jersey from it.
501(c)(3) Foundation
As part of its workforce development strategy, the Chamber is establishing a nonprofit organization tasked with the mission of increasing graduation rates and raising academic standards in public education. In addition, the Chamber hopes to expand existing programs in parental education and adult English literacy programs as well as to encourage young people to pursue higher education and choose careers in Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics, and Management (STEMM).
Advertise with Us
With computers in American homes being equal to or perhaps more numerous than television sets, and with the Internet becoming a preeminent and multifaceted communication tool, businesses cannot longer ignore its value as a marketing and transactional tool. The Chamber, cognizant of this fact, offers its members the opportunity to advertise on its multiple websites in order to help them open new markets and reach consumers throughout the Mid-Atlantic region and, if necessary, anywhere in the world. The investment on online advertising is pennies a day compared to static advertisement on both legacy print and electronic media.
Chapters
In order to serve its members better and more efficiently, the Chamber is uniquely organized into chapters headed by Vice Presidents who are also voting members of the Board of Directors. Each Chapter consists of dues-paying members who either work or own businesses locally.
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