Hispanic Economic Organizations Expand Training

Bilingual training is gaining ground in the business community.

By Meredith Maines | 
 

The Hispanic Economic Development Corporation of Kansas City signed an agreement earlier this month with the Johnson County Library to provide entrepreneurial guidance in Spanish at the library's facilities.

The HEDC's other offerings include a 12-week "FastTrac" class, spoken in Spanish and described as "bilingual entrepreneurial training." As the Hispanic population grows, two types of bilingual training will be necessary: what the HEDC already provides, as well as education for English speakers in Spanish communication. Some areas will require this more than others, said Bernardo Ramirez, executive director of the HEDC.

"I would think areas such as the Midwest and the Southeast are non-traditional Hispanic enclaves," Ramirez said. "These areas are seeing Hispanic population growth in some cases triple-digit growth from 2000 to the present."

Already since creating the partnership with the library, Ramirez said the HEDC has gotten requests for the organization to offer Spanish classes at several corporations.

Luckily the HEDC isn't the only organization equipped to offer such training. According to the National Association for Latino Community Asset Builders, many other groups with goals similar to the HEDC's are highly concentrated in California, New Mexico and Texas. But Ramirez says more programs are needed in less obvious areas of the country that are seeing substantial growth.

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