L.A. Business Assn. for Latinos Works on O.C. Expansion

COSTA MESA â€”  Is Orange County ready for a second Latino business organization?

Harold H. Martinez, president of the Latin Business Assn., thinks so. His 800-member Los Angeles organization launched a membership drive here Wednesday to try to build support for a local chapter of the group.

The LBA is no newcomer to Orange County. It started an Anaheim chapter in 1979, but it was dissolved the following year when members decided to split from the LBA and start their own group in Santa Ana, called the Hispanic Business and Professional Assn., which was later dissolved.

The Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Orange County had more success when it was formed in 1989. The 3-year-old Santa Ana group has more than 500 members today.

As the number of Latino-owned businesses has risen, the LBA has begun looking for ways to expand its organization, Martinez said. More important, he said, more Southland companies are becoming aware of a possible U.S.-Mexico free-trade agreement, and he believes that his group can play a role in educating and fostering trade between the nations.

Martinez, owner of Able Industrial Products in El Monte, said that about 35 LBA members live or work in Orange County. He said the group would need 100 Latino business owners to sign up as members before officially establishing an Orange County chapter.

Lucia de Garcia, an Irvine trade consultant who is overseeing the membership drive, said she’s already organizing the group’s first activity--a trade mission to Mexico City next month, led by Rep. Christopher Cox (R-Newport Beach), to meet with Mexican President Carlos Salinas de Gortari.

Barbara Brown, the incoming president of the local Hispanic Chamber, said the formation of a second Latino business organization could benefit the county. But it could also cut into the chamber’s local membership.

Martinez said he feels that the two organizations have similar goals in that both want to help Latino entrepreneurs thrive and increase their business with non-Latino companies. The main difference, he said, is that the LBA is more active in international trade issues, while the chamber’s activities center on the local business community.

The local Hispanic Chamber, however, has formed an international affairs committee that will seek business opportunities for Orange County companies in Mexico.