Negocios Now

NegociosNow NegociosNow www.negociosnow.com 8 Diciembre 2008 8 Marzo 2017 CHICAGO LATINOS IN TECHNOLOGY IHCC-1871 PARTNERSHIP CONTINUES TO STRENGTHEN LATINO BUSINESS COMMUNITY TIES TO TECH By Tara García Mathewson I n 2017, every business should be considered a tech business. Entrepreneurs who do not take advantage of technology to increase efficiency or expand their impact are missing out. At least that has become con- ventional wisdom in the Illinois Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and at 1871, Chicago's hub for digi- tal technology startups and entre- preneurs. The two organizations have partnered for the last few years and in February 2016, they took their relationship to the next level when the IHCC moved its offices to 1871's newly expanded space in the Mer- chandise Mart. One year later, Omar Duque, president and CEO of the Illinois Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, said the colocation has positioned the IHCC to more deliberately diversify the tech scene in Chicago and give more Latino-owned busi- nesses access to the resources at 1871. The new generation of Lati- no entrepreneurs already looks to technology when developing busi- ness ideas. But Duque said the new focus for IHCC is also important for the entrepreneurs who were found- ing members of the chamber in 1990. "Even if you've been in busi- ness for 30 years or 50 years, if you're not thinking about leverag- ing technology to grow or thinking about ways you can be more inno- vative in your approach in your industry, you're not going to go very far," Duque said. A cohort of 12 tech companies is wrapping up its time in the IHCC's inaugural joint Hispanic incubator program, where each entrepreneur received mentorship and tailored programming to support their fledgling businesses. Paladin, a platform for attorneys, law schools and firms to source, track and manage pro bono cases, has already attracted more than $500,000 in funding. Duque said they went from zero attorneys to 1,000 on their platform in just 30 days once it got off the ground. Another company, Licentiam, streamlines and digitizes the medi- cal licensing process and makes it NegociosNow NegociosNow El Especial Cortesía By relocating to Chicago's tech hub 1871, at the Merchandise Mart, IHCC hopes to give more Latino-owned businesses access to available resources. Greg Rostein Omar Duque, President and CEO of Illinois Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. (IHCC)

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