United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce


The United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce is the largest Hispanic business organization in the United States. It was founded in 1979 and is headquartered in Washington, DC.
The chamber promotes the economic growth and development of entrepreneurs and represents the interests of nearly 4.7 million Hispanic owned businesses in the US that contribute in excess of $700 billion to the American economy. It serves as the umbrella organization for more than 250 local chambers and business associations in the United States and Puerto Rico. Additionally, it advocates for the 259 major American companies who are its supporting members.
The association is bipartisan. It regularly invites public officials and political candidates from both sides of the aisle to present to its members.

Studies

In September 2015, the chamber and the business intelligence firm, Geoscape, released a study showing that Hispanic businesses grew at an annual rate of 7.5% between 2012 and 2015, "which is 15 times faster than the.5% percent growth rate for all companies." Since 2007, the number of Hispanic-owned businesses increased by 57% to 4.07 million, and revenues at these companies grew by 88% to roughly $660 billion.

Annual National Convention

Each year, the chamber hosts its national convention and business expo. This is the country's largest networking venue for Hispanic businesses and Fortune 1000 corporations interested in the Hispanic market. The four-day convention affords Hispanic vendors and corporate buyers the opportunity to establish partnerships; provides sessions and discussions about business development, chamber training, innovative trends and solutions; and focuses on current issues that impact the Hispanic entrepreneur. The 2015 convention, held in Houston, TX, had 6,000 people in attendance.

Annual Legislative Summit

Each year during the session of the United States Congress, the chamber hosts its annual Legislative Summit. The summit provides chamber members, Hispanic business leaders, and corporate executives the opportunity to discuss legislative policy issues that impact the small business community. Hispanic chamber executives also use the opportunity to meet with their Congressional representatives. In addition, every two years, the chamber issues its Legislative Policy and Priorities to the White House and Congress.

Voter registration

In September 2016 the chamber started a Guac the Vote campaign to use taco trucks to register voters and to appear at polling stations on election day. The campaign name is a reference to guacamole.