Commerce Secretary Urges Minority-Owned Businesses to
“Go Globally and Grow Locally”

U.S. Commerce Secretary Don Evans today told Orange County Hispanic business owners that their global exports are critical to the growth of their businesses as well as to the American economy. Evans met with about 60 Hispanic business executives at Aranda Tooling Co., a Hispanic-owned company in Huntington Beach, Calf. to discuss minority entrepreneurship and the health and vitality of the nation’s economy.

“The future of the American economy is dependant on our country’s ability to trade with our neighbors, and that is especially true for small businesses in Southern California,” Evans told the business leaders. “Free trade opens new markets abroad while creating new jobs and greater opportunities here at home.”

Evans said small and Hispanic-owned businesses are the “backbone of our nation’s economy” and that more Americans need to “learn about how closely our economic security is linked to the world around us.” Evans encouraged the business leaders to echo this message throughout their communities. Evans also said that Hispanic small-business owners have an ally in President Bush, who is “committed to opening new markets for their good and services.” Evans cited the Free Trade Area of the Americas as a top priority of the Bush Administration and said that, once in place, it will “be a tremendous shot-in-the-arm for businesses all across the Western Hemisphere.”

Nationwide, there are over 3 million minority-owned companies with sales totaling more than $591 billion. In 1997, Los Angeles minority business owners generated $76 billion in annual revenues. According to the latest figures available, nearly 300,000 minorities in the Los Angeles metro-area own their own firms, more than 140,000 are owned by Hispanics.

Following his remarks, Evans and U.S. Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (Calif.- 45) presented Aranda Tooling owner Pedro Aranda with the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Export Achievement Certificate. The award recognizes companies that are business clients of the Department’s Commercial Service and have benefited from their export assistance to make their first export sale or open new foreign markets.

"America continues to be the land of opportunity for minority businesses. Historically, especially in California, Hispanic entrepreneurs have been a major driving force behind our economic prosperity, creating jobs here at home and giving America the strength to compete in foreign markets. Pedro Aranda and Aranda Tooling are a perfect example of the entrepreneurial spirit that makes our country great," said Rohrabacher.