BHCC President, Charles Ramos.
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AN INTERVIEW WITH CHARLES RAMOS, PRESIDENT, BALTIMORE HISPANIC CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
Charles Ramos is the current President of the Baltimore Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. He is also the President and CEO of CR Dynamics, a customer relationship management services company based in Baltimore, MD. Charles believes that Hispanic businesses in Baltimore not only can weather today’s economic woes, but are poised to thrive in the years to come. In the following interview, he talks about his role as the President of the Baltimore Hispanic Chamber of Comerce, discusses the current situation for Hispanic businesses in the area and offers his predictions for the future.
Q: Tell me about the Chamber.
CR: The Chamber is about 7 years old. It all started with some local businessmen who just needed a place and a forum to talk, to work on events and activities that would engage the greater community and the politicians at the local and state level. We have several annual events as a result of the Chamber being in existence.
Q: What kind of support do you offer Latino businesses in the city?
CR: This chamber tends to focus on bringing information to our members in terms of contracting, what’s going on in the city and state levels and access to all sorts of networking events. These events are not necessarily Chamber-related, but part of the different business communities, like the African American or Asian community for example. We’re generally networking all together. One of the things that has resulted out of that is the Maryland Hispanic Business Conference –which was born out of the BHCC originally. This is done with the cooperation by all the chambers, but BHCC took the lead on that. We have a Cinco de Mayo event every year. We have an annual Golf Tournament, which is very good to bring customers, clients and members together. One of the things we’ve been trying to stick to in the last couple of years is a monthly networking event that we call First Tuesdays. We have about 100 consistent members or so, and I’d say that in our First Tuesday events, we get about 25 to 30 folks, which means about 25% to 30% of our membership attends it.
Q: Where are these events held?
CR: Lately we’ve been having them at La Tasca Restaurant. They work very well with us. Plus it’s centrally located in the Inner Harbor. It’s a nice event, it’s a nice venue and it’s safe.
Q. Tell me about the accomplishments of your organization.
CR: One of the events we organize is a Legislator’s Reception. So, one of the things we really do is just reminding politicians at the local and state level, that we’re here, that we’re open for business, that we’re a voting block that has purchasing power, that we have something to offer in terms of business and value added. We have some pretty intelligent people, hard working folks who have solid work ethics. We’re an asset. We're people who can contribute to the state and to the city.
Q. Have you had any political victories while advocating for Hispanic businesses?
CR: That depends on where you lie politically… We’re not all Democrats, we’re not all Republican. We’re not all liberal, we’re not all conservative. If you look at it in terms of legislation, as a whole, I think the current Maryland administration has been very favorable to Hispanics when looking at Hispanic legislation, especially when it involves immigration. I think that they are sensitive to the fact that we’re a growing population. Although some of us have not come through the door in traditional ways, there’s still added value. We are hard working folks who are still contributing to society.
Q. What ‘s the biggest change you have seen within the Hispanic community in Maryland in the last few years?
CR: I’m seeing a lot of excitement in the younger community. When I look at what my friends are doing at USHYEE, for example, when I see some of the younger leaders that are growing. For example at the HBA, the Hispanic Business Association, you have younger leaders. You have folks who are now second or third-generation Americans, who understand how to do business in America. We’re finding young folks who understand that integrity and honesty and delivering on promises are the core values of being a successful businessperson. I’m really encouraged to see that. That is not to say that [these values] didn’t exist before, but you have an older generation that chooses to do things in their own way. They bring their old culture from the old world. As you start to work with second and third- generation Hispanics, you realize they tend to be more “American” in their approach of doing business. I’m very encouraged by that.
Q. You mentioned before that the Hispanic community is gaining clout here in Maryland. That may be true on the one hand, but on the other hand we have the current recession. Do you feel that this is the biggest challenge that the Baltimore Hispanic business community has to face right now?
CR: Well, I’m going to chuckle a bit here. I understand that the recession is a challenge. I understand that it permeates… that it touches all of us, but I’m going to be quite honest with you. We’ve always been in a recession. It’s just the way it is, whether you’re in the African-American community, in the Hispanic community or if you come from any ethnic background that has traditionally been disadvantaged. We’ve always been in a recession. We’ve always had challenges in access to capital, in trying to carve or earn our share of business. So I think what’s happening now is that folks who have always been successful — who have taken success for granted—are now finding out what it’s like to be us, what is like to have a fledging business and challenges, what it’s like to be someone who’s used to getting told no instead of yes. So for me, a recession in our community is business as usual, quite frankly.
Q. Do you think that fact makes the prospect of starting a business somehow less threatening for Hispanics?
CR: I think if you have the courage and you have the talent and you have the skill, and if you think you can market that skill, it shouldn’t matter whether there is a recession or not. If you feel you can sustain yourself and make an income and pay your bills, you should not let talks of a recession deter you at all. As long as you have that main ingredient of understanding financial responsibility, the fact that things cost money and that you have to pay bills... If you understand that principle, you should not let [the recession] deter you.
Q. Do you feel there’s growth in Hispanic businesses now or is it the way it’s always been?
CR: I’m seeing a growth in businesses. I’m seeing more businesses entering the market, the entrepreneurial arena. Am I seeing wealth being generated? I think that has to be waited out a little bit. Some folks have been very successful, some folks have made money… but when you look at the current trends in business… yes, we’re all losing money, just like everyone else is. Again, I’m encouraged by the business I see, whether it is a one-person or two-person company or a person with a business idea and entrepreneurial spirit. That is definitely happening. We’ll see what happens on the wealth generation front.
Q. What do you feel is the biggest setback for Latino businesspeople?
CR: I’m going to say it is not understanding the system. And what I mean by this is not understanding how contracts are awarded, for example, if you are looking at city and state contracts. Things like partnering, how to trust each other… even how to pay each other. Understanding how relationships are formed, how to put together a competitive business plan. These are all education issues that we need to be paying more attention to and understand how to do better. We must understand that if we are going to move forward, we have to learn how to do business with each other.
Q. Are there any organizations here that offer that kind of information to businesses who are starting out? Does your organization do it?
CR: Our organization doesn’t do it directly. There are organizations such as the Small Business Administration that are set up for that. There’s the SBDC, the Small Business Development Center. If you are not comfortable going to them directly, then you need to seek out someone within the Chamber who can hold you by the hand and introduce you to those folks. It can be very intimidating when you don’t know how to talk to agencies that are setup in a certain way. The Chamber has been around long enough and we have enough senior people who have those relationships, who can easily grab you by the hand, walk you in and make the introductions for you. That kind of smoothes the way, if you will.
Q. Can you give me an example of a Hispanic business that has been very successful here?
CR: Certainly our company, CR Dynamics, has. I look at companies like Paniaguas Enterprises, like Respira Medical. Both have been very successful companies… I’d hate to leave anyone out… but when I look at companies that stand out, companies that consistently receive awards, there’s always those folks. There are also lots of smaller companies that have been here and they’re kind of working out of a wire but they are still there and they’re working their way. That’s encouraging. If nothing else, those companies that I have mentioned should be looked at as role models because they all have certainly had their challenges one way or the other.
Q. What’s your best advice for someone who wants to start a business here in Baltimore?
CR: Well, I’d say —and I know this is going to sound clichéd—but you have to have passion, you have to believe in what you’re doing. Self-confidence is extremely important. Know your limitations. Seek out good role models. But I think the most important things --and I think I said it before—are integrity, following through and keeping promises, because these speak to your character.
Q. Now let’s talk about something slightly different. What is the relationship of the Chamber with the local government?
CR: It’s ok. A lot of building that relationship falls into the Executive Committee, people like myself, who need to be out there and be proactive. Part of the challenge of running a chamber, a volunteer chamber without an Executive Director, is that you’re trying to run a business and run the chamber at the same time. So it’s very difficult to be in all places at one time. As the President, I try to be in as many functions as I can, as my schedule allows. If that means going to functions, dinners, and galas with those local representatives, I try to do that as often as I can. I try to also shake hands and say ‘Hey, how are you?’, just so they [the representatives] know that we’re here. Same thing goes to working with other chambers that are not Hispanic, whether they are mainstream chambers or African-American, all of those things are important. I also know it takes time to develop relationships. There’s a lot of give-and-take there. It’s totally naive to think you can walk into a Chamber and become the President and think that by month one or year one you’re going to have this buddy-buddy relationship with politicians. It just doesn’t work that way. You’ve got to watch out. You’ve got to see if things are being delivered. I’m not going to say those are challenges. I think those are on-going things that you work on while building those relationships.
Q. Do you work in conjunction with the Maryland Hispanic Chamber of Commerce?
CR: We do work with them. I wouldn’t say we’re affiliated with them. I’d say that they’re mission is more legislation-related. They deal directly at a state level. If I understand correctly the President of the Maryland Chamber of Commerce is also the President of the Hispanic Commission, so, as they should, they deal more with statewide-related activities. Many of the board members are the same for both chambers. The BHCC was born as an offshoot of the MHCC and so people come and go. Both Chambers developed their own activities. I’d say the Maryland Chamber of Commerce, The Baltimore Chamber of Commerce and the Chamber of Commerce of Montgomery County, we all pretty much coalesce and work together.
Q. What can a local Hispanic person who is in business or would like to open one expect when they become affiliated with the Chamber?
CR: They can expect information via e-mail about opportunities that exist, they can expect to find out about networking events where we’re gathering, they can expect to have easy access with the folks I mentioned with the SBA and the SBDC. They can expect to have access to the Maryland Department of Economic Development. They can pretty much do these things on their own, but it helps to have a person from the Chamber who knows those folks, who can make it easier for them, because it can be extremely intimidating. We hope that we can cut a smoother way from that intimidation factor.
Q. How do you reach out to the community?
CR: Our mission as a Chamber, and again, at the end of the day it depends on the philosophy of the President of the Chamber at the time. There are a lot of organizations that are involved in the community activities. Currently, the Baltimore Hispanic Chamber of Commerce is business-focused, so a lot of the activities that we do are geared to helping businesses. It is my philosophy that sure you can help the community and you can put a lot of money into the community. The question is, how do you get that back? I know that if I help support a small business and if I help that business grow, that is going to create jobs. That is long lasting support for the community. People want to have jobs, to have income to support their families. We’re creating jobs for people. We make them feel good about themselves. They gain skills and maybe further down the road they want to own or grow their own business. So I’m really gun-ho. Anyone who knows me knows that when it comes to business, I think that at the end of the day that is how you gain independence. So I’ll always back that, anything that is business-related. That is one of the reasons why –if you look at organizations like USHYEE— I strongly support that because they’re teaching people how to be entrepreneurs, how to be responsible businesspeople. Those are the kind of initiatives that I really stand behind. And that’s me, that where I stand as a President of the Chamber.
Q. Where do you see your organization going in the next few years? Where do you want to take it?
CR: I think the Chamber is in good hands. I think we’ve laid a good foundation. We’ve worked to bring professional accounting systems to do the little things like pay our taxes, pay our bills and invoice our customers. So as a business we’re doing the things that good businesses do. We’re gaining members who are our customers. We’re seeking people that can help us grow our businesses in terms of legal and financial advice. I would hope that future presidents are entrepreneurial, they understand the importance of that and give that continuity.
Q. Where do you see Hispanics headed as a business community in Baltimore?
CR: There are a lot of small businesses, whether they’re independent or they’re home-based businesses or independent consultants, it’s growing. It’s definitely growing. It’s hard for me to quantify and tell you exactly how many there are, but I am definitely encouraged. Whenever I go to the Legislators’ Reception that we have once a year or the Hispanic Business Conference, I always see new faces. It always seems like the room gets bigger and bigger. That’s a great thing. I can tell you we’re moving in the right direction. I think folks need to understand that Latinos, whether they’re Cuban, Puerto Rican, Mexican or South American, we always tend to be entrepreneurial. We’re not the kind of folks that go and seek government assistance first. It’s never been that way. We’re proud people. Lord knows we’re proud people, there’s no question about that. We tend to be very independent people. That just speaks a lot for our culture. If we can have our own businesses, we prefer to do that.
I’m very encouraged. We don’t have all the answers. We’re certainly not perfect as a community. We’re still learning how to do business with one another, to do business with the outside world. But we have folks who really do care about the community, who really want to see us do well. We want to be respected as a community. We want to be considered players. It’s up to us as business people to deliver good products and good services and to be role models not only for our community for the outside world who is looking at us and wondering, hmm... do I want to do business with these folks? That’s very important, our character really is important. At the end of the day, that’s what we have going for us. We’ve definitely come a long way. I’ve been in my business for fifteen years and I can tell you, we have definitely come a long way as a community. We have further to go, but there’s definitely been improvement.
Q. I have asked several business owners whether or not they get any support from the government or any organizations and their response so far has always been no, that it’s very hard to get any support here. What would you respond to that?
CR: My answer would be, I can understand that frustration, especially when you’re first starting out. You just don’t know what you don’t know. You don’t know what information is out there. However, there are several organizations that are available and you don’t have to become member of any particular one. Find one that works best for you. It’s not something that’s going to happen overnight. You may become a member of an organization for a few years and you may move on to another one. It’s perfectly normal to see where you fit and which one you feel comfortable with. There’s the Hispanic Business Association, the Broadway Area Business Association. There’s the Baltimore Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, the Maryland Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. I’d say the one commonality we have is that we’re all Hispanic-focused, we all want to be successful, but the needs of our individual members can be slightly different.
Q. Any final advice to Hispanic businesses?
CR: I’d say it’s a two-way street. If we don’t know who you are and you don’t know who we are, it’s definitely going to be a challenge because you’re going to be out there on your own. So it behooves you to reach out, go to an event and get to know people. None of this stuff happens overnight. It will literally take you years to achieve some of your goals. There are some businesses who would not even entertain doing business with you if you haven’t been in business for 5 to 7 years. I can tell you personally, it took me 7 or 8 years before I got my first government contract. It’s just the way it is. Folks have to realize that when you run your own business it’s not a sprint. It’s a marathon. That’s just a fact. Yes, it may cost you money. Yes, you’ll have to pay for a membership, but what you’re paying for is access to information that you don’t have access to on a regular basis. If you pay $100 a year and get to network with folks, find out about this or that opportunity, about who you can partner with, who you can subcontract with… you can’t even measure the value of that. You can spend $100 taking a prospect out to dinner and may not even get business with them. We have to be responsible. We own our businesses. We own our destiny. You have to give a little something to get something back. You have to take the initiative to reach out. It would be wonderful if someone knocked on your door and said, ‘Hey, I’ve got something for you’. That’s just not the reality of the situation. It doesn’t work that way. You’ve really got to go out and grab it yourself. And we’re here, we’re willing, we’re ready.
© 2009 Elianne Ramos. All Rights Reserved.
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