El Paso, Texas: The El Paso Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, along with the Walmart Foundation, will launch a new program designed to enhance opportunities for “Women on the Frontline…In the Battlefield”. This program is designed to develop women by increasing their personal and business development skills. The target market will primarily consist of 1) minority women, 2) military spouses, and 3) armed forces veterans transitioning back into civilian life. These areas of development are critical and much needed in our borderland community.

As an outstanding corporate citizen in our community, the Walmart Foundation has partnered with the El Paso Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, a recognized leader in business development, in their efforts to make a positive economic impact in the El Paso region.

BACKGROUND: The El Paso Hispanic Chamber of Commerce was established over 21 years ago in response to the need for targeted business training, assistance, guidance, and mentoring for emerging minority owned businesses in the El Paso region. Since its inception the Hispanic Chamber has seen tremendous growth and remains committed to facilitating the growth of locally owned minority businesses. El Paso, Texas is the 4th largest city in Texas, and the largest city in the United States situated on the border of three states (Texas, New Mexico, and Chihuahua) and two nations (United States and Mexico). It is a thriving metropolitan area with a total population of 751,296. The minority population in El Paso continues to increase, and currently accounts for over 81.8% of the population.

PROGRAM DESCRIPTION: The “Women on the Frontline…In the Battlefield” program is designed to develop women by increasing their personal and business development skills. Our target market will primarily consist of 1) minority women, 2) military spouses, and 3) armed forces veterans transitioning back into civilian life.

PROGRAM GOALS: The El Paso Hispanic Chamber of Commerce has identified four main goals through the “Women on the Frontline…In the Battlefield” program that we think would make the most impact on our El Paso community.

 Training: the program will conduct a series of monthly training sessions that will cover four primary areas of development; 1) Personal Development; 2) Business Development; 3) Skills Development; and 4) Resources & Incentives.
 Job Placement
 Strategic Partner Identification & Development
 Business Creation
 Resources & Incentives

The targeted need for our program is to identify 1) living wage jobs, or 2) entrepreneurial opportunities that will provide the framework for financial stability. “This program is targeted to the development of minority women, spouses of active duty military and military veterans, which we believe is vital today in El Paso, Texas,” said Cindy Ramos-Davidson, CEO, El Paso Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.

El Paso is home to Fort Bliss our Army military installation which is home to over 35,000 active duty military and their families. El Paso is also the chosen home to over 20,000 military retirees, and further has an 82% Hispanic population, with a 9% unemployment rate. While these economic challenges are daunting, we also consider them to be opportunities to secure job placement, and/or business development for clients that have been historically underserved.

The Walmart Foundation Donates $3.4 Million to Help Americans Get Back To Work. The Walmart Foundation announced a total of $3.4 million in grants to nonprofits focused on helping Americans get back to work. Specifically supporting programs that take regional approaches to developing and deploying a skilled workforce, this funding from the Walmart Foundation will benefit seven nonprofits across the U.S.

Interested participants in the program should send their information to the El Paso Hispanic Chamber of Commerce no later than January 31, 2012. Participants will be announced in February, and the program will commence in March of 2012. Individuals interested in participating may contact the El Paso Hispanic Chamber at 566-4066 or e-mail Mary Helen Aldeis at maldeis@ephcc.org. There is no cost to participate.