Published in: St. Louis Business Journal | May 25, 2018
On April 16, the St. Louis Board of Alderman unanimously voted to further fragment and segregate ethnic minorities in the City of St. Louis with the passing of Board Bill 270, also known as the Minority Inclusion Bill. The bill, which was the result of a 2015 disparity study conducted by Oakland, California-based Mason Tillman and Associates, deemed several ethnic minorities such as Asian, Hispanic and Native Americans as being “statistically insignificant” in the metro area, thus not needing the same level of protection from contract disparity as others.
As one of the largest ethnic-minority chambers of commerce in the region, the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan St. Louis believes that the bill, as passed, requires some serious work of vision and inclusion in order to level the playing field for all minorities in the metro area. The bill needs leaders who can see into the future instead of being stuck in the black and white politics of the past.
Richard Montañez, a Hispanic innovator, vice president of marketing and sales for Pepsi North America, and the creator of Flaming Hot Cheetos, delivered a moving speech aimed at empowering the more than 500 attendees of the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce’s Adelante Awards Gala, held Friday, April 27, at the Four Seasons Hotel in downtown St. Louis.
“A leader is a person who can see what others can’t see,” said Montañez, as he related his life story that took him from being a janitor at Fritolay’s Rancho Cucamonga plant, to one of the most influential Hispanics in the country.
Some city of St. Louis leaders could benefit from Montañez’s words, as they are unable to see into the future and the opportunities that Hispanic enterprises bring to benefit the economic development of the region.
With the recent passing of the city’s flawed Minority Inclusion Bill, our representatives have further segregated minority business owners by imposing segmented quotas for government contracts of 21 percent African-American, 11 percent women, 2 percent Hispanic-American, 0.5 percent Asian-American and 0.5 percent Native American. This stands in contrast to St. Louis County’s Minority Inclusion Bill, which allocates a similar percentage of overall contracts to ethnic/racial minorities, but without segregation.
According to the U.S. Census, the Hispanic community has increased 72 percent in St. Louis County and 59 percent in the city from 2000 to 2010, and the Hispanic business community makes up 8,802 businesses in Missouri. Because of this growth and significant economic influence ($5.4 billion in Hispanic purchasing power in Missouri), business opportunities need to be accessible and inclusive to all ethnicities/races in order to further business development and capacity building. The Hispanic business community continues to develop and it is critical that legislation is put in place to support this growing force. Limiting our potential to only 2 percent of city contracts undermines our growing potential.
Even if some can’t see what we see, we will continue to ensure that Hispanics have a voice and a seat at the table. This is why the Hispanic Chamber will continue to work with Hispanic-owned businesses and offer them the support and counseling they need to become certified as a minority enterprise and meet the demands of various bids. It is a critical time for Hispanic-owned businesses in the region and the Hispanic Chamber will continue to advocate for an opportunity to be counted fairly.
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