About NEOHCC

Recognizing the economic potential of the Hispanic community, a group of visionary leaders established the Hispanic Business Association in 1982. From that vision, the Hispanic Business Association became the Northeast Ohio Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (NEOHCC) which is formally recognized by the IRS as a 501(c)(6) organization.

In an effort to advance the formation and growth of Hispanic businesses in Northeast Ohio, the NEOHCC established an educational arm in 1996 called the Hispanic Business & Community Development Corporation which is now known as the Hispanic Business Center (HBC) and formally recognized as a 501(c)(3) organization. Servicing hundreds of individuals in need, the Center provides business consultation, seminars and workshops.

The Center provides technical assistance and training to individuals looking to start, build, or grow their businesses. The Center has grown into a comprehensive business support center, serving over 300 clients annually. The Center has earned a reputation for quality programming, serving, and appealing to not just Latino-owned businesses but to many throughout northeast Ohio. The services have since grown to offer training to Community Development Organizations as a way to revitalize and stabilize retail districts in an effort to alleviate neighborhood blight and poverty. The Center has also aligned its everyday work to carry out the key strategies of La Villa Hispana community redevelopment project – Economic Development, Arts & Culture, and Community Engagement. This project is a community led creative-place making initiative.

MISSION

To promote and support the domestic and international economic development of Hispanic commerce and to serve as a liaison to the Hispanic market in Northeast Ohio

To be consistently recognized as the strategic leader for Hispanic Commerce in Northeast Ohio

VISION

Goals

In carrying out our mission and realizing our vision, the NEOHCC is focused on achieving the following goals:

Meet the team

  • JENICE CONTRERAS
    Executive
    Director
  • RANDY CEDEÑO
    Director, Small Business Development Center
  • SOLYMAR MARENGO
    Director of
    Operations
  • ANTONIA RIVERA
    Business
    Advisor
  • ESTEBAN GOMEZ
    Development &
    Marketing Coordinator
  • YESENIA GUERRERO
    Program Support
    Assistant
  • LUIS CARTAGENA
    Business Advisor
    Financial Management
  • GEORGE PIMENTEL
    Business Advisor
    Accounting Services
  • COLE WORLEY
    Business Advisor
    Marketing

Board of Directors

  • ELIZABETH MARENGO
    Chair
  • RENE POLIN
    Trustee
  • PATRICK ESPINOSA
    Trustee
  • COREY JAMES
    Trustee
  • RICHARD K. LEVITZ
    Trustee
  • MARIO PEÑA
    Trustee
  • MARCIA MORENO
    TRUSTEE