A Westchester-based publication for Latinos aims to provide information about starting and growing businesses from experts with experience doing so.
Publisher Barry Mittelman said the website, Latin Business Today, offers original content and mentorship. Mittelman created the site in 2012 and relaunched it this month.
“I launched this to give back to people that are trying to start or grow businesses in a really tough economy,” he said.
The Latino population is growing, he said, and a subset of that population is business owners. He said readers work in restaurants, retail stores, manufacturing, distribution, law and more around the country. More Latinos are seeing the opportunity to start their own businesses, he said.
The updated website has new sections, “start” and “grow,” for two core audiences ”“ people that are thinking about becoming entrepreneurs, like students, stay-at-home parents and corporate workers, and established business owners looking to expand. It also has video, profiles of successful Latino businesses in the “tendencia” section and information about work/life balance in “viva la buena.” Articles are written in English because, Mittelman said, most readers are already settled into the country.
“At the end of the day business is business, but it”™s nice to have a publication recognize and celebrate your ethnicity,” he said.
Mittelman said all articles are written by reporters and a group of about 80 volunteer contributors that have experience in various industries and Fortune 500 companies. Some are Latino, but not all. He said the content makes the website a “trusted adviser.”
He said challenges facing the Latino community include financing, human resources, leadership, and how to hire correctly and motivate staff. Sometimes there is a reticence to work with the government, Mittelman said, so he tries to bridge the gap and has held events in partnership with the Westchester County government.
He said the publication is affiliated with a number of Latino organizations that support businesses, like Neighbors Link in Mount Kisco, which educates and employs immigrants. Mittelman also hired a director of community relations, Tina Trevino, who has a background in fashion and marketing.
Mittelman has a background in sales and marketing for companies including IBM and Deloitte. He started the website as a way to give back and honor his late father-in-law, Les “Coach” Fernandez, who founded Educage, an alternative high school in the 1960s in White Plains.
“In a nutshell he was basically the ultimate mentor and he changed people”™s lives,” he said.
In starting the publication, Mittelman can relate to his entrepreneurial readers. “While I was prepared in many ways, in small business you don”™t know what you don”™t know,” he said. “It”™s constantly learning and trying to anticipate what challenges you may be coming up against.”
