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ESTATE PLANNING DURING THE PANDEMIC
hccstl.com
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CONTRACTOR CONNECT EXPANDS
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VIRTUAL JOB & NETWORKING FAIR
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New Members By joining, the following individuals and companies have decided to make an investment in the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and our community at large. We encourage you to find out more about them and, whenever possible, to use their services. If you would like more information about any of these individuals or organizations, please contact us at 314.664.4432. AAdvantage Insurance Group — Ana Reyes, Agent American Red Cross of Greater St Louis Bilingual International Assistant Services BlueMountain Torpedopot ClarkDietrich / Strait-Flex Codiflex International Corporation CupaBooks, LLC Doll Services Early & Miranda, P.C. F. F. & G., LLC Frick’s Quality Meats Inc HCB Ideas Home Cafe / Personal Chef
W I N T E R 2021
Kuna Foodservice PCs For People Saint Louis Zoo Spectrum Brands Veterans United Home Loans
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WINTER 2021 HISPANIC CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
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Why Everyone Should Consider Estate Planning During the COVID-19 Pandemic Contractor Connect Expands into a Multi-Series Format Virtual Job & Networking Fair Building Your Personal Brand Closing the Homeownership and Wealth Gap
Letter from the President & CEO Dear friends and members, 2021 has already been a great year of growth for the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. We started winter on the right foot by hiring a new Business Counselor to help with our small business development and community outreach. Additionally, we hosted a successful Virtual Job & Networking Fair with the partnership of PluggedIn. We are also excited to announce that our annual Hispanic Working Women event that will be held virtually in partnership with Midwest BankCentre. Over 45 companies were able to connect with diverse talent around St. Louis Metropolitan area and further during our Virtual Job & Networking Fair. Candidates attended this event searching for a job that fit their experiences and skills. We are extremely grateful with the vendors for their commitment to hire diverse candidates and want to continue to help companies connect with more talent.
Our goal this year is to continue providing events that support the community and their evolving needs regardless of the actual situation around the world. We are extremely pleased to be able to contribute to the community with a variety of programs that help bring us all together. We want to continue providing events like this, but we need your insight. We want to make sure the community is aware of upcoming events and initiatives and let us know if you have suggestions or feedback. Email us at staff@hccstl.com to share your feedback. To learn more about us, visit our Facebook page where you can watch Cámara en Vivo every Tuesday at 3pm. Also, visit us at Business After Hours every third Thursday of the month from 6pm to 8pm. This free networking event is open to the public and a wonderful place to connect-with members from a variety of companies and exchange information. Thank you,
Karlos Ramirez President & CEO
Our goal this year is to continue providing events that support the community and their evolving needs regardless of the actual situation around the world.” 3
Why Everyone Should Consider Estate Planning During the COVID-19 Pandemic Amid the COVID-19 global pandemic, our office has received an increased number of calls regarding estate planning. Most of us have been spending the extra time at home doing repairs, tutoring, organizing, planning meals, and trying to get our affairs in order. Now is also an ideal time to update or develop your estate plan, especially when most of the work can be done from home. Regardless of your situation, estate planning is for everyone. If you become incapacitated during your lifetime, you want to avoid having a court make the decision of who to appoint to exercise some or all your legal rights. Having a proper estate plan can also ensure your estate will pass as intended and minimize the hassles and stress your family will face after your passing. The goals of estate planning, in general, are as follows:
Minimize the total tax liability of the estate Ensure proper management and control of assets during life and after death
Minimize the cost of estate administration and the complexity of the estate settlement
Minimize the risk of contests during the estate element
Maximize family privacy The fundamental documents of every estate plan typically include a Revocable Living Trust, Will, Financial Power of Attorney, and Health Care Power of Attorney. It’s important that your advance directives, such as your health care proxy, living will, and power of attorney express your wishes and authorize your agents to make medical and financial decisions for you in the event you are unable to do so.
Regardless of your situation, estate planning is for everyone.” 4
WINTER 2021 HISPANIC CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
Updating Your Current Estate Plan Now is also an ideal time to review and update your current estate plan. Specifically, you should answer the following questions:
Are there any major life changes since you last executed your estate planning documents?
Are the named executors in your will and trustees in your trusts still suitable and able to serve?
Are the beneficiary designations for your life insurance policies and retirement accounts updated? As the anxiety many people feel during a public health crisis like the COVID-19 pandemic continues, one way to ease some stress is to make sure your affairs are in order should you become incapacitated or pass away. It is best to have honest conversations with your family and loved ones about your estate plan. During these uncertain and scary times, if you plan accordingly, you can make sure your wishes are carried out. This column is for informational purposes only. Nothing herein should be considered legal advice or as creating an attorney-client relationship. The choice of a lawyer is a crucial decision and should not be based solely on advertisements. Read our full legal disclaimer here.
Mark Mulchek is an attorney at Carmody MacDonald. Mark advises clients regarding estate and tax planning, estate and trust administration, creditor protection, wealth preservation and business succession planning. He works with clients and their other professional advisors to develop effective and efficient estate plans that seek to minimize income, estate, gifts and generation-skipping transfer taxes. Email Mark at mmu@carmodymacdonald.com or call 314.854.8606.
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The aim of Contractor Connect is to help small business construction companies grow their business through professional presentations and question and answer sessions.”
The virtual event was great! I really felt like there was no pressure and the connections happened organically.”
To sign up as a job seeker, please send your resume to: amccreary@hccstl.com For more information visit HCCSTL.com or call 314.664.4432 6
WINTER 2021 2021 HISPANIC CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
Contractor Connect Expands into a MultiSeries Format Monday, January 25th, 2021 saw the launch date for the HCC’s expansion of its Contractor Connect series! With its launch, this once annual event has grown into a multi series forum featuring presentations from industry leaders, discussion panels, and live Q&A opportunities.
The launch streamed live on the HCC’s Facebook page and offered viewers a presentation on the basics of starting a business called Business 101. Presented by Berto Garcia, of Garcia Companies and a member of the Skilled Trade Committee, it provided the beginning steps and resources to create a business. Berto was joined for the launch by two other members of the HCC’s Skilled Trade Committee, Gabriel Cardenas of Missouri Constructors and Gabriela Ramirez-Arellano of Cortex’s Center for Emerging Technologies as audiences got the chance to ask questions after the presentation. Together they shared their early experiences in the industry while answering audience questions. The aim of Contractor Connect is to help small business construction companies grow their business through professional presentations and question and answer sessions. This series will give viewers unique insight into the field as it covers topics such as: safety, insurance,
Virtual Job & Networking Fair St. Louis’ employers had the opportunity to connect with over 85 diverse candidates on Thursday, February 18th during the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce’s annual Virtual Job and Networking Fair.
bidding practices, collecting payment, are part of their ongoing efforts to working with unions, and securing achieve this goal. minority certification. The Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Contractor Connect was created by is offering Contractor Connect the Skilled Trade Committee as an forums streamed live on Facebook annual event. Due to its popularity, quarterly throughout the year. the HCC’s Skilled Trade Committee Viewers interested in the series can has grown it into a quarterly series find upcoming series information on to offer more support to small the HCC’s Facebook page, the HCC construction businesses. To develop website, and in the bi-monthly email this series, they combined their own blast. experiences, audience feedback, Look out for the following dates and industry research. for more from Contractor Connect! The HCC’s Skilled Trade Committee is made up of:
Berto Garcia of Garcia Companies Gabriel Cardenas of Missouri Constructors
Jose Ponce of Ponce Realty Group Gabriela Ramirez-Arellano of Cortex Innovation Community They focus on identifying and implementing programs to support skilled trade laborers and companies in the HCC STL (St Louis) community. Contractor Connect and its evolution
The event took place virtually and was made possible thanks to our partner PluggedIn and our sponsors. The Hispanic Chamber of Commerce’s main purpose of hosting this event was to help the community, companies and organizations connect to diverse talent. More than 40 employers, such as Centene Corporations, Home Depot, Ballpark Village and Spire Energy were seeking diverse candidates to assist them in growing their businesses. There were other companies, such as Commerce Bank, Ameren, Allsup and Midwest BankCentre that participated and were looking for diverse talent. All these companies and organizations
Upcoming episodes will be broadcast on the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce’s Facebook page.
April 26th July 26th November 29th Viewers can watch past episodes including the 2021 launch of Contractor Connect in the video section of the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce’s Facebook page, or with this link.
were looking for applicants who qualified at different professional levels such as internship, entry, and middle-management levels. We especially want to thank our Cardinal Sponsors, AT&T, Clark Dietrich and Penn National for their support and commitment during the event. “We could have not done such a major event without any of you,” said Nerishka Cruz, Program Coordinator. “The virtual event was great! I really felt like there was no pressure and the connections happened organically,” anonymous candidate.
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As individuals, everything we do everyday ladders back to our personal brand.”
Building Your Personal Brand Envy is a tough thing. And when you see another colleague and think you could be doing better, just keep in mind, she/ he has their own issues, you just aren’t seeing them. In fact, what they may have is a very solid natural personal brand that protects reputation, relationships, and even offers slack or leverage when things don’t go perfect. It’s more than your LinkedIn profile, is the authentic way you show up, with pride in culture, family, and all that makes you who you are as a leader in your community, and your business or career. At Jayne Agency, we’ve built a culture around the ten assets that make up a brand platform — whether it’s personal or business. As individuals, everything we do everyday ladders back to our personal brand. Being conscious about the assets that make up our personal brand changes the types of people we attract personally and professionally, the way we manage our business, the way we respond (or do not respond) to things, how we negotiate, and how we leverage our soft power (earned) and our hard power (granted).
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WINTER 2021 HISPANIC CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
Your personal brand consists of a background and 10 assets BACKGROUND: the journey you took to get to where you are today. History, Legacy, Inspiration, Family, Culture and evolution of where you are now.
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Goals: What are you looking to achieve? Financially? Non-Financially? Barriers: That’s right, own what you think is in your way, and turn it into your power.
Objectives: How will you measure your progress towards your goal? Do you want others to be aware of you? Do you need to grow or adapt?
Take some time to think about your personal brand. Jot down a few thoughts around each area. You’ll quickly find yourself rethinking your LinkedIn in a way that others couldn’t, you’ll see opportunity where you hadn’t, you’ll see commitments you need to pay more attention to — and the result will be a more powerful life, a personal brand that you realize how to take care of — so that it takes care of you, almost like “brand destiny”.
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Strategies: Where and how do you intend to invest in your personal brand to achieve your objectives? Classes? Networks? Audience: Who matters when it comes to your personal brand? Is it your employees? Your boss? Your family? Elders? Spouse? Narrow it down, make it more focused. Start putting those people in the center of your universe, close to your heart and intentions.
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Insight: Now that you’ve prioritized your audience, think about what’s going on in their world. What do you know about THEM? What are things you know they’ll do, demonstrate? And what is a need they have that remains unmet?
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Positioning: This is an introspective asset — it forces you to stop and think “what kind of person am I?” The smart one? Techy? Fastest? Who are you compared to those you compete with in the name of achieving your personal goals?
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Promise: Just like it sounds — a promise for your personal brand is directly tied to your personal delivery. It’s what you deliver every day, day in and day out. Your promise is what people can depend on you for. It’s the ultimate value you provide.
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Support: This asset is built of MANY assets — and when most people think about personal branding, they start listing out all the things that belong on their resume. In reality, those “things” are the support for your promise. They back it up. List them out.
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Tone and Personality: Tone is how you speak, the words you use, the things you say. Personality is the things you believe in, the things you do, what you demonstrate.
Brooke Foley, CEO & Founder of Jayne Agency. A strategic powerhouse with a commitment to clarity, Brooke helps businesses of all sizes achieve dependable, repeatable, scalable revenue.She founded Jayne Agency in 2009 as a bold, creative boutique specializing in strategic planning, storytelling and sustainable brand platforms. Jayne is a 100% woman-owned, 100% inclusive, WBENCcertified company committed to helping diverse businesses grow. For more information clarity@jayneagency.com
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With historically low rates, now is the time to step into your dreams.
Closing the Homeownership and Wealth Gap As a young person, I never understood the difference between income and wealth. And as a consequence, I didn’t truly grasp how you build wealth until I was in my early 30s. I bought my first house when I was 26 years old, and I remember the conversation with my agent and loan officer like it was yesterday. My wife and I struggled to come up with the 3% down payment that was required of our FHA loan. I later learned the difference: Income is what you earn, and wealth is what you own. Income can be converted into wealth over time by what you invest a portion of your earnings in. Over the course of the last 20 years, I have come to realize the importance of homeownership as a down payment to promoting wealth and shared prosperity for Black and Brown people. The statistics related to Hispanic home ownership paint a promising but challenging picture. As the fastest-growing U.S. demographic, Hispanics’ homeownership rate has increased more during the past several years than any other race or ethnic group, including white Americans. While Hispanics make up 18% of the U.S. population, the group accounted for nearly 63% of new U.S. homeowner gains over the past decade, according to the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals. 10
WINTER 2021 HISPANIC CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
However, the Urban Institute reports that the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted Hispanics’ incomes more than other race or ethnic groups, having larger concentrations of jobs in vulnerable industries, such as food and service work. In addition, many Hispanics do not have Social Security numbers, preventing them from receiving government stimulus checks and making it more difficult to acquire unemployment insurance benefits. Homeownership is more than a place to live – it is about stepping into your dreams. It is the way most American families build financial security, especially families of color. On average, during the last quarter century, homeownership equity accounted for nearly half of Black and Hispanic wealth, compared to about a quarter for white families. The Federal Reserve reports that the average homeowner in 2016 had a household wealth of $231,400, compared to the average renter having a household wealth of just $5,200. Homeownership is about building generational wealth, and the growing racial homeownership gap has widened the wealth gap.
Buying your first home can feel overwhelming, and barriers to homeownership make it even harder, especially for Black and Brown Americans. These barriers include: A DOWN PAYMENT Saving for a down payment can be the biggest hurdle for renters wanting to become homeowners. A study by the Urban Institute found that 4.6 million Hispanic millennials earn enough to afford a home in their area but are blocked by a lack of down payment and inventory for sale. Setting aside money each month can be unrealistic when that money is needed to pay for groceries, utilities, or to pay off other debt. YOUR CREDIT SCORE A less-than-ideal credit score can hold you back from many things: career goals, loans, credit card rewards, and so on. A place at the starting line should not be one of them.
Don’t give in to the fear or become paralyzed by the process. At Midwest BankCentre, we invest in people and their potential — not just credit scores. A values-led bank, we believe that every person, every business, every community deserves the right to DREAM BIG. That all begins with access to capital. You don’t need to postpone owning a home until you’ve saved enough for a down payment or improved your credit score. We have been helping home buyers and home owners since 1906 with their financing needs. Everyone’s story is different, but we’ve helped people find comfort and confidence in choosing the right home loan for them. For those without savings, we offer 100% Mortgage Financing, an option that gives buyers the ability to purchase a home with zero down payment. We also offer ITIN loans and offer interpreter services so our team members can help you navigate the process. From conventional loans to constructions loans and more, we’re here to help take the complexity out of home borrowing. Your dream of owning a home is our dream, too. Homeownership strengthens communities, fosters civic pride, and provides children with a stable living environment. It’s even been linked to lower crime, improved health, and increased volunteerism. Homeownership helps families prosper, and they in turn lift up their friends and neighbors, so we all RISE TOGETHER.
ACCESSIBILITY There is a long history of systems that keep people with the greatest need from accessing reasonably priced capital, preventing them from pursuing dreams and achieving upward mobility. This can change when we all demand more from each other and our financial institutions. This can change when we bank our values. IDENTIFICATION Not all mortgage lenders accept alternative forms of ID, such as ITINs. Your bank should be your financial partner, giving you the tools you need to put you on a path to prosperity.
Let Midwest BankCentre work to earn your First Time & Forever MortgageTM business. Whether you are buying your first home, refinancing your current home, or building your dream home, we team up with you to help you select the best loan type for your family’s needs and budget. We’ll walk you through it all, providing customized service each step of the way. Take the first step today. Call us at 314.633.6060, or shoot us an email at newhomeloans@midwestbankcentre.com. We look forward to serving you.
Sources: Kusisto, Laura and Eisen, Ben. “Wave of Hispanic Buyers Shores Up U.S. Housing Market.” The Wall Street Journal, 15, July, 2019. www.wsj.com/articles/wave-of-hispanic-buyers-boosts-u-s-housingmarket-11563183000. Accessed March 9, 2021. Young, Caitlin and Choi, Jung Hyun. “Hispanic Homebuyers Will Be Critical for the Next Housing Market Recovery. Here’s Why They May Struggle.” The Urban Institute, 6, May 2020, www.urban.org/urbanwire/hispanic-homebuyers-will-be-critical-next-housing-marketrecovery-heres-why-they-may-struggle. Accessed March 9, 2021.
Orvin T. Kimbrough is Chairman and CEO of Midwest BankCentre, the second-largest locally owned community bank serving the St. Louis region.
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2021 EVENTS CALENDAR Business After Hours
Business After Hours are held from 6PM-8PM the third Thursday of every month. Food and beverages are always provided. RSVP at hccstl.com/events
Signature Events Job Fair
Feb. 18
Apr. 29
High School Hispanic Leadership Institute
Golf Classic
Jun. 14-19
Sep. 23
Hispanic Leadership Institute
Adelante Awards
Oct. 8 12
Hispanic Working Women
WINTER 2021 HISPANIC CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
Oct. 29
HELPING PEOPLE LIVE THEIR BEST POSSIBLE LIVES Problems. The ones too big to tackle alone. The ones that limit people and limit potential. The ones that impact all of us. We go looking for them. In farm towns and river towns. Suburbs and cities. From South City to Swansea. Overland to Highland. We surround our community’s most critical problems. And we fight. We are the hand-raisers. The game-changers The never stop fighting, never back down, life transformers. At United Way of Greater St. Louis, we fight for every person in our community. We fight for the education of every child. The basic needs of every family. The self-sufficiency of every person. Because what happens to one of us, happens to all of us. United, we fight for those who can’t. United, we fight for change. United, we fight to help people live their best possible lives. Unite with us. HELPINGPEOPLE.ORG
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where
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The Premier St. Louis Destination for Brewery, Beer and Food Lovers
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WINTER 2021 HISPANIC CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
Building a more diverse and inclusive region. That’s our business. We’re the Regional Business Council. We’re 100 of the area’s leading businesses, with over $60 billion in revenue, staffed by over 100,000 professional associates. And we’re targeting those resources and that expertise directly at the St. Louis region. Improving the St. Louis region is a big job. But that’s our Business.
The Regional Business Council stands with the
THE HISPANIC CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
in its work empowering communities and changing lives.
F O C U S + C O L L A B O R AT I O N + I N V E S T M E N T + A C T I O N + R E S U LT S THE CEOS OF ST. LOUIS’ LEADING COMPANIES John P. Stupp, Jr., Chairman Tony Tersigni, Past-Chairman Carmen Jacob, Vice Chair Tony Thompson, Vice Chair Mike Zambrana, Co-Chair Diversity and Inclusion Kathy Osborn, President and CEO
7701 FORSYTH, SUITE 205 ST.
EDUCATION
LOUIS, MISSOURI 63105
GOVERNANCE
314.225.2100
QUALITY OF LIFE
KOSBORN@STLRBC.ORG WWW.STLRBC.ORG
BUSINESS DIVERSITY COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
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CORPORATE SPONSORS
FRIEND
P L AT I N U M
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AAdvantage Insurance Group Ben Hur Corporation Boone Center Inc., DBA BCI Packaging Carmody MacDonald Carrollton Bank Central Bank of St. Louis CIBC Commerce Bank CTS Group Dot Foods, Inc. ePlata USA, LLC Facilitec Corporate Furnishings Fedex Ground First Bank Frick’s Quality Meats Incorporated Garcia Companies Graybar Guarantee Electrical Company Home Depot LHM LUXCO, Inc. Major Brands Midland States Bank Midwest BankCentre Mississippi Lime Company Missouri History Museum Montgomery Bank Mutual of Omaha NextGen Information Services, Inc. Pangea Group Panera, LLC Pinnacle (River City Casino & HollywoodCasino) ReMax Gold Regions Bank RSM US, LLP SLCC, LLC Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville Spire, Inc Stinson LLP St. Charles Community College St. John’s Bank St. Louis Community College St. Louis County Government-Office of Diversity and Inclusion St. Louis Economic Development Partnership St. Louis-Kansas City Carpenters St. Louis Post-Dispatch St. Louis FC Success Promotions Talisen Technologies, Inc. Tarlton Corporation The Bank of Edwardsville/Busey Bank Thompson Coburn LLP TOTA Investments, LLC TWG Wealth Partners UMSL University of Missouri System ValDivia Enterprises Veterans United Home Loans Washington University World Wide Technology
WINTER 2021 www.hccstl.com | 3611 South Grand Blvd., Ste 105 St. Louis, MO 63118 | 314.664.4432