The Greater San Jose Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Receives USHCC Foundation CasaCyber Technology Incubator Grant

May 9, 2006; 07:46 AM

The Greater San Jose Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (GSJHCC) has been awarded a grant under the USHCC Foundation's CasaCyber Small Business Incubation & Technology Grant Program underwritten by the AT&T Foundation to help incubate Hispanic-owned startups.

"The CasaCyber grant will be instrumental in helping us to take Hispanic startups to the next level," said Carlos Figueroa, CEO of the GSJHCC. "We fully expect that the CasaCyber project will help create high technology jobs for San Jose."

To that end, The Enterprise Network of Silicon Valley (TEN), the largest business accelerator of technology startups on the West Coast, and the IIBD will launch the Silicon Valley CasaCyber Community Technology Center, where entrepreneurs and small businesses will be able to access resources such as computers, access to the Internet, office space, business-related services and a network of business-related contacts.

"We are pleased that USHCC has made this important grant and we are looking forward to helping these Hispanic entrepreneurs develop their technologies and launch their companies," said Dr. Bill Musgrave, TEN's CEO.

"The concentration of educational and research institutions and technology companies of all sizes, and the opportunities to access venture capital, makes Silicon Valley the best place to start for entrepreneurs," said Daniel Tkach, CEO of the IIBD. "Hispanic technology startups need to be better represented in this environment and the CasaCyber grant will be key to supporting that goal."

TEN, the IIBD and the GSJHCC have already established in 2004 an alliance to advance technology and innovation and create business opportunities for entrepreneurs and small and medium businesses.

The GSJHCC is a nonprofit service organization serving the needs of Latino and minority businesses in business development, training and providing access to capital. The GSJHCC works with other international Chambers of Commerce in order to promote global trade. ([email protected])

About IIBD: The IIBD of the GSJHCC has the mission to promote and encourage the advancement of Hispanic and other minority businesses by providing the guidance, education and support required to compete in the global market, helping them benefit from free trade agreements with the US, such as NAFTA and CAFTA. ([email protected])

About TEN: TEN, The Enterprise Network of Silicon Valley, www.tensv.org, is the largest business accelerator of technology startups on the West Coast. TEN has helped launch more than 90 successful ventures, including eBay, iPrint, Vertical Networks, Right Works, Tukaroo and Sensant, stimulating the economy with innovation and creating thousands of jobs. More than 80 technology startups are currently in development at TEN. In addition, TEN is also committed to working with disabled veterans through the Entrepreneur Support Foundation to extend to them the power of entrepreneurship and integrate them with entrepreneurial companies. TEN is an independent 501(c)(3) public benefit California corporation.