San Antonio Golf Tournament Draws Business Leaders from Across Southwest

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Written by John Egan for Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--An estimated 100 business leaders will gather in San Antonio March 31 to play golf, talk business and raise funds for Hispanic business students at the National Society of Hispanic MBAs (NSHMBA) (Dallas, Texas) fifth annual Charity Open at the TPC San Antonio Canyons Course. All proceeds raised from the charity golf event go to the group's scholarship fund that supports Hispanic undergraduate and graduate business students.

"This will be a perfect venue for people at all levels of business to come together at a beautiful place, broaden their network and break out of their silos," remarked Marissa Oliva, co-chair of this year's tournament. "Each year registrations for this event have surpassed the prior year, and this year we plan to do it right and do it big!" Oliva is a contract associate manager at Accenture Federal Services and treasurer of the San Antonio chapter of NSHMBA.

Increasingly, companies are finding they need business-savvy Hispanics to win and service business in Spanish-speaking countries. Closer to home, those same fields are seeking a more diverse employee base as they pursue opportunities in U.S. markets with a high concentration of Spanish speakers. A day spent networking on the golf course can give businesses an extra edge while opening doors to Hispanic business leaders of the future.

"In our four previous golf tournaments, we have raised over $40,000 to support Hispanic business students," said Leonardo Girón, co-chair of the charity event and president emeritus of the San Antonio chapter of NSHMBA. "Our scholarship fund supports high-potential Hispanic business students at the collegiate and graduate level. We are counting on the business community--Hispanic and non-Hispanic--to make this year's event a huge success. You never know what business opportunities could be nurtured while you're on the course."

Don't miss out--last year's tournament featured representatives from Tesoro Corporation (NYSE:TSO) (San Antonio), Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO) (San Antonio), Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F) (Dearborn, Michigan) and BP plc (NYSE:BP) (London, England). Click here to learn more and register for the tournament. A golf foursome costs $600 ($500 if registered by March 18), which includes breakfast and lunch. Tee times start at 8:00. The course is located at 23808 Resort Parkway, San Antonio. Individual hole sponsorships are still available, as are platinum and gold sponsorships. IIR Energy, an affiliate of Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas), is the event's title sponsor.

"We're proud to support NSHMBA again as the title sponsor of this terrific event," said Paul Copello, president of IIR Energy. "Because we operate several overseas offices, we understand the importance of communicating in-language and operating in-culture. Each market has its multiple sub-markets, each with its own procedures and nuances. Having analysts with language and culture skills helps IIR Energy better track business opportunities."

Copello noted Latin American countries have over $900 billion of industrial projects under development. The Power, Metals & Minerals and Oil & Gas Production Industries dominate planned capital spending in Latin America, followed by the Oil & Gas Pipelines, Chemical Processing and Petroleum Refining Industries.

Click on the icon at right to see Latin America's planned industrial project spending by industry.

There are 31 nations in Latin America. The countries with the largest planned industrial spend are, in order, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Peru and Argentina. Although Portuguese is the official language of Brazil, that country also conducts a significant amount of business in Spanish.

IIR Energy does not expect all of those projects to kick off according to their original schedule. The global collapse of crude oil and copper prices likely will undermine the economic viability, or the construction kick-off date, for a good many projects in those industries. "But even if a significant number of projects are delayed or cancelled, there is an enormous book of industrial business to be won in Latin America," Copello said.

Click on the icon at right to see a country-by-country breakdown of the top 10 national markets in the region.

Industrial Info Resources (IIR), with global headquarters in Sugar Land, Texas, five offices in North America and 10 international offices, is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy markets. Industrial Info's quality-assurance philosophy, the Living Forward Reporting Principle™, provides up-to-the-minute intelligence on what's happening now, while constantly keeping track of future opportunities. Follow IIR on: Facebook - Twitter - LinkedIn. For more information on our coverage, send inquiries to info@industrialinfo.com or visit us online at http://www.industrialinfo.com/.