Latinos welcome ArizonaLatinos.com media company

A large crowd of about 150 people enjoyed themselves at the ArizonaLatinos.com official launch and ribbon-cutting event Feb. 21 at Frank & Lupe’s restaurant in Scottsdale.

The reception in the restaurant lounge was jointly sponsored by The Scottsdale Internet Group, the founders of ArizonaLatinos.com; the Arizona Hispanic Chamber of Commerce; and Ideaz Media, the Scottsdale agency managing the ArizonaLatinos website operations and marketing. Frank & Lupe’s provided the hors d´oeuvres, and the attendees enjoyed cocktails, wine, and imported beers.

ArizonaLatinos.com is Arizona’s newest Latino media company on the Internet. This new online resource showcases our proud and vibrant community. The portal offers bilingual news/features in Arts & Culture, Entertainment, Celebrity News, Lifestyle, Real Estate, Money, Beauty, Fashion, Sports, Health, Education, Green, and Travel.

Raymond Rita, the company’s founder, greeted the many members of the Arizona Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and other guests who came out to support the new media venture. ArizonaLatinos.com officially joined the Chamber at the event, and Rita, along with partner, Clay Baldwin, was presented with an AZHCC membership certificate.

“I was thrilled to see the turnout and support from the Arizona Hispanic Chamber of Commerce for ArizonaLatinos.com,” Rita says. “There were so many positive comments about the site, and a lot of great ideas from many of the attendees. This is exactly the kind of response and excitement we were hoping for. What an honor to be associated with such a great organization!”

Diana Prieto-Bernal, owner of Ideaz Media, coordinated the launch event. She says she was impressed by the community response.

“I am very happy and grateful we had such a big turnout for our ArizonaLatinos.com launch event. It shows that there is a big interest and great acceptance by the Latino community. We’re just beginning, but the reception by the community tells us we have a bright future ahead. “

Ideaz Media has coordinated the marketing partnerships for ArizonaLatinos.com. The marketing partners include: The Mujeres Unicas show on La Onda 1190 AM radio, Latino Vibe 95.1 FM radio, Azteca America TV network, and more to come. 

Both Raymond Rita and Diana Prieto-Bernal pointed out that the rapidly growing Hispanic community in Arizona is strong and is directly tied to the company’s success. About 30 percent of Arizona’s population is Hispanic, and by 2040 will become the majority population in the state.

In Arizona, the Hispanic community has a buying power of more than $40 billion a year, according to a 2012 Datos economic report sponsored by the AZHCC.  The state is home to 65,000 Latino-owned businesses, which account for at least $9.75 billion a year in gross receipts and about 11 percent of all companies statewide. Arizona’s Hispanic buying power could top $50 billion by 2015, according to the report.

Gonzalo de la Melena Jr., president/CEO of the Hispanic Chamber, has said the fiscal health and expansion of the state economies depend on the economic vitality of the Latino community. “As our 2012 Datos report shows, we’re witnessing the unprecedented expansion of Latino purchasing power and its impact on business growth.”