Aflac Awards Hispanic Business Owners for Community Service
March 21 2007 - 1:29PM
PR Newswire (US)
Insurer and The Latino Coalition Join to Present California Small
Business Owners With The Aflac Civic Award. GLENDALE, Calif., March
21 /PRNewswire/ -- Aflac awarded four Southern California
entrepreneurs for their work in community service on March 21 at
the Hispanic small business workshop hosted by the Latino
Coalition. The award marked the first in a series of regional
awards that will honor Hispanic business owners across the country.
Hector Barreto, chairman of the Latino Coalition, and Vilma
Salaverria, vice president of Policy Service at Aflac, presented
each winner with a $500 U.S. Savings Bond for their designated
cause. "Aflac is proud to honor these business owners for their
unique contributions to civic and charitable activities while
providing them with valuable information during these workshops
that will help them grow their business," said Salaverria. "Our
goal at the workshops is to bring specific opportunities for
financial, technical and marketing assistance to local Hispanic
entrepreneurs," Barreto said. "Aflac sets a great example for
corporate America by supporting diversity opportunities in jobs,
contracts and community activities." Aflac Civic Awards were
presented to the following entrepreneurs: -- Roy Hernandez,
President of Third Wave Corporation, a Los Angeles-based IT
company, was awarded for his two decades of community support for
the Center for Improvement of Child Caring. Hernandez also counsels
Latino and other minority students on career opportunities in
architecture, engineering and IT. -- Mary Jean Duran, President of
Duran-Alvarez, a Newport Beach marketing consulting firm, was
recognized for her service to HOPE, a nonprofit organization
dedicated to inspiring Latina leadership. She is also active in
supporting the Boys and Girls Clubs of California, and founded a
chapter of the National Society of Hispanic MBAs. -- Ernie Garza, a
Viet Nam veteran and owner of Swiftgraphics, a Culver City printing
and graphics company, was honored for his leadership in the growth
of the California Disabled Veterans Alliance which supports the
needs of California's 225,000 disabled veterans. Garza is also a
leader at the Culver City Youth Health Center. -- Cristantos
Hajibrahim, founder of the Santa Monica College Veterans
Association and owner of Virus Woman in Westwood, an information
technology service firm, was honored for launching Vet Tech, a
coalition of small businesses committed to retraining and
re-employing veterans in various fields of technology. On May 2,
Aflac will present a national civic award during the Latino
Coalition National Small Business Summit. For more information and
a nomination form, visit aflac.com or enespanol.aflac.com. The
deadline for entries is April 5. About Aflac For more than 50
years, Aflac products have given policyholders the opportunity to
direct cash where it is needed most when a life-interrupting
medical event causes financial challenges. Aflac is the number one
provider of guaranteed-renewable insurance in the United States and
the number one insurance company in terms of individual insurance
policies in force in Japan. Our insurance products provide
protection to more than 40 million people worldwide. Aflac has been
included in Fortune magazine's listing of America's Most Admired
Companies for seven consecutive years and in Fortune magazine's
list of the 100 Best Companies to Work For in America for nine
consecutive years. Aflac has also been recognized three times by
both Fortune magazine's listing of the Top 50 Employers for
Minorities and Working Mother magazine's listing of the 100 Best
Companies for Working Mothers. Aflac Incorporated is a Fortune 500
company listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol AFL.
To find out more about Aflac, visit aflac.com. About the Latino
Coalition The Latino Coalition is a nonprofit, nonpartisan
organization based in Washington, D.C. TLC was established to
address policy issues that directly affect the well-being of
Hispanics in the United States. TLC's agenda is to develop and
promote policies that will foster economic equivalency and enhance
overall business, economic and social development of Hispanics. For
more information, visit http://www.thelatinocoalition.com/. (Logo:
http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20041202/CLTH019LOGO ) Media
Contacts: Mechell Clark Yolonda King Aflac Incorporated Aflac
Incorporated (706) 243-8004 (706) 243-8547
http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20041202/CLTH019LOGO
http://photoarchive.ap.org/ DATASOURCE: Aflac CONTACT: Mechell
Clark, +1-706-243-8004, , or Yolonda King, +1-706-243-8547, , both
of Aflac Web site: http://www.aflac.com/
http://www.thelatinocoalition.com/ http://www.enespanol.aflac.com/
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