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LG Electronics Reorganizes Manufacturing Facilities in Mexico

LG Electronics Reorganizes Manufacturing Facilities, Increases Investment in Mexico

MEXICO CITY, July 6 /PRNewswire/ — LG Electronics is planning to reorganize manufacturing plants and expand investments in Mexico to maximize efficiency and competitiveness.

LG Electronics in Mexico

LG Electronics in Mexico

The company will invest an additional US$100 million over the next three years, increasing total production capacity to US$4 billion. This is designed to generate synergies among plants in Mexico and improve cash flow during the current global recession, while further improving capabilities to serve customers in North, Central and South America.

LG Electronics currently operates three manufacturing facilities in Mexico: Reynosa and Mexicali producing TVs and Monterrey making refrigerators and electric ovens. The reorganization program, which is now under way, includes:

  • Consolidation of LCD TV manufacturing plants — Two separate plants in Reynosa and Mexicali will be integrated into one consolidated plant in Reynosa to produce mid-large size and premium TVs. Consolidation is expected to be completed by September 2009.
  • Outsourcing of small- and medium-size LCD TVs — LG Electronics plans to expand its collaboration with an external manufacturing partner in Mexico.
  • Withdrawal from mobile phone manufacturing in Mexicali — With the closure of the Mexicali plant in June, handsets for North America will be produced in Korea and China.
  • Expansion of Monterrey plant capabilities — The refrigerator and electric oven manufacturing Monterrey plant will start producing gas ovens by the end of 2009.
  • Localization of components — LG Electronics will source more components in Mexico to gain cost competitiveness

Planned increases in investment and employment include:

  • Increased investment — LG Electronics plans to invest more than US$100 million in Mexico over the next three years.
  • Expanded production capacity — LG will expand production capacity to US$4 billion by 2012, up from US$2.6 billion in 2008.
  • Additional employment — Adding new production lines in Reynosa will generate about 1,200 new jobs and theMonterrey plant is planning to hire 1,300 additional workers. Localizing component production will help boost recruitment opportunities in Mexico.
  • Retirement benefits and outplacement support — All 500 Mexicali employees will be eligible for positions inReynosa or Monterrey. Retiring employees will receive pensions or outplacement support services consistent with local labor laws.

About LG Electronics, Inc.

LG Electronics, Inc. (KSE: 066570.KS) is a global leader and technology innovator in consumer electronics, mobile communications and home appliances, employing more than 84,000 people working in 115 operations including 84 subsidiaries around the world. With 2008 global sales of $44.7 billion, LG comprises of five business units – Home Entertainment, Mobile Communications, Home Appliance, Air Conditioning and Business Solutions. LG is one of the world’s leading producers of flat panel TVs, audio and video products, mobile handsets, air conditioners and washing machines. LG has signed a long-term agreement to become both A Global Partner of Formula 1(TM) and A Technology Partner of Formula 1(TM). As part of this top-level association, LG acquires exclusive designations and marketing rights as the official consumer electronics, mobile phone and data processor of this global sporting event. For more information, please visit www.lge.com.
Source: LGE

Hispanic Business Magazine Announces 500 Largest U.S. Hispanic-owned Companies

SANTA BARBARA, Calif., June 29 /PRNewswire/ — The June 2009 issue of Hispanic Business magazine features the 27th annual Hispanic Business 500, the benchmark directory of the 500 largest Hispanic-owned companies in the United States.

The annual Hispanic Business 500 directory is widely recognized as the barometer of the U.S. Hispanic economy. Cumulative revenues for the directory totaled $36.15 billion, a slight increase from 2008, which totaled $36.10 billion. A searchable directory of the 2009 Hispanic Business 500 is available now on the magazine’s companion web site, HispanicBusiness.com.

For the third straight year, the HB 500’s top-ranked company was the aptly named Brightstar, a global telecom wholesaler. Though the company posted a dip in revenue of 2.35 percent, it still managed to bring in $3.6 billion.

The surprising bright spot of this year’s list was the financial sector, which posted an impressive 17.2 percent boost in revenues. Pan-American Life Insurance Co. of New Orleans was among the successful businesses in this category, showing an 11 percent gain in revenue over the previous year, as well as a healthy 6 percent profit.

Companies included in the 500 must show at least 51 percent ownership by Hispanic U.S. citizens and must maintain headquarters in one of the 50 states or Washington, D.C. Principals must be U.S. citizens.

For more information, go to http://www.hispanicbusiness.com/rankings/hispanic_companies/

About Hispanic Business Media

For 30 years Hispanic Business Media has been the authoritative source for the latest trends, research and reporting on the growth of the U.S. Hispanic consumer market and the Hispanic enterprise and professional sectors.

Hispanic Business Media properties provide innovative branding and targeted marketing solutions across multiple platforms:

— Award-winning print editorial via Hispanic Business Magazine, which provides readers in the United States and around the world with the most relevant and data-driven news on the U.S. Hispanic economy. — Fresh, real-time online content and interaction via HispanicBusiness.com. The site specializes in b2b daily news, branded content from Hispanic Business magazine, original postings by hb.com writers and some user-generated content. — Hispanic Business Events, which feature and draw the nation’s most affluent and influential Hispanic leaders. Examples include the Hispanic Business magazine EOY Awards for entrepreneurial excellence; the CEO Capital Markets Roundtable; and the Woman of the Year (WOY) Awards. — Unique data reports on the U.S. Hispanic sector developed by HispanTelligence, the research arm of Hispanic Business Media. — Diversity recruiting and development services from HireDiversity.com.

HispanicBusiness magazine, HispanicBusiness.com, Hispanic Business magazine EOY, HireDiversity.com and HispanTelligence are registered trademarks of Hispanic Business Inc. 2008 Hispanic Business Inc. All rights reserved. Hispanic Business Media

Web Site: http://www.hispanicbusiness.com/

ya es hora Campaign Calls for Complete Count of Latinos | 2010 Census

Campaign Calls for the Confirmation of Dr. Robert Groves to lead Census Bureau

ya es hora Campaign Calls for Complete Count of Latinos and Immigrants in the 2010 Census

LOS ANGELES, June 26 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — At a press conference today, the partners of the historic ya es hora !HAGASE CONTAR! (It’s Time, Make Yourself Count!) Campaign urged the Latino community to participate in the 2010 Census. In addition to announcing new partners, the campaign called for the confirmation of Robert Groves to head the U.S. Census Bureau, and condemned the efforts of a small group of organizations calling for a boycott of the enumeration as a strategy to achieve comprehensive immigration reform.

“The partners in the ya es hora !HAGASE CONTAR! Campaign are committed to ensuring a full count in the 2010 Census,” said Texas State Representative Rafael Anchia, Chairman of the NALEO Educational Fund. “This is only possible if we have the continued support of partner organizations across the country as well as leadership at the Census Bureau and the full support of everyone in the Latino community.”

“A full count of the Latino population will help Latinos build a better future for their families,” said Dr. Jesse Miranda, CEO of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference (NHCLC). “A full count is critical for the continued economic and political progress of the Latino community. An undercount of the Latino community will do serious damage to our families and our neighborhoods. By diminishing the representation of newcomers in our democracy, an undercount will also undermine efforts to achieve comprehensive immigration reform. Encouraging anyone not to participate in the Census is simply wrong.”

The U.S. Constitution requires a full count of all residents of the United States, including immigrants. Census statistics determine reapportionment and political representation, and are also used for allocating federal funding for many social and economic programs that benefit the Latino community and the entire country. Additionally, Census data are used for the enforcement of civil rights and anti-discrimination laws, including the Voting Rights Act.

The ya es hora, !HAGASE CONTAR! Campaign will focus on promoting the importance of the Census, educating individuals about filling out their Census forms and encouraging households to mail back their responses once they complete their forms. This phase of the coalition’s work builds on the success of the ya es hora !Ciudadania!Campaign of 2007, in which 1.4 million Legal Permanent Residents (LPRs) applied for U.S. citizenship, and the success of the ya es hora !Ve y Vota! Campaign of 2008, in which a record 9.7 million Latinos exercised their right to vote in the presidential election.

The ya es hora !HAGASE CONTAR! Campaign is a coalition of national and local Latino organizations and Spanish-language media working to inform and motivate the nearly 50 million U.S. Latinos to fully participate in the 2010 Census. The campaign is lead by national partners, including the Dominican American National Roundtable, League of United Latin American Citizens, Mi Familia Vota Education Fund, NALEO Educational Fund, National Council of La Raza, Service Employees International Union, and media companies EntravisionimpreMedia, and Univision, and includes organizational partners at the national, state, and local levels.

In recent weeks, a growing list of organizations have joined the campaign, including: Comunidad Presbiteriana HispanaEl Pozo de Jacob / The Jacob’s Well; Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU); The Hispanic Federation; Hispanic National Bar Association (HNBA); Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute (CHCI); Hispanic Mega Church Association; National Hispanic Pentecostal Congress; Jesse Miranda Center for Hispanic Leadership; Independent Sector; Latino Justice/Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Educational Fund; League of Women Voters USA; Leadership Conference on Civil Rights (LCCR); Mexican American Legal Defense & Educational Fund (MALDEF); National Association of Evangelicals; National Association of Hispanic Publications (NAHP); National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference; National Hispanic Foundation for the Arts (NHFA); National Hispanic Media Coalition (NHMC); National Latina Institute on Reproductive Health; National Puerto Rican Coalition, Inc. (NPRC); Colorado Immigrant Rights (CIRC); Consejo Nacional De Organizaciones Comunitarias(CBO); Connecticut Puerto Rican Forum Inc.; Diocesan Migrant & Refugee Services Inc.; Los Angeles City College-Workforce Development; Los Angeles Southwest College-Bridges to Success; Pasadena City College-Community Education Center; S.O.S. Immigration International; The Idaho Community Action Network; International Institute; Unity For Dignity; Mexican American Opportunity Foundation; UFW Foundation; The Illinois Coalition for Immigrant & Refugee Rights; Latina Initiative; Intercambio de Comunidades; The Latin American Coalition; Tenants and Workers United; Hermandad Mexicana Nacional Oxnard; Hermandad Mexicana Nacional East Los Angeles; Hermandad Mexicana Nacional Fontana; Hermandad Mexicana Nacional Palmdale; Hermandad Mexicana Nacional Pacoima; LA Voice/PICO; Alliance for a Better Community; Mayor of Miami, Manny Diaz; Hispanic Unity, Miami; Organizacion Hondurena Integrada; Minnesota Council of Nonprofits; Contra Costa Faith Works!; Hispanic Women’s Organization ofArkansas; Mexican American Commission of Nebraska; Colombo Americans for Action.

About the ya es hora Campaign

The ya es hora campaign is the largest and most comprehensive non-partisan effort to incorporate Latinos as full participants in the American political process. The campaign had a dramatic impact on naturalization rates and spurred record Latino turnout in the 2008 presidential election.
Source: The Ya es Hora Campaign

Renter affordability worsens over the decade

The financial plight of the nation’s 34 million renters has deteriorated rapidly since the beginning of the decade, yet they are rarely included in conversations about housing affordability.

Renter affordability worsens over the decade

Renter affordability worsens over the decade

Half of all renters now spend at least 30 percent of their before-tax income on rent and utility payments, that’s up from about 40 percent in 2000, according to an analysis by the Associated Press. One in four shell out more than half of their income to cover those expenses, up from one in five.

And the AP’s analysis of census data through 2007, the latest available, doesn’t include the effects of the recession, which hammer renters harder than homeowners. Tough economic times also disproportionately affect minorities and the less educated — both groups are more likely to be financially burdened renters.

“In the next year or so, we’re going to see growing numbers of people who are literally homeless because they can’t afford their own home,” said Sheila Crowley, the president and CEO of the National Low Income Housing Coalition.

The median rent, including utilities, rose 7 percent to $775 between 2000 and 2007. But the increase felt worse because renters saw their median income drop 7 percent to $29,000 during that time.

After paying the landlord, what’s left for severely cost-burdened renters is a scant amount for the other basics of living like food, health care and clothing. Forget luxuries like transportation, retirement accounts, let alone a down payment on a house.

“They sacrifice basic household stuff you and I take for granted like hygiene products and detergent. Money for laundry,” said Cicely Dove, the director family housing at Crossroads, an emergency housing shelter in Providence, R.I.

Government funding for renter assistance has been stagnant since 2000. At the same time, the number of affordable apartments has been shrinking and the cost of building new ones rarely pencils out.

During the past six years, about 3 million affordable apartments were destroyed, converted to for-sale condos or upgraded to higher-priced rental units, according to census data released this week.

The waiting lists for Housing Choice vouchers, formerly known as Section 8, are years long in many cities. The program currently serves 2 million families. Renters in this program put 30 percent of their income to rent and the voucher makes up the difference. As the economy worsens, voucher recipients are contributing less money. The program must make up the difference, which means reducing the number of new recipients, said Donna White, spokeswoman at the Housing and Urban Development Department. Fewer are moving onto self-sufficiency too, White said.

The federal Low Income Housing Tax Credit, which encourages developers to build affordable housing, has little funding because investors who buy these tax credits have disappeared, said Eric Belsky, executive director of Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies.

The National Housing Trust Fund created last July to increase the supply of affordable housing remains empty. Funds were supposed to come from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, but the government seized control of the companies five weeks later and have so far pumped $85 billion into them to keep them afloat.

“The problems here are costly to address. We’re going to see it get worse and create more hardships with renters spending less on pensions, savings and health care,” Belsky said. “These things cost us down the road.”

Hints of hope, however, are emerging as the country moves away from the homeownership mantra and recasts its housing priorities. President Barack Obama’s recent budget includes $1 billion for the National Housing Trust Fund and another $1.6 billion for 200,000 new housing vouchers.

But housing experts say that is nowhere enough to make a dent in the problem:

Sixty percent of single parents and senior citizens who rent spend at least 30 percent of their income on housing costs, while a third pay at least half.

Blacks and Hispanics face similar challenges. The unemployment rates for blacks and Hispanics are both outpacing the national rate and 30 percent of black renters and 27 percent of Hispanic renters spend half or more of their income on housing. This is happening at the same time that the foreclosure crisis batters these two groups the most.

Indiana is the least affordable for black renters, where 43 percent pay at least half their income to housing expenses. And a third of Hispanic renters in Massachusetts spend 50 percent of their income on rent and utilities, the worst showing in the country for Hispanics.

The least affordable areas for renters are the deep South, the once red-hot housing states like California and Florida, and the beleaguered Midwest manufacturing states. But places like Hawaii and Vermont also rank high on the list.

Now the recession adds another obstacle.

The unemployment rate shot up to a 25-year high of 9.4 percent in May, but that percentage is even higher for those without a high school degree — almost 16 percent — and who are more likely to be renters. They predominantly work in service industries, clearing restaurant tables, cleaning homes and offices and taking care of children and elderly parents.

“We’re talking about the person who makes your latte in the morning,” said Crowley of the National Low Income Housing Coalition.

People cope with these housing situations by crowding in with family or friends or living in substandard housing or in dangerous neighborhoods. Others flock to shelters, and, in the worst cases, they sleep on the streets. For those who strain to make the rent, they are often one medical bill or car repair away from homelessness.

If affordability issues facing renters aren’t addressed, there will be social and economic consequences. Children of low-income renters who are forced to move multiple times usually fall behind in school, and later replace their parents as low-income renters. These renters will drag the nation as it faces other costly issues like Social Security, health care, ongoing wars and repairing a broken economy.

“In the long run, a society that doesn’t attend to fundamental human needs won’t succeed,” Crowley said.

We all have a stake in it.

wise quote

wise quote

Source: San Francisco Chronicle – AP – By J.W. ELPHINSTONE, AP Real Estate Writer

 

Hispanic Christian leaders organizing boycott of census

Some Hispanic Christian leaders say they’ve waited too long for immigration reform so they are taking a controversial step — they want illegal immigrants to boycott Census 2010.

Census 2010 and Hispanics - Hispanic Christian leaders organizing boycott of census

Census 2010 and Hispanics – Hispanic Christian leaders organizing boycott of census

The leaders are asking illegal immigrants not to fill out census questionnaires when they are sent to homes nationwide, said the Rev. Miguel Rivera, chairman of the National Coalition of Latino Clergy & Christian Leaders, a Washington, D.C.-based group organizing the boycott. Boycott proponents are pushing the effort in several states including Texas and California.
“To us it is a moral issue,” said the Rev. Dr. David Guel of Houston, who sits on the executive committee of the group, which represents 20,000 Hispanic churches nationwide.

Rivera said the boycott will bring attention to the need to legalize the estimated 12 million people living and working in the United States without status. He said their cause is a human-rights issue that affects many undocumented church members and pastors.

“Once there is a legal path for citizenship, then undocumented immigrants will become citizens and have a right to vote,” Rivera said in a telephone interview.

But U.S. census officials said the boycott could hurt Hispanics.

Census data is used to determine federal funding for an area and seats for the U.S. House and can boost jobs.

The League of United Latin American Citizens has been countering the boycott by stressing the need for Hispanics to be counted through an information campaign called Ya Es Hora Hagase Contar! or It Is Time to Make Yourself Count.

Gabriel Sanchez, the Dallas regional director for the Census Bureau, said Hispanics are a growing demographic.

“This is the way to get recognized in the United States,” Sanchez said. “Any call for anybody to not participate is doing them, their cause and their country a disservice.”

Some companies use the data to determine where to open a plant, and some governments use it to place job-training programs, Sanchez said.

“If there is something that everyone should participate in, it is the census,” Sanchez said. “Our goal is to count everybody.”

Education called key

Sanchez said the best way to fight the boycott is education.

By the time people begin receiving census questionnaires next spring, Sanchez said, he wants the Hispanic community to be comfortable with the 10 questions asked, including how many people live in a household on April 1 and whether they live in a house, apartment or mobile home.

Sanchez stressed that no questions ask about immigration status, Social Security numbers or credit cards.

“It doesn’t ask for anything that can hurt you,” Sanchez said. “It only asks for things that can help you.”

Boycott advocates said fears exist in the Hispanic immigrant community that data will be compiled and sent to immigration authorities or Homeland Security officials.

“All census data is confidential by law,” Sanchez said, explaining that the names are taken off, data compiled and published in statistical form so no one can be identified. “No one can see the data, not even the president.”

Praying for reform

Boycott advocates lament what they call the broken promise of immigration reform. These proponents said they believe that President George W. Bush would have made good on the immigration reform promise if he hadn’t been diverted by 9-11.

“We are praying it will pass this year,” said Eli Rodriguez, coordinator of the Hispanic Baptist Convocation of the Laity in Dallas. “Amen! Every church in Texas and the United States is praying that will happen.”

A recent White House meeting on immigration was a beginning, but boycott advocates said they must push forward with the effort to gain momentum.

They said that only with bipartisan support will reform happen. They said they want President Barack Obama to make good on his promise and for Republicans leaders to ignore polls that favor anti-immigrant measures.

So far the boycott effort is garnering the group media attention. If the boycott puts at stake federal dollars or congressional representation, then it is a small cost compared with the rights of the undocumented, Rodriguez and Rivera said.

“We know the problems, the conflicts, the anxiety that our undocumented people are experiencing,” Rivera said. “We know what we are talking about. That’s why we need to bring radical action.”

Census 2010

The Census is required by the Constitution. Every 10 years, the federal government counts the people in the United States. Data from questionnaires is used to apportion seats in the U.S. House. The data is also used to distribute more than $300 billion federal funds each year.

Questionnaires will be sent out in the spring.

Bilingual questionnaires will be sent to about 13 million households.

Advertising about the census will be presented in 28 languages nationwide. The Census Bureau will have assistance available in 51 languages.

About Census 2010: http://2010.census.gov/2010census/

About the National Coalition of Latino Clergy & Christian Leaders: www.conlamic.org

About the League of United Latin American Citizens: www.lulac.org

Source: Star-Telegram – By Diane Smith

sarcasm quote

too funny