Chain | Cohn | Clark marketing director installed as chairman of Kern County Hispanic Chamber’s foundation

Jorge Barrientos, the director of marketing and public relations for the Bakersfield-based injury and accident Chain | Cohn | Clark, has been installed as the chairman for the Kern County Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Business Education Foundation.

Barrientos was installed during the 2017 KCHCC Business Awards Dinner on Feb. 11 at Doubletree by Hilton along with the Board of Director for the foundation. The KCHCC Business Education Foundation is a nonprofit organization that works closely with the Kern County Hispanic Chamber of Commerce to support and enhance business education programs, resources and economic development primarily within the business community of Kern County. Among its goals are to provide business training and growth for Kern County businesses and assisting local students in the form of scholarships.

Before being installed, Barrientos spoke to the audience:

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A quick thank you to a few people for joining us all here today: My amazing wife Carla for always being supportive and being the life of the party; my mother Lydia, for whom there are not enough words to describe how amazing she truly is; my awesome brother Cesar; my aunt and uncle Margarita and Jim Lugo, and all of my wonderful colleagues at Chain Cohn Clark. Thank you for supporting me and supporting the work of the chamber and foundation.

The mission of the Business Education Foundation is to “promote education, culture and economic development” in our community. But specifically, we help by providing seminars and workshops to local business people who strive to always improve in serving us; we help teach new local business owners how to succeed in their new endeavors through the Small Business Academy; we help teach young college students the ins and outs of local energy sectors through our Energy Academy at Bakersfield College so they know how to achieve their goal of breaking though in STEM careers; and we provide cultural events, like El Grito, that helps our community learn, gives our community the gift of diversity, and yes, helps connect some people – for a moment – to a life they once lived in another country. 

And you know what brings together many of the people who are directly impacted and benefit from the foundation’s services? They all have a dream. A dream to open a business of their own and truly say they made it in this country. A dream to be the first in their family to graduate college, and get a job that makes more than their parents combined ever received. A dream to make a better life here, while not forgetting where they came from.

The American Dream, right? El sueno.

Now more than ever, with some of our government officials attempting to impede these dreams, it’s important we provide these services and support those dreams. And I encourage each one of you here to give back, or continue to give, and donate toward the foundation – for student scholarships, and to keep these programs alive.

It takes a lot of work to provide the venue to make any of this possible. And for that reason, I’d like to thank each foundation board member, especially past president Norma Rojas-Mora, for the commitment and dedication toward these important programs.

I’d like to call them up now to be installed.

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Barrientos is joined on the foundation board of director by immediate past president Norma Rojas-Mora, vice chair Cecilia Tomono treasurer Chris Bernal, secretary David Alanis, and board members Dr. Carlos Alvarez, Pam Alvarez, Blanca Cavazos, Justin Cave, Cory Ferrier, Xochitl Garcia, Maria R. Hernandez, Lisa Robles-Kent, Gabriella Mello, Alma Navarrete, Michael Olivares, Kenan Patel and Cornelio “Corny” Rodriguez. Jay Tamsi is the president and CEO of Kern County Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.

Please join Chain | Cohn | Clark in congratulating Jorge Barrientos on his leadership role with this very important local group.