The U.S. Small Business Administration’s Kansas City District Office and the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Greater Kansas City will host a Strategic Alliance Summit from 7 to 9 p.m. Oct. 2 at the Hispanic Chamber, 2001 Grand Blvd.

The agenda calls for two Strategic Alliance Memorandums to be signed in honor of Hispanic Heritage Month. The first memorandum will be between the SBA and the Hispanic Chamber.

The second memorandum will be between the SBA, the Hispanic Chamber, the Mid-America Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce, the Women’s Chamber of Commerce of KCK, the Northeast Kansas City Chamber of Commerce and the Hispanic Economic Development Corporation.

The purpose of both memorandums is to expand mutual understanding and working relationships between the SBA, the Hispanic Chamber and other participating organizations to achieve the greatest benefit to the local small business community.

In national Hispanic Heritage Month news, U.S. SBA Administrator Maria Contreras-Sweet this week hosted a Hispanic Heritage Month Small Business Roundtable discussion at New York’s City Hall.

“There are more than 3 million Latino-owned businesses in America today, and they are starting businesses at three times the national average,” Contreras-Sweet said. “To further that growth, SBA microlending under President Obama has increased dramatically for Latinos, growing to 43 percent the number of SBA-backed microloans last year, up from 14 percent in 2009. Latino purchasing power is expected to top $1.5 trillion by next year, which means, if the American Latino market were its own country, we’d be the 11th largest economy in the world.

“As Hispanic Heritage Month kicks off, I want Americans to know that one of my priorities is to increase access to capital to our underserved communities.”