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Founders Marcelo Isaak and Luis Diaz have since moved on to other business opportunities, but Jorge Ribas stuck with the chamber and is now its president and CEO.

‘‘Successful businesses and communities have to recognize that the 21st century is not going to look like the 20th century,” said David F. Bufter, treasurer and corporate vice president for administration at Science Applications International Corp. in Frederick. It will be a more diverse community and workforce, he said.

‘‘That’s one of the reasons, early on, we wanted to be involved” with the chamber, Bufter said. SAIC-Frederick has been a corporate sponsor of the Hispanic chamber for nearly four years.

‘‘The Hispanic community is a very entrepreneurial community. As an employer, we want to build relationships with them as potential vendors,” he said.

The group’s initial goal was to be an affiliate of the state Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, but the founders discovered that the state chamber did not have the growth aspirations they had, Ribas said.

‘‘It was not a chamber that was interested in growing ... and so we grew independent of them,” he said.

Within a year, the then-Western Maryland chamber had attracted about 25 members. A core function of the group is to provide guidance on how to start and successfully manage a business, Ribas said.

At the time ‘‘there was significant dissatisfaction with existing chambers of commerce,” he said. ‘‘There were no activities, no seminars.”

The mid-Atlantic Hispanic chamber continues to stand apart from some other chambers in the region by offering a number of workshops and networking events, according to Ribas. More than 40 are already listed through October 2008 on its Web site, and 120 are planned, he said.

The chamber is also a ‘‘strong advocate group,” Ribas said. The group has hosted candidate forums and legislative receptions, but is nonpartisan and does not endorse candidates, he said.

The Montgomery County Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, which has almost 290 members, hosted about five events after the new executive director, Regina Borkoski, came on board in August, she said. The group was run mainly by volunteers for about three years before Borkoski joined as a part-time staff member.

The group will focus more on programs and educational seminars in 2008, while continuing its advocacy work, Borkoski said. It plans to hold about 30 functions this year, including its first Hispanic business awards presentation.

Ribas is a former president of the Maryland Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, which holds about five events annually and acts as an umbrella group that promotes events by other chambers among its membership, said Juan Muñoz, chamber secretary.

Membership director Pitina Stucky de Juan said the state Hispanic chamber has ‘‘around 100 members,” while Muñoz said membership is about 300.

Responding to communitywhile serving business

One of the main factors that contributes to a chamber’s success is its ability to respond to the community’s needs, although its main role is serving the business community, said Eileen Goulding, who handles political affairs and federation relations for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. The U.S. chamber has nearly 2,000 members, with more than 20 members in Maryland.

Informing community members about local issues, and providing a platform for constituents to be in touch with legislators, particularly about business legislation, is a key role, she said.

Ribas said his chamber is unique in that it is supported mostly by its members, which can be a disadvantage.

‘‘Every American chamber I know is supported by corporate contributions and by government contracts,” he said.

Whereas Ribas’ group pulls in more than 50 percent of its revenue from members, most chambers average less than 30 percent, he said.

‘‘We need to improve our revenue mix,” Ribas said, calling it one of the chamber’s goals for 2008.

The chamber recently contracted with the Montgomery County Department of Economic Development to research and list the top 50 Hispanic businesses in the county by revenue.

‘‘It’s a good project,” Ribas said, while joking about how little the chamber is being compensated for the amount of work that’s required. ‘‘It’s almost like it has been outsourced to India.”

The chamber wants to increase corporate revenues by at least 50 percent and boost membership, Ribas said. It initially planned to reach the 500-member mark within five years, he said, but now hopes to bring in those additional 100 members in 2008.

At least 50 of its current member companies are not Hispanic-owned, Ribas said.

According to the nonprofit chamber’s 2005 federal income tax filing, revenues were $71,000, with about $50,000 in expenses. Total compensation for officers was $17,500. Ribas said he is the group’s only full-time employee.

‘‘Our chamber has to be a leader in providing resources for entrepreneurs to become businesspeople,” which means not just starting a business, but managing it successfully and making it grow, Ribas said.

Jhon Umaña, a native of El Salvador, opened a Diversified Financial Mortgage franchise in Greenbelt about two years ago. As vice president of the Prince George’s chapter of the mid-Atlantic chamber, which has more than 10 members, he is focused on getting the word out to local business owners that the chamber is active in their county, he said.

Few people in Prince George’s know about the chapter and the business support it offers, as well as opportunities to connect with Hispanic business owners locally and regionally, Umaña said.