AOL Latino Launches ‘El Visionario’ Entrepeneur Contest.

Ford Motor Company in partnership with AOL Latino continues its pioneering efforts to increase the success of Hispanic entrepreneurs with a groundbreaking online contest, El Visionario (“The Visionary”). Nely Galán, a successful Latina entrepreneur and creator of Fox-TV’s The Swan, will assist Ford in kicking off and judging the contest designed to find Hispanic entrepreneurs with visionary goals.

Entries for the innovative El Visionario contest may be submitted starting today on the
AOL Latino powered Ford Mi Negocio website, www.ford.com/go/minegocio, or at AOL® Keyword: El Visionario. The contest is searching to discover the next Hispanic business visionary, someone who embodies the entrepreneurial spirit and demonstrates that Hispanics are leaders in successful small business ownership. Contestants will compete in a series of single-round eliminations as they answer challenging questions about their business and future strategies for success. A grand prize valued at $100,000 in cash and prizes will be awarded, including an all-new 2006 Mercury Mountaineer.

“By sharing my business experience, both the obstacles and achievements, I hope to enrich the lives of many Latinos looking to succeed in life and achieve their dreams,” said Nely Galán, founder and CEO of Galán Entertainment. “This online contest and website will undoubtedly empower the Hispanic community through education and information.”

“The El Visionario online contest deepens our historic relationship with Hispanic entrepreneurs,” said Armando Ojeda, director of Supplier Diversity Development, Ford Motor Company.

“We are proud to help Hispanic entrepreneurs access the resources they need to succeed.
El Visionario and Ford Mi Negocio are key components of our deep commitment to promoting economic success in the Hispanic community. We are honored to have Nely Galán as a member of our Panel of Advisors for Ford Mi Negocio this year.”

“At AOL Latino we strive to meet the needs of the growing Hispanic online audience, and we’re proud to partner again this year with a leader like Ford to launch a great online business contest to benefit the entrepreneurial community,” said Mark López, publisher for AOL Latino.

El Visionario Online Contest

Participants of El Visionario contest must be Hispanic small business owners with at least 51 percent ownership, 18 years of age or older, legal residents of the contiguous 48 United States or Washington DC and fluent in Spanish. Submissions to the contest need to be completed in Spanish and can be submitted electronically or downloaded and sent via U.S. mail.

The top 50 applicants selected to participate in the El Visionario online contest will receive prizes such as the AOL® Optimized PC® computer and AOL Latino membership for one year. The grand prize winner will receive $25,000 cash award towards his/her small business, a brand new 2006 Mercury Mountaineer, $25,000 in business services (legal, finance, marketing) and a business profile in Hispanic Business and Hispanic Magazine, for a total estimated value of $100,000. Online voters will also be eligible to win prizes such as digital cameras, subscriptions to business magazines and gift cards.

Ford’s El Visionario Judges and Panel of Advisors

The El Visionario Panel of Advisors is an interactive symposium focusing on educating Hispanic entrepreneurs on the basic fundamentals of entrepreneurship and business success. The panelists also serve as judges for the contest.

The key goal of the panel is to make the Ford Mi Negocio Internet web hub the first Hispanic entrepreneurial vehicle to offer a combination of unmatched online services and community outreach and will make the El Visionario contest come alive in front of an audience. The symposium will occur the week of October 10th, 2005 in Miami when Ford announces the five finalists for El Visionario.

Members of the panel include Nely Galán, founder and CEO, Galán Entertainment; Richard Bull, Vice President, EMI Latino; Sam Verdeja, CEO and Publisher, Hispanic Publishing Associates; Roberto Madrazo, Senior Group Manager of Marketing and Special Projects, Target; Grace Villamayor, Director of Sales and Marketing for Latin America, Mexico & Caribbean, Hertz International, LTD; Xavier Serbia, Financial Analyst and Founder, Xavier Serbia Multimedia; Irma Elder, CEO, Elder Automotive Group.

2005 Enhanced Ford Mi Negocio Entrepreneur Web Hub

Ford Mi Negocio, in partnership with AOL Latino, is celebrating its one-year anniversary with a newly enhanced design and content to continue providing Hispanic entrepreneurs with the best online business information, resources and connections needed to start or grow their own business.

Ford Mi Negocio is located at http://www.ford.com/go/minegocio or AOL Keyword: Mi Negocio and is composed of four key sections:

1. Financial and Business articles provided by Fortune Magazine, Time Warner, Inc.,
Business 2.0 and Fortune Small Business. These publications are providing relevant articles in Spanish exclusively at Ford Mi Negocio to be archived on the new hub.

2. Business Tools section, which provides information on the subjects of entrepreneurial development, sales and marketing, money and finance, and offers links to “Descubre Cómo” (discover how) and “Centro de Recursos” (resource center) sections.

3. AOL Latino Interactive Community that features message boards and the Ford Mi Negocio Panel of Advisors, an additional benefit for AOL Latino members.

4. Ford: “Making Dreams a Reality” provides information about Ford’s commitment to the community, current programs and success stories with video enhancement capabilities.