The U.S. Small Business Administration Region II Regional Administrator, Jorge Silva-Puras and SCORE NYC will host the region’s First Annual Hispanic Small Business Summit Nov. 16th in New York, the SBA announced.

The event, which will take place from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Alexander Hamilton U.S. Customs House in New York, is designed to promote and assist the Latino Business Communities in the U.S. Virgin islands and Puerto Rico, as well as New York and NewJersey.

The summit will feature regional leaders from the Hispanic and business communities in a series of panels focused on opportunities and resources available to help small business owners and entrepreneurs start, build, and sustain successful businesses.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, there were 2.3 million Hispanic-owned businesses in the U.S. in 2007, an increase of 43.7 percent from 2002. Fiscal year 2012 was SBA Region II’s second largest loan volume year ever for the Hispanic community, second only to FY 2011, which received a significant boost in the first quarter from the Small Business Jobs Act of 2010.

The summit will feature business leaders such as the Honorable Sila M. Calderón, former governor of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico; Paul Quintero, chief executive officer, Acción; Cyril Meduña, president, Advent-Morro Equity Partners; Monika Mantilla, president and chief executive officer, Altura Capital Group; and others to discuss issues such as microlending, venture capital, counseling services, and government contracting. For complete information, please visit http://www.hispanicbizsummit.com.