The Greater Austin Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (GAHCC) hosted a house full of prominent community and business leaders at its 36th Annual Awards & Installation Banquet on February 20th at the Austin Hilton Hotel.

We invite you to join us as we take a quick glance of this year's Annual Banquet. Welcoming over 900 guests was our Honorary Co-Chairs, Secretary of State Esperanza “Hope” Andrade and Senator Kirk Watson. The opening ceremony included United States Congressman Lloyd Doggett who lead the Pledge of Allegiance, the Presentation of Colors was performed by the Travis High School ROTC and the National Anthem was sung by Opera Singer Gerardo Antionio Ramos, who was accompanied by Pianist Kay Rivers. The invocation was administered by Father Jayme Mathias.

The GAHCC would like to recognize KVUE, our media sponsor, who produced the videos and our Mistress of Ceremonies, Olga Campos, KVUE News Anchor and Reporter. 

As the program continued, Robert Franco, 2008 Chair, welcomed our New GAHCC Chair, Blanca Garcia.  In collaboration, Franco and Garcia recognized our nine award recipients. Among our awardees was Former Austin Mayor Gus Garcia who recieved GAHCC's Lifetime Achievement Award for his leadership in Central Texas and Pilar Sanchez, who accepted the 2009 Chair's Award for her outstanding contributions to the GAHCC, the Hispanic Technology Institute of Austin, and the Emerging Enterprises Business Development Resource Center.

At the Banquet, we also inaugurated our new 2009 GAHCC Board of Directors, the oath of office was administered by the Honorable Judge Carlos Barrera. Welcoming our newest Tejano, Paul Saldaña, 2007 Chair, inducted Robert Franco into the legendary Los Tejanos, a select group of former GAHCC Chairs.

Our Special Events Director, Mercedes Feris would like to thank everyone for their participation as well as recognize our volunteers for their help in making this event a success.

Visit our Photo Gallery and/or download our March Noticias for a recap of our 36th Annual Awards & Installation Banquet.