Strategic infrastructure and manufacturing investments of $3.2 billion will generate 200,000 new jobs in the region.

At the Summit of the Americas, HUGE Founder SanMar commits to purchasing $500 million more in products from the region by 2025, creating 4,000 more jobs in Honduras. This is in addition to investments HUGE announced with the US Administration earlier this year in Honduras. In March, HUGE identified $1.7 billion in investments and as of this week, the amount grew to $3.2 billion and some 200,000 new jobs.

The United States is hosting the Ninth Summit of the Americas this week in Los Angeles, California with a focus on “Building a Sustainable, Resilient, and Equitable Future” for our hemisphere. The Secretariat describes the scheduled events as “institutionalized gatherings of the heads of state and government of the Western Hemisphere where leaders discuss common policy issues, affirm shared values and commit to concerted actions at the national and regional level to address continuing and new challenges faced in the Americas.” The United States has chosen five thematic pillars that will be used to guide the direction of the Summit: 1) Health and Resilience in the Americas, 2) Our Green Future, 3) Accelerating the Transition to Clean Energy, 4) Digital Transformation and 5) Democratic Governance.

“SanMar’s dedication to our communities doesn’t stop at the border,” said Melissa Nelson, General Counsel at SanMar. “When we invest in Central America, we invest in a cycle that benefits everyone, bringing much-needed employment and economic growth that elevates lives across the region.” Melissa Nelson represented SanMar and HUGE as the only textile participant in a roundtable with Vice President Harris about nearshoring and how to bring investment into the region.

The HUGE Business and Investment Council is a nonprofit business association 501(c)(6), established in Washington, D.C. by private sector leaders (its Founders) from Honduras, USA, Guatemala, and El Salvador (HUGE). It is highly unique because it represents the first private sector-led regional effort that focuses on bringing together business leaders throughout this entire region, to facilitate investment and massive job creation in all four countries.

The Organization of the American States (OAS) will host the Ninth Civil Society Forum, “in the spirit of promoting greater dialogue between heads of government and the people and businesses of the Americas to address hemisphere challenges and opportunities including social inclusion, economic recovery, climate change, democracy, digital transformation.” HUGE’s recent development of a Social Impact Advisory Council comes with perfect timing – its mission is to ensure that job creation efforts are intentionally structured for social and environmental sustainability. HUGE will do this by supporting collaborative efforts between Founders and other socially responsible companies, colleges, universities, and civil society organizations to promote best practices and adherence to international standards across several areas, including but not limited to workers’ rights, education, health, housing, and the environment.

Founder and leader of the Social Impact Council Lorena Maduro said, “The inclusive representation of civil society is vital to the regional dialogue that will take place this week and to the vision that will develop as a result. HUGE’s Social Impact Council will work in parallel with the civil society groups involved and others to accelerate the execution of the recommendations that are to be presented to the States.”

The Chamber of Commerce will also host the Fourth CEO Summit, which will highlight the importance of the private sector, especially small and medium-sized enterprises, in offering groundbreaking solutions to problems that government cannot always solve. “We fully support the success of the Summit of the Americas and share the vision of a sustainable, resilient, and equitable future for all people of the Americas,” said Dr. Juan Jose Daboub, President and Founder of HUGE. “We are thrilled to do our part by using the ideas and solutions presented at this gathering to find more ways to achieve massive job creation through private sector investment.”