SMALL BUSINESS : HEARD ON THE BEAT: Small Business : Bringing Latinos Into the Computer Age

Concerned that the information age may be leaving Latinos behind, the San Gabriel Valley Hispanic Chamber of Commerce has opened a computer technology campaign that ultimately hopes to bring free computers and training into the homes and businesses of local Latinos.

The year-old chamber began its campaign this month with the support of Gateway, Pacific Bell, a wiring and cabling company, San Gabriel Valley Training Center and several school districts.

Those players form part of an Information Technology Awareness Council that will help bring the program to fruition, said chamber member Joseph Perez.

Despite a boom in computer purchases and online use among middle-class Latinos, a Commerce Department report in July pointed to a persistent digital divide that is leaving Latinos and blacks behind whites. The divide is particularly acute in lower-income communities.

A Times small-business survey revealed that it persists among entrepreneurs too: Minority entrepreneurs were less likely to have a business Web site than their white counterparts.

Within two months, the chamber will identify a training center and begin choosing the first participants, Perez said.