Nationwide Tour and Online Petition Rally 2,100 in Support of Main Street Businesses and Community-based Financial Institutions
Glastonbury, Conn., October 10, 2012 – A recently inaugurated movement to save the American Dream (SavingTheAmericanDream.org), launched by Louis Hernandez, Jr., award-winning entrepreneur, author, policy advisor and highly-respected business executive, has attracted growing nationwide support and has introduced a petition for removing the regulatory burdens that are imperiling America’s Main Street banks and small businesses.
The movement champions the vital role that America’s Main Street businesses and community-based financial institutions play in maintaining a strong national economy and encourages small businesses, individuals, community banks and credit unions to join together to demand an end to policies that are preventing these cornerstones of the American Dream from doing what they do best. Supporters are encouraged to sign a petition.
The message of SavingTheAmericanDream.org has been spreading via its Internet site as well as through more than a dozen community-based rallies and events in the U.S. and internationally. Over the past few months, Hernandez has rallied more than 2,100 small business and financial industry leaders in the U.S. and around the world, with stops in Orlando, Fla.; Hartford, Conn.; McCall, Idaho; New York, N.Y.; Montego Bay, Jamaica; Gdansk, Poland; and Santa Barbara, Calif.
The movement was ignited by the release of Hernandez’s highly-acclaimed book, Saving the American Dream: Main Street’s Last Stand. In his book, Hernandez details how key government policies that over-facilitated the attainment of the American Dream drove the nation inexorably toward the 2007 financial crisis, and how subsequent policies aimed at curbing the excesses of Wall Street banks have made life far worse for smaller banks and businesses.
“The American Dream is an ideal that has inspired great accomplishments for individuals, businesses and society as a whole,” says Hernandez. “But today there is a clear disconnect between public policy and those institutions that disproportionately support the key tenets of the dream – the small businesses and community-based financial institutions of Main Street America. Our current policy environment is making it impossible for Main Street businesses, banks and credit unions to do what they do best, which is create jobs, drive innovation and build strong communities. Because of that, we are undermining the very fabric of the American Dream.”
“With the November elections fast approaching, I urge everyone who cares about the American dream to show their support for the small businesses, banks and credit unions that are the backbone of America’s communities by adding their voice to our movement and adding their names to our petition,” Hernandez adds.
After the elections, the organization plans to deliver its petition to The President of the United States and Congress to demonstrate the broad public support for the tenets of the American Dream and the need for polices that protect it rather than endanger it.
“I applaud Louis Hernandez, Jr. for advocating so vigorously for the country’s Main Street businesses and financial institutions,” says Oz Griebel, CEO of the MetroHartford Alliance. “It’s absolutely clear that vibrant Main Street businesses and banks are critical to the country’s economic recovery and to the job growth that ensures that all citizens have the opportunity to achieve their personal and financial goals.”
“SavingTheAmericanDream.org and our petition are powerful tools for telling policy makers that it’s time to shift their attention away from Wall Street and back to Main Street,” Hernandez says. “My goal is to have our petition bear the signature of each and every person who has ever aspired to achieve the tenets of the American Dream – which is the ability to own a home, get an education, start a business and achieve financial self-sufficiency – and everyone who believes future generations should enjoy these same opportunities.”
To learn more about the movement and sign the petition, please visit SavingTheAmericanDream.org. Supporters are also encouraged to submit and share personal stories about what the American Dream means to them as a means of supporting the movement and inspiring others to pursue their own goals.
About Louis Hernandez, Jr.
Louis Hernandez, Jr. is an author, award-winning entrepreneur, policy advisor and highly respected business executive who serves as the Chairman and CEO of Open Solutions Inc., a leading provider of enterprise-wide enabling technologies for financial institutions. He sits on the board of several major corporations, including HSBC North America Holdings Inc., Avid Technology Inc. and ScoreBig Inc.
Mr. Hernandez published his first book, Too Small to Fail, in 2010. In his second book, Saving the American Dream: Main Street’s Last Stand, Mr. Hernandez explores the origins, evolution and economic underpinnings of the American Dream, detailing how key government policies over-facilitated the dream’s attainment, weakened the will of the American people and drove us inexorably toward the 2007 financial crisis. He shows how policies put in place after the crisis not only failed to address the core problems America faces, but created a growing disconnect between Wall Street and Main Street that has made things far worse. Mr. Hernandez offers numerous ideas that challenge and inspire readers to take up the cause of rebuilding our economy and reinstituting our national heritage.
A sought-after keynote speaker, he has been published in leading business and financial journals, and appeared on ABC News Now, Bloomberg TV, CNBC and Fox News to share his views on technology, economics, strategic planning and globalization.
As a policy advisor, he served as vice chair of the Connecticut Governor's Council on Economic Competitiveness and Technology, and chaired the Council’s Technology Transfer Advisory board. He also served as vice chair of the Commission for Educational Technology in Connecticut.
Active in his community, Mr. Hernandez is a member of the board of trustees of the Connecticut Center for Science & Exploration; a board member of the Connecticut Children's Medical Center; and founder of the Hope Fund, a charitable organization supporting child and adult health-care issues as well as youth development opportunities.
About Open Solutions Inc.
Open Solutions Inc.® helps community-based financial institutions around the world enrich their local economies by providing innovative technologies and insights that enable them to operate more profitably, efficiently and collaboratively.
Industry pioneers, Open Solutions revolutionized enterprise technology with DNA™, the first open, relationship-centered core banking platform built for global collaboration. This radically different approach to enterprise technology enables banks and credit unions around the world to leverage the power of community through DNAappstore™, the first-ever collaborative marketplace for user-created core enhancements.
Extending the power of DNA further, Open Solutions offers a full range of complementary software solutions for payments, item processing, distributed capture, internet banking, mobile banking, CRM, business intelligence, loan origination, financial accounting, account analysis, wealth management, digital document and interactive voice response. It also offers complete hardware solutions, plus independent industry insight and guidance from Raddon Financial Group.
For more information, visit Open Solutions at www.OpenSolutions.com, like us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/OpenSolutionsInc, or follow us via Twitter @OpenSolutionsCC.