13 July 2006

Minority-Owned Businesses in U.S. Continue to Grow

Businesses cater to broad market, specific community needs

 

Signs point to Hispanic businesses at a mall in Chamblee, Gaeorgia. Fueled by a rapidly expanding Hispanic consumer market, the number of Hispanic-owned businesses is growing much faster than the national rate for other companies. (© AP/WWP)

The number of Hispanic-owned businesses grew 31 percent between 1997 and 2002.

Washington -- Minority groups in America continue to distinguish themselves as entrepreneurs, both by catering to their own communities and by serving broad market needs. The Census Bureau reports that the number of Asian-owned businesses grew 24 percent to more than 1 million between 1997 and 2002, about twice as much as the national average. These 1.1 million, mostly small companies and stores generated more than $325 billion in revenues during this five-year period.

The number of Native Hawaiian- and other Pacific islander-owned businesses grew over twice as fast -- by some 49.4 percent over the same five-year period -- and black-owned business increased by 45 percent.

Some minority-owned businesses cater to a specific ethnic or national community. In the town of Kent in Washington state, Mexican American Carlos Guangorena founded Plaza Bank, the state's first financial institution owned and managed by Hispanic immigrants. While it serves all Americans, Plaza specializes in remittance services, helping immigrants send money back to their families in Latin American and elsewhere. (See related article.)

"It's important to show the community who we are," Guangorena told the Seattle Times. "There's nothing wrong being in landscaping or migrant labor; we come from that. But we're more than that. We're doctors, lawyers, CEOs of banks… ."

In 1998, Guatemalan immigrants Cesar and Henry Calderon founded a Spanish-speaking taxicab company that today utilizes 9 cars and employs 14 drivers in Raleigh, North Carolina. 

Minority customs, preferences and tastes shape every walk of American life. In Sioux Falls, South Dakota, Will McBeth and his brother opened Soul Affair, a restaurant specializing in African American cuisine. "It's mostly been the white community who says, 'It's about time we had collard greens, grits and salmon croquettes,'" McBeth told the Sioux Falls Argus Leader, "I was surprised at how familiar the community is with the food." 

In the Washington, D.C. area, the region's largest grocer stocks a larger amount of Hispanic foods. Giant Foods spokesman Jamie Miller told the Washington Post, "We now have a customer base that is much more diverse, and a lot of our Hispanic customers are looking for specific items."

In nearby Fairfax, Virginia, a 54,000 square foot Super H Mart supermarket stocks both Asian and more traditional American foods. It draws shoppers from throughout that diverse community.

(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)