The businesses created by so-called Hispanic Americans, Latino or Latinx Americans are as diverse, vibrant and ambitious as the people who identify with these labels.
Cyber-security consulting? Digital design? Fashion? Mobile phone technology? Candles? Jewelry? Engineering? Fine dining? Snack food? Neighborhood stores? Construction? Real Estate? Car repair? You name it, Latinx entrepreneurs are doing it. Inventing products and services, delivering value and creating jobs.
According to the non-profit Support Latino Business, “Latino entrepreneurs are starting businesses faster than any other group, driving $700 billion into the U.S. economy annually.”
So with all that success, why is it so critical to be “conscious” of Latin-owned businesses when making spending decisions for our businesses and families?
First, no matter how many success stories are told by the entrepreneurship and creativity that is so clearly happening nation-wide, there continues to be a massive wealth gap in the United States, whereby recent data published by the Federal Reserve Bank showed “Hispanic families’ median and mean net worth was $20,700 and $191,200, respectively, ” according the Federal Reserve Bank, while for white families, median and mean family wealth are $171,000 and $933,700.
Barriers to home ownership and educational advancement which offer America’s fastest routes to sustainable wealth creation have been well documented. A rise in nativist, hateful rhetoric and demonization of Hispanic, Latino, Latinx people has been well documented and has exacerbated social isolation.