It’s Your Business
Nationwide, “there were 29,184 Hispanic-owned firms operating in 2002 with receipts of $1 million or more, compared to 26,666 in 1997; that’s a 9.4 percent increase,” Ms. Strang continued. “There were 1,510 Hispanic-owned firms in 2002 with 100 employees or more, compared to 1,121 in 1997 – that’s a 35 percent increase. Revenue for these Hispanic-owned firms reached $42 billion, compared to $28 billion in 1997a 50 percent increase. Looking at just those Hispanic-owned firms with 500 or more employees, the number of firms increased from 115 to 183 – a 59 percent increase” but the revenue increased from $5.5 billion to $14.8 billion between 1997 and 2002 – a 169 percent increase.”
Ms. Strang concluded, “The Census Bureau has projected that over the next two generations, from 2000 to 2050, the U.S. labor force will dramatically change in terms of racial and ethnic composition.”
“Hispanics in the labor force grew by 9.2 million in the previous generation, from 1980 to 2000. By 2050, Hispanics in the labor force will go from accounting for about 1 in 10 U.S. workers to about 1 in 4. Minority-owned businesses will, therefore, be at the forefront of these changes.”
