The number of Latino-owned businesses in the United States increased by 43.7 percent, to 2,259,857 firms from 2002 to 2007. That rate of increase is more than twice the national average of 18 percent during the same time period for all businesses. Hispanic-owned firms generated more than $345.2 billion in sales in 2007, an increase of 55.5 percent over 2002.

In Rhode Island, according to the recently-released figures from the 2007 Survey of Business Owners by the U.S. Census Bureau, Hispanic-owned companies jumped from 3,415 in 2002 to 5,764 in 2007, an increase of 68.8 percent. Over the same time period, revenues increased by 115.4 percent, from 213.7 million in 2002 to 460.4 million in 2007.

Sen. Pichardo and the Rhode Island Latino Professional Business Network hosted a news conference today that brought together U.S. Senators Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse, U.S. Congressman Jim Langevin, Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation Executive Director Keith Stokes, and local economic development and business leaders.

In addition to calling attention to the report, released two weeks ago, the leaders gathered today to highlight the significance of the numbers and how they could be meaningful to state and local efforts to foster economic development. The data will also be useful in providing assistance to help Hispanic-owned companies, as well as non-Hispanic-owned companies, to remain in the state and grow jobs here.

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“We have taken bold action in the General Assembly to make it easy to do business in Rhode Island by reforming the tax code, cutting red tape, enhancing the skills of the workforce and improving accesses to capital, all of which will help Latino businesses as well as every other business,” said Sen. Pichardo D – Dist. 2, Providence.

Sen. Pichardo continued: “This data helps us to make more informed decisions as we work to integrate the economic development agendas on the state and local levels to capitalize on the momentum of this thriving sector of our economy. Hispanic firms are a major engine of job creation. As the Latino economy grows, the economy of the state grows as well, and that benefits all of us. We need to incorporate this data into our vision for the state of Rhode Island and our growth strategies for emerging markets.”

Tomas Alberto Avila, Coordinator for the Rhode Island Latino Professional Business Network and Managing Partner of Milenio Associates, LLC, said, “It is encouraging that the Hispanic business community is growing, but we hope the new administration that will be elected November 2 makes this growth a priority in their job creation and economic development plans.”

Sen. Pichardo and Mr. Avila said that the data is useful in efforts to maintain the local tax base, assist local businesses, for research and public policy purposes, and to prepare for disaster response. They are seeking to use the data to advance economic development agendas by analysis of issues such as market share, site location, enhancement of business opportunity presentations to banks or venture capitalists, and the evaluation of new business opportunities.

U.S. Senator Jack Reed, a member of the Senate Banking Committee who recently helped pass the Small Business Jobs Act to provide $12 billion in tax breaks for small businesses nationwide, said, “Hispanic entrepreneurs are an integral part of Rhode Island’s economy. This survey shows there is growing diversity in both the types of Hispanic-owned businesses and an expansion of their customer base. And just as the Hispanic business community continues to grow, we are also seeing an increase of Hispanic customers for all Rhode Island businesses, which has a very positive economic impact for the state. These are challenging economic times, and I will continue working to empower entrepreneurs and ensure that all businesses have access to the capital they need to grow, create more jobs, and help boost our economy.”

U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse said, “The Latino community is a vibrant part of Rhode Island’s economy. At a time when jobs are scarce and our economy is struggling, I’m thankful for the hard work and dedication of the over 5,700 Latino-owned businesses in Rhode Island.”

Congressman Jim Langevin said, “Small businesses, especially in the neighborhoods of Providence, are critical to our community’s continued growth. Data like this, coupled with legislation such as the recently passed Small Business Jobs Act, will help us boost lending for businesses to hire new employees and expand their operations.”

Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation Executive Director Keith Stokes said, “As the data demonstrates, Rhode Island’s Hispanic-owned businesses are a bright spot for Rhode Island’s economy. We need to continue to align our economic development strategy and business development efforts to capitalize on this momentum so vibrant, dynamic companies looking to grow and create jobs in our state have the necessary tools and resources to succeed.”

The survey data shows that Rhode Island is tied with Florida as the states with the fifteenth highest percentage of growth in Hispanic-owned businesses, 68.8 percent. Arkansas saw the highest rate of growth, at 160.6 percent.

The report on Hispanic-owned businesses is the first of 10 reports on the characteristics of minority-, women-, and veteran-owned businesses and their owners scheduled for release over the next year. The Survey of Business Owners provides the only comprehensive, regularly collected source of information on selected economic and demographic characteristics for businesses and business owners by gender, ethnicity and race. Title 13 of the United States Code authorizes the survey and provides for mandatory responses. Data has been collected every five years since 1972 in years ending in “2” and “7” as part of the economic census. The program began as a special project for minority-owned businesses in 1969 and was incorporated into the economic census in 1972 along with the Survey of Women-owned Businesses.

Today’s press conference was held at Ada’s Creations, a Hispanic-owned business on Broad Street in Providence which is a center of economic activity and growth.