Hispanic Businesswomen Prospering

As the National Hispana Leadership conference in Miami concludes what is clear is that Hispanic businesswomen are prospering. 

“Latinas are the fastest-growing group of small business owners in the country,” says Cristina Lopez, president of the Washington D.C.-based National Hispana Leadership Institute.

According to a 2007 survey of the Hispanic Association for Corporate Responsibility (HACR),  Hispanic women are starting businesses at a rate six times the national average.  Nationwide, 37 percent of all Hispanic business are owned by Latinas.  The more than 750,000 businesses owned by Latinas generate close to $50 billion in revenues. 

Latinas seek to start their own businesses for many of the same reason other women do:  lack of opportunities, poor promotion prospects in Corporate America and flexible schedules.  For Latina entrepreneurs there is the additional bias that they have a family first, trabajo second work ethic and therefore wouldn’t give it their all.  Wrong they say and point to the $50 billion contributed to the U.S. economy.