Hispanic-owned businesses grow in number, revenue

Hispanic-owned businesses grew nearly 44 percent nationally between 2002 and 2007, more than double the rate of business growth nationally, and the story was similar on Long Island, according to data released Tuesday by the U.S. Census Bureau.

In its "Survey of Business Owners: Hispanic-Owned Businesses: 2007," which the census bureau conducts every five years, the 2.3 million Hispanic-owned businesses nationwide generated $345.2 billion in sales in 2007, up 55.5 percent from 2002. The number of Hispanic-owned businesses with receipts of $1 million or more rose 51.6 percent - from 29,168 businesses in 2002 to 44,206 in 2007. In the coming months, the bureau will be releasing survey data on women-owned businesses and other minority business owners.

"I'm very happy to see the results," said Luis Lopez, president of the Long Island Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, which he said has about 1,200 members across the Island. Lopez is founder and president of Westbury-based Alante Security Group, a security guard and private investigations company that employs 200 people.

Most Hispanic businesses, however, were small, having no paid employees - 2 million out of 2.3 million nationwide - and the challenge, said David Hinson, national director of the Minority Business Development Agency, is to "work harder to make the investment so these firms can grow larger and create more jobs."

Locally, according to the Census Bureau's data, there were 12,015 Hispanic-owned firms in 2007 in Nassau County, up from 9,150 in 2002 - a 31.3 percent increase. They generated $1.47 billion in receipts in 2007, compared with $953 million in 2002. Hispanic-owned firms comprised 7.2 percent of the 167,993 businesses in the county in 2007, up from 6 percent in 2002.

"This is further proof that the Hispanic community is a vibrant and crucial sector of our economy," Nassau County Executive Edward Mangano said in a statement. "Our Office of Minority Affairs, working with the Office of Local Opportunities and Hispanic business organizations and leaders, has helped continue that trend."

In Suffolk County, there were 11,380 Hispanic-owned firms in 2007, up from 7,110 in 2002 for a 60.1 percent increase. Suffolk Hispanic-owned businesses generated $1.6 billion in revenue in 2007, up from $983.7 million in 2002, according to the data. Hispanic-owned businesses made up just over 7 percent of the 159,687 businesses in Suffolk, up from 4.9 percent in 2002.

Despite the challenging environment, Lopez predicted continued growth among Hispanic-owned businesses, though perhaps "not at the pace" that occurred between 2002 and 2007. "But I'm sure that there's a gradual increase in Hispanic-owned businesses" and revenue in the future, he said.