Bankers Healthcare Group (BHG) is pleased to announce it has made the HispanicBusiness list of the 500 Largest US Hispanic-Owned Companies, landing a top ranking in the Finance Sector.

Eric Castro, Chief Operations Officer of BHG, stated, "BHG's growth is due to our innovative approach to customer service. Listening to their needs and providing a winning financial solution to meet those needs is our primary goal. And we listen well. When you call, you're going to speak to a person committed 100% to surpassing your expectations."

Competing in today's economy is tougher than ever. However, maintaining a position of strength and as a forerunner is even more challenging. Bankers Healthcare Group, Inc. continues to retain a dominant position in the Finance arena. Servicing over 50,000 healthcare providers since 1992, it is no wonder BHG has once again made this coveted list.

Bob Castro, President of Bankers Healthcare Group, Inc., affirmed, "It appears every business large and small is feeling the capital pinch. At BHG, we provide opportunities to healthcare professionals other organizations do not. We provide access to the working capital they need to grow. The finance market is tight, but BHG is lending and helping medical professionals expand their practice."

The companies reporting from the HispanicBusiness 500 Directory confirmed the lack of capital as the third highest barrier to growth. Unfortunately, the financial chokehold is not limited to the automotive, manufacturing, healthcare or wholesale sectors -- it has spread to all of them. READ MORE

Some days, when I read lists like Crain’s New York Business “50 Most Powerful Women in New York” I feel that I must clearly live in a parallel universe. One that doesn’t overlap even a tiny bit with the world these editors inhabit. Given the latest U.S. Census numbers revealing that there are now 50.4 million Hispanics in the country, and that a third of the population is diverse, there seems to be no other explanation for the lack of diversity in lists such as this one.

We all know these lists are idiosyncratic and that oftentimes people disagree on who was featured and who was left out. But the absolute absence of Latinas from a list highlighting the most influential women in New York City can’t be a difference of opinion. I’m not saying there’s bad intention behind this compilation. No. I’m willing to give the editors of Crain’s and their counterparts at Time magazine (known for creating similar lists at a national level) the benefit of the doubt.

I choose to believe it’s not malice on their part but an undiversified newsroom with a homogeneous network. Given that people tend to draw recommendations from their own circles, if you don’t have a diverse network, you will miss out on top influential Latinos, African American, Asians, Native Americans, people with disabilities and GLBTs. And the most worrisome part in the blatant absence of minorities on these lists is the implication that there are no leaders from these groups on par with those listed. Otherwise, they would have made the list, right?

Contrary to what you may conclude from reading the latest Crain’s compilation, there are plenty of influential Latinas in New York City and they are not influencing only Hispanics. These influential Latinas are exemplified by Carolina Herrera, fashion designer and entrepreneur; Daisy Expósito-Ulloa, Chairman and CEO of d expósito and Partners; Jaqueline J. Gonzalez, Executive Director, National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences; and Liliana Gil, former top Marketing executive at Johnson & Johnson and co-founder of XL Alliance and Acento Group, recently selected by the World Economic Forum as one of 190 Young Global Leaders across 65 countries. READ MORE

Flowers Communications Group (FCG) appointed Ignacio H. Carrillo as Vice President.

Carrillo has previously held senior-level posts at the Experiencia Agency, Weber Shandwick/Axis, and The Jeffrey Group. He has delivered counsel and expertise in top US Hispanic and Latin American markets across a comprehensive range of consumer categories, including QSR, beverages, sports apparel, and telecommunications, and has led programs for major corporations and brands, including McDonald’s, US Army, AT&T, Adidas, Diageo, and many others.

“Ignacio is smart, energetic, and results driven. More importantly, he is passionate about the Hispanic consumer market and understands how to create programs that make the connection,” said FCG president, Rashada Whitehead. “His considerable experience and consumer-centric approach through social media, live engagement and non-traditional public relations are timely and relevant. We are thrilled that he joined our leadership team.”

As a part of his duties at FCG, Carrillo also oversees the MillerCoors account. “We are very excited about the opportunity of working with Ignacio (Carrillo),” said Larry Waters, VP of multicultural relations at MillerCoors. “He brings such a wealth of experience and expertise. We are looking forward to his thought leadership on our signature programs, specifically as we grow our reach in the Hispanic market and tap into new social media channels.”

Prior to joining FCG, Carrillo was consulting for agencies like Fleishman-Hillard and Schwartz Communications among others. During this time he developed and managed new business development plans, social media campaigns, and experiential consulting strategies. “I am very excited to contribute to the continued success of FCG,” said Carrillo. “It’s a crucial moment in the evolution of multicultural communications. With recent U.S. Census numbers confirming the exponential growth of the multicultural population, the buying power is at an all-time high. It’s key we leverage consumer insights, social media tools, and innovative creative to continue to drive our clients’ business forward.” READ MORE

Business is looking good at El Fat Cat Grill in Kennewick.

Felix Sanchez, who opened the restaurant three months ago, said it has attracted a diverse group of customers to the Mexican-infused American restaurant, where everything is made from scratch.

He is one of what the U.S. Census Bureau said is a growing number of Hispanic business owners in the Tri-Cities.

The number of Hispanic-owned businesses in Benton and Franklin counties grew by 33 percent between 2002 and 2007, according to census bureau data released this month.

Franklin County grew from 613 Hispanic-owned businesses to 846, while Benton County jumped from 479 to 603.

Together, the counties had about 8 percent of all the Hispanic-owned businesses in the state by 2007, when the census did its survey of business owners. The state saw a 73 percent increase in the number of Hispanic-owned businesses to 17,795.

Sanchez said he is hoping his hard work will pay off. Whether El Fat Cat Grill is open for years, well, that will be up to its customers and the community.

The restaurant is family-run, although he thinks they likely will need to add an employee within the next month.

"It was hard," he said. "I'm not going to say it was easy."

But, as a small-business owner, he said it's important to stay true to what he wants to offer the community. READ MORE

Reading High School marked a milestone this month: a graduation ceremony with its first Hispanic valedictorian. Noe Cabello is unlikely to be the last.

The Hispanic population of this historically white city shaped by English and German ancestry — along with the surrounding Lehigh Valley— has skyrocketed in the past decade, echoing a national trend highlighted by the 2010 Census.

Reading, now 58% Hispanic, is the latest harbinger for a more diverse America in regions where Hispanic migration has been a relatively recent development.

"If you look at the Census data from 2000 and now 2010, you can see that there's this phenomenon of Latinos moving to parts of the United States where there hasn't been Latinos before," says Stanton Wortham, a University of Pennsylvania researcher who specializes in linguistics and immigrant studies. "The biggest research question from a national point of view is the question of, what are these new Latino populations' trajectories going to be over the next decade?" READ MORE

A documentary to be unveiled this week will revisit the tumultuous busing riots in Boston in the 1970s, with a rarely seen look at its effects on Latinos and Asian-American families.

The toll the riots had on those communities had gone largely unnoticed by media and historians.

"We have so much ground to cover," said Donna Bivens, a coordinator with a wide-ranging project that will accompany the documentary. "We're just getting started ... finally."

The documentary, of course, primarily focuses on the turmoil between whites and blacks.

It shows, for instance, a white teen as he prepares to attack a black man with an American flag during a school busing protest at Boston City Hall Plaza. TV news stations broadcast riot police patrolling white neighborhoods as angry protesters attack school buses with rocks. Black leaders call on all minorities to avoid visiting Boston at all costs.

The images of Boston busing riots in the 1970s have become iconic and a lasting stain on the city's history. But a Boston advocacy group says they're only part of the story. READ MORE

Young Latinos—ages 14 to 34—are eager for bilingual, bicultural content, says a new study co-sponsored by Tr3s: MTV, Música y Más—a bilingual, bicultural channel.

The Máximo report, conducted by Latino media and marketing firms Motivo Insights, LLC and the New Generation Latino Consortium (NGLC), focused on U.S.-born Latinos and those who had been in the U.S. for at least 15 years. Like most consumers, it found, these “New Generation Latinos” want to see content in which “they are the star”—i.e., to have their lives and interests represented.

But they’re not so concerned about the language of this content. The study also found that these consumers are language-omnivorous: 50 percent said they sought out more bilingual/bicultural programming, and over 30 percent said they looked for 'mainstream' English-only content.

This, the marketers wrote, was in contrast to older Latinos, higher percentages of whom tend to prefer Spanish-language content.

Some other insights:

• Respondents felt they were better equipped to deal with the recession compared to Caucasians. The report says this is “mostly due to culturally based realities that give NGLs a slightly different perspective on finances.”

"Latinos for generations have been having to make dollars stretch," explains Gonzalo Perez, Principal and Founder of Motivo Insights. "And they have a history of not being too proud to take a job—or two or three jobs—to keep the family going."

• Seven out of 10 “think that seeing an English language commercial on Spanish language TV is a good thing.” (Translation: Bring on the advertising money, honey!)

• Peer-to-peer recommendations are important to this group. In fact, the study says, these young Latinos “are more likely to forward opinions and info about a brand compared to their Caucasian counterparts.” (translation: Bring on the social media advertising money!) READ MORE

The largest gathering of Latino elected officials in the United States projects a record number of Hispanic voters in next year's election.

The National Association of Elected and Appointed Officials -- NALEO -- kicked off Thursday with the release of the groups' projections of Latino participation in the 2012 elections.

They expect 12.2 million Hispanic Americans will go to the polls, which would be an increase of 25% from 2008.

But Arturo Vargas, NALEO's executive director says his group expects another 12 million Latinos to stay home.

"We need to develop a culture of participation in which we vote every year," Vargas said.

The projections are based in the results of the 2010 census, which showed there are more of 50 million Latinos in the United States.

Vargas said the influence of the Latino vote was evident in 2008, crediting this block with helping Democrats retain control of the U.S. Senate, including saving the seat of the Majority Leader Harry Reed of Nevada.

He also noted that the greatest gains by Latino elected officials was within the GOP, sending Florida's Marco Rubio to the Senate, electing Republican governors in Nevada and New Mexico and adding four more U.S. representatives, two of whom came from states not traditionally considered Hispanic strongholds such as Washington and Idaho. READ MORE

Virginia's banks and credit unions could be gathering millions of dollars in additional deposits by reaching out to Hispanic households that lack checking and savings accounts, University of Virginia researchers said.

Almost 39,000 Hispanic households in the state have no accounts with banks or credit unions but generate an average annual income of $23,500 that could flow into the banking system, according to the report by the Darden School of Business' Tayloe Murphy Center.

Some banks and credit unions recognize the prospects for growth from Hispanic households but have been trying to determine "how they can tap this market in a cost-effective way," said Gregory B. Fairchild, the center's executive director and co-author of the report, on Friday.

Some institutions can do it by hiring employees who are bilingual and familiar with the culture of specific Hispanic communities, he said. Some can do it by opening branches closer to Hispanic neighborhoods. In addition, they can capitalize on the availability of banking by smartphone, said Fairchild, who also is an associate professor of business administration at Darden.

Virginia has slightly more than 500,000 Hispanic residents, who account for almost 7 percent of the state's population. Slightly more than 70 percent of Virginia's 139,000 Hispanic households already have a checking or savings account, said Kulwant Rai, the center's research director and co-author of the report.

However, many Hispanics interviewed for the report said they felt uncomfortable dealing with conventional financial institutions, Rai and Fairchild wrote. Hispanics without a checking or savings account typically rely on community-oriented grocery stores for cashing checks, buying money orders and wiring funds to family members outside the country.

By using less costly services at a bank or credit union, these individuals could save money, according to the report, "Lost in Translation: The Opportunity in Financial Services for Latinos." They also could reduce their vulnerability to being robbed because they would no longer be carrying or keeping large amounts of cash on hand. READ MORE

Martha de la Torre is the CEO and co-founder of El Clasificado, a directory of classified ads that is targeted to Latino immigrants and functions as a 'Spanish-language PennySaver.'

The gig: Martha de la Torre is the chief executive and co-founder of El Clasificado, a Spanish-language publication distributed weekly throughout Southern California. The 60-page directory of classified ads is targeted to Latino immigrants and functions as a "Spanish-language PennySaver," said De la Torre, 53. The privately held company posted $16 million in sales last year, up 8% from 2009, she said. It has 130 employees.

Reluctant entrepreneur: Born to Ecuadorean immigrants who settled in the South Bay, De la Torre enrolled in Loyola Marymount University's accounting program. There a classmate told her he wanted to be an entrepreneur. "I thought that was crazy. Why would I risk my college education when my parents struggled to get over here and establish a new life for us?" she said.

Spotting the market: De la Torre joined a large accounting firm whose clients included La Opinion, the Spanish-language Los Angeles daily. While working there she noticed that many readers bought copies of the newspaper to peruse the job listings. "I saw the Hispanic market was growing and thought there was a market in classifieds," she said.

Bad timing: De la Torre founded El Clasificado in 1988 with her husband, Joe Badame, who is now chief operations officer. The young company was still struggling when the early 1990s recession hit. "We really should have gone bankrupt," De la Torre said. She did consulting jobs on the side to keep the business afloat. Still, she was discouraged. "I just wanted to pay off the debt and the stockholders and walk away from the company," she said. READ MORE

Latinos are the fastest growing demographic in the United States. The 2010 U.S. Census revealed that there are 50.5 million Latinos in this country, comprising 16% of the total population and 14.3% of the workforce. These numbers are expected to increase rapidly in the next few decades. By 2030, it is estimated that Latinos will make up more th

an 20% of the population and over 22% of the labor workforce, increasing their standing as a major driving force in the U.S. economy and labor market.

But what types of careers will the expanding Latino population be able to access? The fastest growing jobs in the U.S. are in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) careers. Many of these jobs are in the top earning quartile. Yet today, Latinos are largely underrepresented in higher-level STEM positions due to attrition through the STEM training pipeline. According to the National Science Foundation (NSF), Latinos earned 7.7% of bachelors, 4.7% of masters and 2.9% of doctoral degrees in science and engineering in the United States in 2006. In 2008, Latinos represented only 4% of the science and engineering workforce, proportions way below that of Latinos in the general population.

It is interesting to note, however, that Latino students start out college interested in majoring in STEM fields at rates similar to students from other ethnic groups. For example, this year the National Academies of Science reported that a third of the population of university students in STEM majors were Latino, indicating that there is a progressive loss of representation as students move up the scientific training pipeline. READ MORE

If you're looking for a fight dog, googling "pitbull" can take you to a different place. Not only because the successful rapper will be at the top of the searches, but also because this stage English name can be misleading. Behind Pitbull, there's a Latino called Armando Pérez, the real name of this Cuban American artist.

As Latinos online continue to grow, this fight for identifying and targeting them is becoming more and more challenging. Reaching Latinos online can be, as the pitbull example, difficult or misleading.

Language as An Approach

Spanish language seems the obvious way to go. Either the language selected for tools used (browser, Twitter, etc.) or language in which the social conversation happens could help identify Latinos online. For example, Facebook allows people to select if they speak Spanish or Spanish and English. You could assume that those users, if living in the U.S., are Latinos. Unfortunately, most people either don't change or add these two options. By the way, did you know that Facebook users can select "Spanglish" as a language option?

Also, considering that 67 percent of Hispanics browse the Internet only in English, language preference might be very limiting. So what happens with English-preferred Latinos?

Broadening the Conversation

Social media monitoring tools experience the same limitations when identifying Latinos online. Identifying conversations in Spanish around a specific brand seems to be a good approach, but we've already discussed that language can be misleading.

Providing a context to where conversations are happening can help provide some light. Including specific terms that are Latino-relevant and/ or part of your Hispanic advertising campaign can help better understand which part of that social conversation comes from Latino consumers. READ MORE

Join the United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (USHCC), Fortune 500 companies, Hispanic Business Enterprises (HBEs) and local Hispanic Chambers of Commerce from across the country on September 18-21, 2011 in Miami where Hispanic business is hot. The USHCC will host its 32nd Annual National Convention & Business Expo at the Fontainebleau Hotel in Miami Beach.

"This year's National Convention will be the premier event for Hispanic business in America," says Nina Vaca-Humrichouse, USHCC Board Chairman. "We invite business leaders across the nation to come to Miami Beach to take part in networking and developing business opportunities."

The schedule includes signature events such as Business Matchmaking, the Ultimate Latina Luncheon, the Million Dollar Club Breakfast, the International Opening Ceremony, the HBE Elite Luncheon and the Business Expo. New events have also been added including The Perfect Match Reception and Green Builds Business.

"Hispanics represent significant economic and political influence. Today, working with Hispanic Business Enterprises is good business and represents a huge opportunity for corporations," says Javier Palomarez, USHCC President and CEO. "The 2010 Census confirms what we at the USHCC have known, Hispanics are starting businesses at a faster rate than other demographics and are driving economic growth and job creation in this nation. The Convention celebrates their American entrepreneurial spirit and provides a critical forum to network."

Serving as 2011 Convention Chair to the 32nd Annual National Convention & Business Expo is USHCC board member and resident of Miami, Florida, Gabriel Pascual, President of Iberica International Corporation. Pascual is joined by Corporate Chair, Senator Mel Martinez, Chairman of Florida, Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean for JP Morgan Chase & Co. and HBE Chair, Henry Fleches, Co-Founder, President and CEO of United Data Technologies.

"The USHCC is especially honored to present our Convention Chairs, who are leaders in their respective fields," adds Vaca-Humrichouse, who served as the 2010 Convention Chair. "Gabriel Pascual, Senator Mel Martinez and Henry Fleches bring unique background, experience and leadership to the organization. We applaud their commitment to promoting small business in America." READ MORE

A Hispanic group is criticizing U.S. President Obama for not attending its annual meeting for three years running, despite his pledge as a candidate to do so.

Members of the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials also question Obama's commitment to immigration reform, noting that deportations have increased during his presidency even as he courts the Hispanic vote, Politico reported Sunday.

The organization, which includes more than 6,000 Latino leaders representing huge voter blocs in key electoral states, opens its annual conference Thursday in San Antonio.

Obama recently invited several Latino groups to the White House, stressed his support for overhauling immigration policy, delivered a speech on immigration reform in El Paso, Texas, and went to Puerto Rico last week. READ MORE

The fan vote for the MLB All-Star Game is still going on, and if one group has its way the starting lineups will be comprised entirely of Latino players.

According to ABC 15, Dr. Rebecca Alpert, who wrote a book about baseball and is a professor at Temple University, wants fans to stuff the ballot box for Latino players.

Last summer, calls for a boycott of the All-Star Game spread across the country in the weeks after the immigration law was passed. The fervor has fizzled in recent months as the law remains tied up in federal court.

An overall boycott failed. Officials said that the game has sold more than 40,000 tickets

But Alpert said the idea is to bring Senate Bill 1070 back into discussion.

"I'm not trying to block the game," she said. "I'm trying to shine a light on it."

Alpert told News-Talk 92.3 KTAR that the push is working.

"I've been getting a lot of people saying 'yes, I'm going to go vote for Latino players just to call attention to this,'" she said.

That is something Alpert wants because she is against SB 1070, which was passed last year.

"I think that there's a serious problem with the law that has been passed in Arizona, even though I know it's on hold for now, and I think the All-Star Game is a great opportunity to draw attention to this problem because of the importance of Latinos in Major League Baseball," she added. READ MORE

The University of Virginia Darden School of Business and its Tayloe Murphy Center released the findings of a major study today that outlines specific steps for how banks and credit unions can capture billions of dollars in deposits by reaching out to Latino and other “unbanked” households across the United States.

The year-long study titled “Perdido En La Traducción: The Opportunity in Financial Services for Latinos” also demonstrates for the first time that persuading households to keep their money in banks and credit unions could lower the risk of robberies and raise property values.

Nationwide, there is more than $169 billion floating outside the formal banking system attributed to unbanked households, of which $53 billion comes from unbanked Latino households.

“This study gives the financial services industry, policy makers and market watchers information they can use and a real measurement of the scope of this hidden market. At the same time, it not only represents a significant financial opportunity, but also highlights the wide-ranging benefits for communities,” says Greg Fairchild, executive director of the Tayloe Murphy Center and Darden professor.

The study focuses on unbanked Latino households in Virginia and North Carolina. Latinos are the fastest- growing multi-ethnic group in many states, including Virginia, as well as nationwide.

Many of the findings can also be applied nationally to any household that is unbanked, regardless of ethnicity, background, geographic location or length or status of residence. READ MORE

This week, Groupon subscribers in Austin, Texas, are offered deals on rock climbing, Indian food and a produce delivery service. Meanwhile, within the same city, users of the Latino-oriented deals site Descuento Libre can buy discounted vouchers for dental care, prepaid mobile phone services and family fun pizza parlors.

Descuento Libre wants to be the Groupon for the Latino market, but its efforts also show how culturally specific such deal sites can be. Last week in Austin I met Descuento Libre co-founder and CTO Boris Portman and discussed the opportunity for his one-year-old startup, which received an undisclosed round of seed funding from Bravo Equity Partners in February.

The youngest and fastest growing segment of the U.S. population, Latinos represent a huge and largely untapped market for e-commerce. With strong extended family and social networks, this group actually uses social media more than any other group in the United States and is much more likely to buy a product endorsed by a member of their network than their white counterparts.

Latinos (both U.S.- and foreign-born) are already showing hints of their online purchasing power. At 18 percent of the U.S. population, they make up an estimated 13 percent of all online sales and spend around an estimated $22 billion on e-commerce per year, according to estimates from Jupiter Research.

Clearly, this group likes to drop dollars on a good deal online, just like everyone else in the nation. Yet only 3 percent of traffic to Groupon and other daily deal sites comes from Latinos, according to Quantcast figures for June 2011.

When starting his site last year, Portman said he was shocked to find that most Latino Internet users and business owners he spoke to hadn’t even heard of the daily deal concept. “While the rest of the country is already suffering from ‘deal fatigue,’ many Latinos have stayed away from the deal sites. They don’t know what they even are. You even have to explain the concept to the Latino business owners.” READ MORE

President Obama’s visit to Puerto Rico, the first official state visit by a president in five decades, has been widely recognized as an attempt to reach out to voters back home, where winning the Latino vote is a key part of Obama’s re-election strategy. What’s still unclear is whether his visit, the latest in a line of high-profile speeches and symbolic gestures aimed at keeping his name in front of Latino voters, can substitute for the substantive reforms that Latino have been pushing for.

New poll numbers released this week from Latino Decisions show that immigration now tops worries about the economy and jobs as well as education as Latino voters’ main concerns. For the first time in recent months more than half—51 percent—of respondents said immigration reform and the DREAM Act were the most important issues facing the Latino community, while 18 percent of respondents claimed education, and another 18 percent claimed unemployment and job creation were their chief concerns.

Immigration reform advocates say these findings should be instructive for both parties as the country barrels toward the 2012 election season.

“These are remarkable findings. It shows that immigration is the top priority among Latinos, and why this is the case. This issue is personal. It’s about family, future and full acceptance,” said Frank Sharry, executive director of America’s Voice, the immigration reform advocacy group.

“Democrats should be concerned about the growing disillusionment among Latino voters regarding the party’s commitment to change in the area of immigration policy. While they’re in much better political position than Republicans, they must deliver on their promises of immigration reforms if they expect Latino voters to deliver for them.”

The calls from the immigrant community, and their congressional allies, have been clear. Rep. Luis Gutierrez of Illinois has led the Congressional Hispanic Caucus with calls for President Obama to stop the deportation of students who would otherwise be eligible for DREAM Act, which narrowly failed to pass Congress last December.

“The President obviously sees his visit to Puerto Rico as part of a larger Latino voter outreach strategy for 2012, but one of the most important, concrete steps he can take to show Latino voters he is on their side is to stop deporting DREAM Act students,” said Gutierrez. “Right away. Today.”

“Latinos who turn out in November 2012 are going to vote two to one for Obama,” said Louis Desipio, a professor of political science and Chicano and Latino studies at the University of California, Irvine. “Obama can take the Latino vote for granted in some sense, but he shouldn’t take turnout for granted.” READ MORE

Recent census reports show Midwestern cities are shrinking and people are moving out. But at least one group is growing - the Hispanic population. For the series Changing Gears, Niala Boodhoo reports that’s a good thing for our region and our economy.

Drive down the main strip of Aurora, Illinois, a town about 50 miles west of Chicago, and strip malls like the “Plaza del Sol” are a common sight on the landscape. In the 2010 census, Aurora ranked as the state’s second most populous town – a jump boosted by the growth in the Latino population.

“Aurora’s like Little Mexico,” said Javier Galvez, who’s a month away from opening his pizza shop on the corner of New York and Lake Street in downtown Aurora.

“Everybody stops here. They’re going to take their chances here first to start their business because they know that [in] a 40 mile radius or more, there are going to be towns they can take advantage of,” Galvez added.

Aurora actually extends into four counties – two of them, Will and Kendall, had explosive population growth in the past decade.

Even if Aurora is not as well-known as other Hispanic enclaves like Chicago’s Little Village or Pilsen, its population goes back generations. (I did a story last fall looking at small businesses in Little Village.)

Galvez came to Aurora when he was two years old because his father got a job working for Burlington Northern, laying railroad track across Illinois.

Galvez started in industry, too. He worked his way up at Caterpillar, where he started on the floor, building excavators, but moved into employee training and logistics.

Then two years ago, he was laid off. So now he’s using those management and logistics skills to run the restaurant, Spizzico, which has already found success in its first location in Elwood Park. READ MORE

President Obama today becomes the first sitting U.S. president in five decades to visit Puerto Rico on a trip meant to curry favor among mainland U.S. Latinos and raise some campaign cash.

While none of the island's nearly 4 million U.S. citizens can vote in the 2012 general election, they have some political sway, both with their pocketbooks and through ties to family members who have migrated to the states where they can vote.

Puerto Ricans contributed $1.7 million to federal political candidates and committees during the 2010 midterm elections, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, with 80 percent of the funds benefiting Democrats.

In the 2008 election cycle, Puerto Ricans gave roughly $4 million in itemized federal political donations, mostly to Democrats, including at least $354,000 to then-candidate Obama, the Center found.

Obama will hold one fundraiser during his day-long visit to the island today. He will also commemorate President John F. Kennedy's official presidential visit in 1961 and meet with Puerto Rican Gov. Luis Fortuno. READ MORE