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The 2012 U.S. Census revealed that Hispanic-owned small businesses are growing at nearly twice the rate of the national average with annual revenues at $350B (though many industry insiders believe this is a conservative estimate with the true figure being well-north of $600B). The U.S. Minority Business Development Agency reports that between 2002 and 2007, Hispanic owned businesses grew faster than the national average of 44 percent in 28 states. Clearly, the impact of the Hispanic population a

Hispanic Heritage Month begins Sept. 15 and runs through Oct. 15, giving business journalists ample time to focus business features on consumers, business owners, workers and investors in the local Hispanic communities.

According to this (PDF) U.S. Census Bureau briefing paper from May 2011, about 50 million of the 308 million Americans counted in the 2010 census identified themselves as Hispanic. And the Hispanic population represented more than half of the total growth in the U.S. between 2000

If you grew up in a bilingual Hispanic household, listening to the Democratic and Republican conventions may have sounded a lot like home.

It's no coincidence that both parties highlighted politicians like Florida Sen. Marco Rubio and San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro.

Rubio, whose parents are from Cuba, introduced Mitt Romney at the Republican convention; Castro, whose grandmother immigrated from Mexico, became the first Latino to give the Democrats' keynote address.

Their speeches, while deliver

While attending the Republican National Convention, I received several emails and messages asking why, as Hispanic, I am a Republican. This question puzzles me a bit, because there is some implied assumption that if you’re Hispanic, by default you are expected to be a Democrat.

However, it seems to me that because of the values in the Hispanic community, it would seem only logical that Hispanics should actually be more aligned with the Republican Party than they would with the Democratic Party.

San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro received a lot of praise following his keynote speech at the Democratic National Convention Tuesday. But he also sparked some criticism, particularly about his Spanish speaking skills.

While the Mexican-American mayor has admitted he "doesn't really speak Spanish," he did utter one phrase in Spanish during his DNC keynote address: “Que Dios los bendiga," meaning "May God bless you." The Daily Caller criticized Castro's use of a language he does not fully know, wri

Four years ago, President Obama promised immigration reform in his first year, but he never delivered. This time around, the Latino vote - so crucial to Obama's chances for re-election - seemed to be fading.

Democrats weren't afraid that Latinos would vote for GOP nominee Mitt Romney. They were worried Latinos wouldn't vote at all.

Those worries are starting to dissipate, Latinos at the Democratic National Convention said this week, particularly since Obama signed an executive order in June that

Julian Castro, the mayor of San Antonio, Texas, has the role of keynote speaker at the Democratic National Convention tonight. He has an even more important function: validator.

Castro, 37, a Stanford University and Harvard Law School graduate who is the first Hispanic convention keynoter, was re- elected last year to a second term with 82 percent of the vote in a city of 1.36 million people -- 63.2 percent of whom are Latino, according to the census.

“The main takeaway is, in order for Obama to

Illinois Republican Party co-chair Gabriela Wyatt knows the importance of attracting Latino voters in November. She also knows it's an uphill climb for the GOP to make inroads with the nation's fastest-growing demographic.

Some polls show Latino voters favoring President Barack Obama 2-1 over Republican nominee Mitt Romney. Wyatt, a Mexican-born resident of Aurora, said Romney is saddled with years of Hispanic perceptions of Republicans.

"I think the problems are bigger than just Mitt Romney. In

It's risky to eat pizza every day of your life, and riskier still to attempt to make a living on selling pizza every day to those who scarf it down. Especially in Chicago. Deep-dish, thin crust or whatever, it's not exactly like selling one kind of pizza is going to guarantee you anything in this market, and especially in this economy. So, it's pretty bold of the Dallas-based pizza company Pizza Patrón to make its entrance into our city in September.

It's hard to make a dent here in a town so sa

Businesses are turning to social media and other mobile platforms to tap into the Washington, D.C., metropolitan region's $20.1 billion Hispanic buying market.

Executives with many of these business flocked to the 11th annual Maryland Hispanic Business Conference on Tuesday at the Montgomery County Conference Center in North Bethesda, where they learned about this and other topics essential for their growth.

"These events are crucial because the Latino community needs more of a push toward busin

When broadcast television and Internet data streams out of the Democratic National Convention this week, Louis Romero will be “feeling really good” about his company, Network Cabling Systems in Charlotte. That’s because the $8 million, 55-employee venture spent two months this year upgrading cable systems at one of the convention’s venues to accommodate coverage. “When we look at our president and the other political figures, we’ll know we had something to do with that,” says Romero, 50.

As a Hi

Heart disease is the number one killer of American women. Heart disease is a group of diseases of the heart and the blood vessel system in the heart. Coronary artery disease, the most common type, affects the blood vessels of the heart. It can cause angina (an-JEYE-nuh) or a heart attack.

Angina is a pain in the chest that happens when the heart does not get enough blood. It may feel like a pressing or squeezing pain, often in the chest, but sometimes in the shoulders, arms, neck, jaw, or back.

U.S. Senate hopeful Ted Cruz, basking in the national spotlight since defeating Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, appealed directly to Hispanics and portrayed his smashing primary victory as part of a “great awakening” of American voters during a prime-time speech at the Republican National Convention Tuesday night.

Cruz, who has said he's not a fluent Spanish speaker, ably dropped a little of his Cuban father’s native language into his remarks and made the case that President Obama was playing racial po

When Dora Herrera, 55, was about 12 or 13 years old, she was no longer allowed to play sports. “My parents told me it was inappropriate for a young lady to be out and about. Once puberty set in, I had to grow up and be a lady.” Though she enjoyed playing roller derby, boxing, and baseball with the neighborhood children, she had to stay inside her home. READ MORE

Perhaps the most befuddling aspect of the 2012 presidential election is the idea advanced by political prognosticators and analysts that Hispanic Americans will be voting en bloc for President Obama without a second thought. As a proud member of the Latino community in America, this prediction frustrates me just as much as it perplexes me.

In recent decades, Hispanics have become some of the most successful small-business owners in the country. According to a recent article in Caribbean Business

Grab an extra-large shopping cart, push it into the supermarket, and immediately, you hear the Spanish music wafting from the overhead system. To your left, the smell of just-made fajitas, papas and frijoles emanates from the quick-service restaurant where the line is 10 deep at the counter.

As you look to your right, the scent of fresh-baked pan dulce arrives just before white frosting-covered tres leches and mounds of fresh produce come into view. A man chooses a few sweet treats from the fres

Latinas around the world are wielding more power than ever before: eight of the 100 most powerful women in the world are Latina. And their numbers are on the rise. Four of the list’s 16 newcomers are Latina women: Maria das Gracas Silva Foster of Brazil’s Petrobras and celebrities Jennifer Lopez, Shakira and Sofia Vergara. Latina celebs have proven themselves to be at the top of the game both in superstar power (JLo topped the 2012 FORBES’s Celebrity 100) and earnings (Vergara is the highest pai

Illinois – Taking steps to fulfill their commitment to reach out to the Hispanic community in support of Republican principles, The Illinois Republican National Hispanic Assembly (RNHA) has launched a new website – www.illinoisrnha.org – and formed a new DuPage County chapter.

A meeting to create a DuPage County RNHA chapter was held on August 21st at the DuPage County GOP Headquarters in Wheaton. The group will be approved once all requirements are submitted and a vote of the RNHA Executive Com

Join us at this special celebration of Pilsen's arts community that will also support the 10th anniversary edition of Pilsen Open Studios. 

Pilsen Open Studios is an annual art walk independently produced by local artists and volunteers, that is also one of the premier events of the citywide Chicago Artists Month. It will be the weekend of October 20-21, 2012, taking place in various locations along Pilsen’s 18th Street Corridor.

For the 10th edition, there are special events to commemorate our 10

Hispanic-owned businesses are a growing piece of the Texas economy, but they still lag behind mainstream businesses in revenue, employment and payroll size, according to a new University of Texas survey.

The report, titled "The Survey of Hispanic Businesses with Paid Employees in Texas," was directed by the Bureau of Business Research of the IC2 Institute at The University of Texas at Austin. It surveyed more than 3,500 Hispanic-owned businesses last year in Texas. The survey is being released t