Beginning this month, Accelerate Latinx powered by Interise launched in five cities across the country. As Program Manager for Partnerships & Initiatives at Interise, I am so excited to deepen our collaboration with the Greater Philadelphia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, the Indy Chamber’s Hispanic Business Council, Local First Arizona – Fuerza Local Arizona, Livelihood NW in Portland, and the City of Houston Office of Business Opportunity. Participating Latinx businesses achieving scale bolsters economic vitality and long-term wealth building. Together, we will work to most effectively serve the broad Latinx small business community.
SCALING LATINX BUSINESSES
A Latinx entrepreneurship gap persists despite growth in business ownership and population. Latinx-owned businesses are being started at three times the rate of the general population, with one in four new businesses being Latinx-owned. However, as a share of the population, non-Latinx business owners operate employer firms at nearly three times the rate of Latinx business owners. Only three percent of Latinx-owned businesses grow to $1,000,000 in annual revenue while six percent of white-owned businesses reach that level. As of 2017, there were an estimated 4.4 million Latinx-owned businesses in the US, an increase of over thirty percent since 2012, with an economic contribution of over $700 billion in annual revenue.
COMMUNITY OF PRACTICE
Accelerate Latinx partners are trusted local leaders in their communities. Spanning five cities, they represent two chambers, two nonprofits, and a city government. Together we will go beyond program delivery to form a community of practice, with learnings informing future programming and research. We will explore the nuance and breadth of the Latinx entrepreneurship experience in the US, and identify actionable steps we can take to facilitate Latinx small business growth.
In order to achieve the impacts associated with narrowing the Latinx entrepreneurship gap, we are committed to learning more about the unique challenges and opportunities within different segments of the Latinx population. Each partner brings a different programming lens to the table, with a record of serving a specific demographic and geographic market. Considering the variation across markets, such as business owner age, education level, country or territory of origin, generation, and language preference will enable us to better understand what drives effective local program delivery.
Follow along with us this month as we further explore the theme of Latinx entrepreneurship and keep an eye out for updates on how our community of practice takes shape. You can also email me at hackerman@interise[dot]org to connect and learn more about this exciting new initiative.
By Harrison Ackerman
Program Manager of Partnerships and Initiatives
Interise