Where do Valley cities rank on business-friendliness for Hispanic entrepreneurs?
Overall, not as high as you may think for a state in which 30 percent of the residents are Hispanic.
WalletHub compared the 150 most populated U.S. cities across two key dimensions; "Hispanic Business-Friendliness" and "Hispanic Purchasing Power."
Gilbert ranked at 23, Scottsdale at 24, Chandler at 54, Peoria at 88, and Tempe at 91. Mesa, Phoenix and Glendale all landed in the bottom 50.
Three Valley cities dominated the top of the list in one area of the study: highest median annual income for Hispanics. Gilbert, Scottsdale and Chandler were all in the top five.
According to the Arizona Hispanic Chamber of Commerce 19th annual "DATOS: Focus on Arizona's Hispanic Market" report, there are an estimated 123,000 Hispanic-owned companies in the state, the majority (54 percent) owned by Hispanic women.
AHCC communications director James Garcia reviewed the WalletHub study. Garcia said growth of Hispanic-owned businesses in Arizona and nationwide has been phenomenal.
"Cities like Gilbert and Scottsdale ought to be encouraged by their comparably high ranking, while business and community leaders in Phoenix, Mesa and Glendale should be asking ourselves what we can do to offer a better climate for Hispanic entrepreneurs. In particular, how can we ensure Arizona is making available the best educational opportunities at every level that we need to train the current and coming workforce," Garcia said. "Our education system is failing all Arizonans, but especially Hispanics, who are expected to make up 50 percent of the k-12 population by 2020 and 50 percent of the total state population by 2040.”
To see the complete findings from WalletHub, you can click here.
