Hispanic Heritage Month offers chance to highlight challenges SC Hispanic businesses face

This National Hispanic American Heritage Month let’s celebrate what Hispanic businesses bring to the table.

As the main voice for Hispanic-owned businesses in South Carolina, we at the South Carolina Hispanic Chamber of Commerce are committed to making a real, positive impact for the businesses we represent and to fostering entrepreneurial growth through technical assistance and access to capital.

We are motivated by the boom of new Hispanic businesses launching each month, as our population grows to over 300,000 in South Carolina. And this Hispanic Heritage month, which runs from Sept. 15 to Oct. 15, we want to celebrate our heritage not just by looking back to our roots, but also by looking to the present and to the future at the challenges and opportunities we face.

Each day, we are inspired by the success stories of Hispanic entrepreneurs throughout South Carolina, who, through sheer determination and hard work have grown to number more than 6,000 with combined sales of close to $2 billion.

These business owners are determined, hard-working job creators eager to create a legacy for themselves, their family, and their broader community.

On the other hand, we are sensitive to the many challenges faced by Latino and Latina owned businesses.

Despite similar revenue growth performance by Hispanic businesses when compared to general market companies, only 20% of Hispanic businesses that apply for loans above $100,000 receive funding, compared to 50% of white-owned businesses, according to data from a recently published report from Stanford University.

This reality, coupled with the wide gaps in technical expertise that Hispanic businesses face, combine to create a substantial barrier to the growth of Hispanic businesses in South Carolina. On the credit front, the average credit score of a Latino business owner is typically under 600, making traditional lending options difficult to secure.

As result, our community is particularly reliant on community lenders like Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI’s) to bridge the gap. One such program, the Axeso micro-lending fund, is a partnership between the SCHCC and CommunityWorks Carolina that is a direct response to the need for a quality lending product in the Hispanic business community.

However, we draw strength in South Carolina from our incredible diversity and work ethic through our proud legacy of Latinos serving the community.

You can see it with the number of Hispanic restaurants in our communities, the construction crews working late to finish new homes, and a growing number of bilingual students starting their own car repair shops, marketing companies, law firms, accounting businesses, and fitness studios.

You see it in the resiliency of the Hispanic businesses in the service and food industries who had to reinvent themselves overnight because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Life is not easy for Latinos to navigate through the red tape of government bureaucracy, find funding to start their business or buy a home, or receive healthcare coverage.

Yet, they are a picture of tenacity and determination that we should all draw inspiration from, both in the decorated trajectories of greats like Marcelo Claure to the stories that are just now being written as new businesses open every day in your neighborhood.

We all benefit from the core values of our heritage with an emphasis on family, hard work, and perseverance.

All South Carolinians should spotlight the benefits our Hispanic community brings to the business success of our state.

Hispanic American Heritage Month isn’t just about celebrating the religious traditions and commercializing Taco Tuesdays.

It’s also about bringing light, hope, opportunity, and dignity to our heritage and community. Perhaps most important of all, it’s about showing how these stories of resiliency and our values are part of the vibrant community that makes South Carolina great.

For our part, the SCHCC exists to highlight these stories, both past and present, and to be a catalyst for growth for Hispanic-owned businesses.

Gustavo Nieves is Government Affairs Director and Matt Foster is Board of Director Vice-Chair with the South Carolina Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.

This story was originally published September 15, 2021 at 10:30 AM with the headline "Hispanic Heritage Month offers chance to highlight challenges SC Hispanic businesses face."