The Latino-owned businesses segment is the fastest-growing of the U.S. small business ecosystem. It has grown 34% over the last 10 years compared to just 1% for all other small businesses. 

This is one of the main findings of the 2020 State of Latino Entrepreneurship report, a research made by The Stanford Latino Entrepreneurship Initiative (SLEI) at Stanford Graduate School of Business (GSB), in collaboration with the Latino Business Action Network (LBAN).

The report states that were it not for the growth in the number of Latino businesses, the total number of small businesses in the U.S. would have declined between 2007 and 2012. Latinx entrepreneurs are also starting businesses faster than the national average across almost all industries, and Latino-owned businesses revenues are growing at a faster rate than White-owned businesses. 

The 2020 State of Latino Entrepreneurship report examines data from 3,500 White-owned businesses and the same amount of Latino-owned businesses. It also includes time-series pulse survey data  from March, June and September. 

Another result is that Latino-owned businesses are significantly less likely than White-owned businesses to have loan applications approved by national banks, despite showing comparable metrics on various key lending criteria. 

Female entrepreneurs, on the other hand, are still the most vulnerable, especially amid the COVID-19 pandemic, which impact has a particular emphasis on this year’s report. Women-led businesses are the most affected by the pandemic, for both Latino- and White-owned businesses. 

The report will be virtually presented on January 29yh, at the sixth annual State of Latino Entrepreneurship Forum. The panel will be led by Latino business leaders who will discuss their on-the-ground experience maintaining business operations amidst the pandemic.

The expected panelists are David Favela, CEO and founder of Border X Brewing LLC, Eric Donnelly, CEO of Capital Plus Financial (CDFI), and Mercedes O. Enrique, President of CMS Corporation.  Rosa Santana, founder and CEO of Santana Group, will be the moderator.