From academics to astronauts and war heroes to civil rights leaders, Hispanics are part of the American story and have grown to represent the largest ethnic group in the nation. As we turn our attention to the stories of their influence and achievements this month, their economic force is another powerful point of pride. 

Hispanic buying power has grown substantially over the last 30 years to $1.9 trillion in 2020, up from $213 million in 1990, according to a recently released Multicultural Economy report by the University of Georgia’s Selig Center for Economic Growth. The report also revealed that Hispanic buying power accounted for 11.1 percent of U.S. buying power in 2020, up from 5 percent in 1990.

The spirit of entrepreneurism is thriving in the Latino community, too. The Hispanic community is twice as likely to start a new business in the United States, compared to any other segment of the population. What’s more, according to the Peterson Institute of International Economics, over the next two decades the Latino and Hispanic community will account for 85 percent of all new job holders in the U.S. workforce. 

The impact doesn’t stop there. 

When it comes to buying a home, more than half of homeownership growth over the past decade is due to the Latino and Hispanic population. By some accounts, Latino and Hispanic home buyers are also forecasted to comprise of 70 percent of homeownership growth over the next 20 years, serving as the growth engine of American real estate. 

Despite the challenges of the last two years, there remains a growing confidence and excitement across the Latino and Hispanic community. As we celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month, JPMorgan Chase has made it a priority to intentionally create change to build an economy that creates opportunity, and no one is left behind in the Latino and Black communities.

We sat down with JPMorgan Chase’s Head of Community Impact, Alice Rodriguez, who discussed must-know financial resources, as well as how JPMorgan Chase is helping the Latino and Hispanic community.

A: Since the start of the pandemic, we have all seen just how important community support has been for local small businesses. Many local businesses would not have survived the pandemic without a strong, loyal customer base willing to support their neighborhood businesses at any time.

Before the onset of the pandemic, Latino and Hispanic business owners had become the fastest-growing group of small business owners in the United States. In fact, the number of Latino and Hispanic businesses has grown 34 percent over a 10-year period (compared to 1 percent for all business owners) and contributed about $500 billion to the economy in annual sales, according to a study from Stanford University.

Despite the challenges over the past 18 months, there is underlying strength in the Latino and Hispanic community that can help in the reemergence of the U.S. economy and build hope within small business owners nationwide.

A: At JPMorgan Chase, we encourage aspiring Latino and Hispanic entrepreneurs to join the world of entrepreneurship by picking up a pen and starting a business plan. Keeping in mind progress wins over perfection, the goal is to get started. A well-written and researched business plan can act as a roadmap that outlines your strategy for selling and marketing your products and services, making profits and growing over a period of three to five years. Your plan can also help set your business apart from competitors.

A: It’s no secret Latino and Hispanic business owners face a number of obstacles when it comes to accessing resources and available funding for starting a business, which is why JPMorgan Chase has launched several initiatives to provide the Latino and Hispanic  community with educational training programs, one-on-one coaching, banking solutions and on-demand resources to help grow and scale any business.

In addition, JPMorgan Chase offers tools for small business owners to not only launch their business, but sustain it – like the opportunity to connect one-on-one with a business banking professional, a free Minority Business Enterprise (MBE) certification, access to the Chase for Business Resource Center and the JPMorgan Chase Supplier Diversity Network (SDN) – both full of financial health guidelines. And JPMorgan Chase is actively continuing to expand these resources. The firm recently launched a $350 million, five-year global commitment to grow Latino, Black, women-owned, and other underserved small businesses by addressing the racial wealth divide and creating a more inclusive recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.

A: With business and entrepreneurial success comes other forms of upward mobility, including homeownership. Just as Latino and Hispanic business owners have become the fastest-growing group of small business owners in the U.S., homeownership gains for the Latino and Hispanic community has skyrocketed in recent years – accounting for more than 60 percent of new U.S. homeowner gains over the past decade. 

If you are in the process of buying a home, we recommend checking out JPMorgan Chase’s DreaMaker application process, which is a mortgage system that makes applying for your first home (or refinancing a current one) more attainable with a smaller down payment. Plus, DreaMaker offers reduced mortgage insurance, more credit score flexibility, potential assistance grants and plenty of valuable homebuyer education courses. 

A: At JPMorgan Chase, we are working hard to increase our diversity efforts. Our plan to advance racial equity will build on our existing investments, harness our expertise in business, policy and philanthropy and commit $30 billion over the next five years to drive an inclusive recovery, support employees and break down barriers of systemic racism.

As part of this commitment, we are focused on advancing racial equality with plans to:

• Promote and expand affordable housing and homeownership for underserved communities

• Grow Black- and Latino-owned businesses 

• Improve financial health and access to banking in Black and Latino communities

• Accelerate investment in our employees and build a more diverse and inclusive workforce 

Internally at JPMorgan Chase, we are bolstered through our inclusive and innovative Business Resource Groups (BRGs) – like Adelante – which help empower Latino and Hispanic employees to identify and pursue opportunities for career development and community involvement. Internal groups like Adelante create an inclusive space for our employees where they can share their experiences and unique perspectives to help bridge divides and create a culture that embraces diversity.