Latino Companies in O.C. Find Climate for Growth Hot, Hot, Hot
Orange County’s booming Latino-owned business community has been among the fastest-growing segments of the local business scene. While the total of all businesses in the county increased 39%, the number of Latino companies shot up 82% in the mid-1980s, according to a recent survey of that period from the Census Bureau, which uses the term Hispanic for the Latino community.
Today, the county is home to a dozen of the 500 largest Latino-owned U.S. firms, representing annual sales of more than $180 million in 1990. The census survey found that the Latino business community more than doubled its sales in five years, 1982-87.
A Dozen in the Big Leagues Wisdom Import Sales of Irvine, importer of Tecate, Carta Blanca and Bohemia beers, topped the list of Latino-owned firms in the county and ranked 31st in the nation, according to a survey. Rank 1991: 31 Rank 1990: * Company / Location: Wisdom Import Sales Co., Irvine Type of Business: Beverage importer Employees: 64 Started: 1933 Sales**: $56.11 Rank 1991: 35 Rank 1990: 32 Company / Location: Infotec Development, Santa Ana Type of Business: High-tech engineering Employees: 550 Started: 1978 Sales**: 52.16 Rank 1991: 123 Rank 1990: 193 Company / Location: XCL Financial Services, Irvine Type of Business: Insurance & fncl. svc. Employees: 4 Started: 1969 Sales**: 16.00 Rank 1991: 203 Rank 1990: 299 Company / Location: La Pizza Loca Inc., Buena Park Type of Business: Pizza restaurants Employees: 700 Started: 1986 Sales**: 10.00 Rank 1991: 208 Rank 1990: 157 Company / Location: Cordova Bolt Inc., Buena Park Type of Business: Nut/bolt/screw dist. Employees: 48 Started: 1975 Sales**: 9.82 Rank 1991: 212 Rank 1990: 207 Company / Location: Savala Construction Co., Irvine Type of Business: Underground constr. Employees: 45 Started: 1951 Sales**: 9.65 Rank 1991: 257 Rank 1990: 322 Company / Location: Borbon Inc., Buena Park Type of Business: Painting/wall covering Employees: 65 Started: 1976 Sales**: 8.00 Rank 1991: 268 Rank 1990: 242 Company / Location: Independent Forge Co., Orange Type of Business: Aluminum forging Employees: 80 Started: 1975 Sales**: 7.50 Rank 1991: 405 Rank 1990: * Company / Location: Public Inc., Buena Park Type of Business: Trucking/warehousing Employees: 20 Started: 1981 Sales**: 4.00 Rank 1991: 415 Rank 1990: * Company / Location: Omni Metal Finishing, Fntn Val Type of Business: Metal finishing Employees: 99 Started: 1980 Sales**: 3.89 Rank 1991: 438 Rank 1990: * Company / Location: Two Flags Wholesale, Anaheim Type of Business: Food dist. Employees: 9 Started: 1983 Sales**: 3.40 Rank 1991: 475 Rank 1990: 477 Company / Location: Black Oxide Industries, Anaheim Type of Business: Finishing Employees: 35 Started: 1974 Sales**: 3.00 * Not on 1990 list ** In millions of dollars, as of Dec. 31, 1990 Source: Hispanic Business
Business Boom The number of Latino-owned businesses in the county grew faster than in the state or the nation as a whole, which also saw substantial increases in the mid-’80s, according to a Census Bureau survey released in May.
Sales are in millions of dollars, below each category is the percentage increase: ORANGE COUNTY Firms: 821% 1982: 5,317 1987*: 9,683 Sales: 112.8% 1982: $306 1987: $651 CALIFORNIA Firms: 76.3% 1982: 74,998 1987: 132,212 Sales: 119.5% 1982: $4,200 1987: $8,100 UNITED STATES Firms: 80.5% 1982: 233,975 1987: 422,373 Sales: 65.1% 1982: $14,900 1987: $24,700
Latino Entrepreneurship Despite the successes of the Latino business community as a whole, as a group Latinos have the lowest per capita rate of company ownership. Within the community, people of Mexican heritage own 74% of the county’s 9,683 Latino firms.Percentage of Small Business Hispanics: 11.6% Black: 1.6% Asian & Pacific Islander: 18.1% Anglo: 68.3% Not shown: Eskimo, Aleut and American Indian, 0.4% Percentage of Population Hispanics: 23.4% Black: 1.6% Asian & Pacific Islander: 10.3% Anglo: 64.5% Source: U.S. Census Bureau Ownership by Ethnicity (Number of O.C. firms) Puerto Rican: 169 Cuban: 325 Other*: 1,158 European Spanish: 636 Other Hispanic: 226 Mexican: 7,169 * includes other Central or South American
