LATINA BUSINESS ON FAST TRACK STUDY FINDS MARKET THE FASTEST GROWING.

Byline: Pam Park Staff Writer

Businesses owned by Latinas are a growing economic force, but their use of traditional sources of capital has not grown in proportion, according to a study released Tuesday.

``The Spirit of Enterprise: Latina Entrepreneurs in the United States'' study by the National Foundation of Women Business Owners says nationwide there were 382,400 Latina-owned businesses generating $67.3 billion in sales in 1996.

The Latina market is actually the fastest growing market in the small business sector, said Mary Rodrigues, spokeswoman for Wells Fargo, which sponsored the study.

``We see this as a huge market,'' Rodrigues said.

Between 1987 and 1996, the number of Latina-owned firms in the United States grew by 206 percent; their sales rose 534 percent, and their employment numbers grew 487 percent, the study found.

Some 54 percent of Latinas surveyed started their businesses with $10,000 or more, compared to 44 percent of all business owners. Just over half of Latina entrepreneurs had bank credit.

Bank capital carried by Latina business owners has not changed drastically in the past two years. In 1998, 24 percent of Latinas surveyed had less than $25,000 in capital available and 24 percent had $100,000 or more. Today 22 percent have less than $25,000 and 29 percent have $100,000 or more, the study found.

``(Latinos) are a little more conservative and prefer to work on internally generated capital, but you have the financial community aggressively courting them,'' said Jack Kyser, chief economist for the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp.

In 1996, California ranked first in the nation for Latina-owned businesses, with 130,000 businesses that employed 148,400 people and generated sales of nearly $17 billion.

``This is going to continue to be a very, very important community,'' Kyser said.

Wells Fargo has been particularly interested in Latina businesses because of their fast rate of growth, Rodrigues said.

Wells Fargo launched a Latino Loan Program three years ago with a goal of lending $1 billion nationally to Latino men and women. Last year the bank upped its goal to $3 billion over the next 10 years.

``At the end of 1999, we had loaned more than $500 million to Latino business owners nationwide,'' Rodrigues said.

Although many people think Latina businesses are new, the survey found they have an average of 12 years in business, which makes them considered less risky prospects for loans, Rodrigues said.

Bruce Rosenthal, spokesman for the National Foundation for Women Business Owners, pointed out that two-thirds of the survey respondents were born in the United States.

``We were intrigued at how well-established Hispanic women are as business owners,'' he said. ``They also retain some very strong ties to their heritage and their families.''

The foundation sees the study results as a kind of wake-up call.