Utah Chosen for SBA Program to Boost Hispanic Businesses

Utah has been chosen as one of four states to participate in a Small Business Administration pilot program that seeks to broaden the impact of the agency’s efforts to aid Hispanic entrepreneurs.

The pilot program — an alliance between the SBA and the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce — is designed to help widen the agency’s outreach efforts and connect Hispanic small business owners and entrepreneurs with local leaders and business counseling to help them grow and create more jobs.

Stan Nakano, Utah SBA district director, said the new partnership should help spur Hispanic business growth throughout the state.

And it will help forge stronger relationships among SBA district offices, local U.S. Hispanic Chambers of Commerce chapters and SBA resource partners.

More specifically, the partnership will seek to increase access to lending and counseling for Hispanic small businesses, widen participation of small Hispanic-owned businesses in SBA’s procurement programs and spread awareness of SBA’s programs and services among the Hispanic business community. Salt Lake Tribune

Net migration from Mexico to U.S. appears to have halted

We typically reserve the information we present on this blog to Utah-specific data. However, a recent report from the Pew Hispanic Center seems to merit mention. In a recent report, the Pew Hispanic Center indicates that net migration flows from Mexico have stopped and may have even declined. These estimates include both legal and "unauthorized" individuals. (Click here for the entire report.)

According to earlier estimates, several mountain states experienced out-migration of unauthorized immigrants as early as 2009. Estimates for Arizona, Utah, and Colorado combined showed a net decrease of 130,000 unauthorized immigrants between 2008 and 2009. Alone, our neighbor Nevada's unauthorized immigrant population lost an estimated 50,000 individuals. (Click here for this report.)

Now, a few words from the data police. Since no one really wants to admit being in this country illegally, the Pew Hispanic Center must estimate "unauthorized" migrants. These estimates are primarily derived from a one-month supplement to the Current Population Survey. These estimates use a fairly complex methodology. In other words, they lack the gravitas of an actual survey. In the recent migration report, the Pew Hispanic Center did use data from Mexico also. In their favor, the trends in this report certainly seem to reflect what one would expect to see given the business cycle and also what casual observation suggests.



The report attributes this cessation in net in-migration to several factors:

• Weakened U.S. job and housing construction markets
• Heightened border enforcement
• A rise in deportations
• The growing dangers associated with illegal border crossings
• The long-term decline in Mexico’s birth rates
  
• Changing economic conditions in Mexico.

Census Releases Special 2010 Asian Publication

The U.S. Census Bureau just released a special 2010 Census Brief regarding Asians. The brief indicates that nationally, the Asian population grew faster than any other race group over the last decade. The population that identified themselves as Asian, either alone or in combination with one or more other races, grew by 46 percent between 2000 to 2010. Those who identified as Asian alone grew by 43 percent. Both populations grew at a faster rate than the total U.S. population, which increased by 10 percent from 2000 to 2010. Interestingly, almost one-third of Asians live in just one state--California. Hawaii displays the highest percentage of individuals identified as Asians--57 percent.

Here in Utah, those who identified themselves as Asians (alone or in combination with another race) grew by almost 60 percent; those classified as Asians only grew by roughly 50 percent--faster than the Asian population nationwide. However, in Utah both the  Black/African American and Pacific Islander populations grew even more rapidly--66 and 62 percent, respectively. The Hispanic/Latino population grew at an even faster rate--77 percent. However, the "Hispanic/Latino" designation represents an ethnic classification rather than a racial classification.


In 2010, almost 49,000 Utahns classified themselves as Asian alone or in combination with one or more races. That's almost 3 percent of the population. However, Utah shows a smaller Asian population share than does the U.S. in general (about 6 percent).


For to access the entire report (which includes some county-level maps), click here.

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