With good and bad results, the Orange County Hispanic community opens more businesses

Gloria Gonzalez managed the Don Jose Tienda Mexicana in Carrboro for seven years before her boss sold her the store.

“He made a lot of money in the construction business, but he couldn’t run a business,” Gonzalez said.

Gonzalez is just one example of a growing population of Latino business owners.

The U.S. Census Bureau reported Tuesday that the number of Latino-owned businesses in the U.S. increased to 2.3 million — a 43.7 percent jump from last year.

N.C. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Vice President Raul Herrera said this trend has been happening in N.C. for the past two years.

“While other businesses have been reducing their size, Hispanics have been starting new businesses,” he said.

The Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, founded in 1996, provides information and workshops for new business owners.

Herrera said many Latinos come to the area because of the relatively good economic conditions — the county’s unemployment rate was at 6.4 in August compared with the 9.6 percent national average.

“We think there will continue to be a lot more Hispanic business owners, and we want to prepare them,” he said.

Gonzalez said she is not surprised by the spike in Hispanic-owned businesses, but also said she doesn’t think they will be successful.

“These people will make a lot of money in the construction business and then open up businesses, but it’s very different,” she said.

“It’s difficult to run a business. You have to know what products to sell.”

Margarita McAvoy, the events and communication director for Durham’s El Centro Hispano, said she has seen a big increase in family-owned businesses in food, construction and landscaping.

El Centro is the largest grassroots Latino organization in the state and provides programs and services to more than 5,000 community members annually.

“There is a big sense of entrepreneurial spirit in the Hispanic community,” McAvoy said. “There are a lot of unemployed people, so they start their own businesses.”

She said that though these businesses are expensive to run, there are many ways to make them affordable.

“These businesses do not require a big capital other than food,” McAvoy said. “Usually four or five people come together to share the expenses.”

Gonzalez, who is the sole owner of her store, said business is currently down, and she only makes penny-profits on some of the things she sells.

But she doesn’t have a choice.

“I will continue to run the store because this is all I have to support my three kids,” Gonzalez said. “They all expect me to pay for them to go to college at UNC.

“The little one will always ask me if I am really saving money for college. I always tell him yes, but I don’t actually have a penny saved.”

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