Wired Latinos

Written by guest writer: Ramon Toledo and Richie Matthews, San Diego, CA

The City’s reputation as the detour location for Hispanic commerce continues to grow.

Propelled by a thriving Hispanic business presence, many business sectors in San Diego have remained comparatively stable during recent down economic times.

As the Hispanic market plays an increasingly integral role in the overall U.S. economy, San Diego’s convenient location across from the Mexican border and large Hispanic population, ranked 10th in the nation, has positively contributed to the city’s success. As more and more Hispanic entrepreneurs and Hispanic-focused businesses flock to the city, San Diego’s reputation as the U.S. hub for Hispanic commerce has also grown.

Hispanic-owned businesses are increasing at a rate triple that of the national average. According to the 2002 U.S. Census calculations, Hispanics owned about 35,000 businesses in San Diego County and about 23,000 in Riverside County. Nationally, Hispanics owned about 2.7 million businesses, a figure expected to swell to 4.2 million by 2012.

In San Diego, technology is the driving force behind the Hispanic business boom. Internet-based organizations proliferate in both Hispanic consumer and business-to-business markets as they ease in-market communication, geographic boundary crossing, networking and increase accessibility.

Many San Diego-based Hispanic companies are finding success in online business strategies. MexGrocer.com LLC is the nation’s leading online Hispanic grocer. With more than 70 percent of American households, including both Hispanic and general market, purchasing ethnic food products, MexGrocer.com is well-positioned to benefit from an increase in demand.

BuscaCorp.com is an online Hispanic entertainment network that provides a family of Web sites on the cutting edge of technology. Based in La Jolla, with branches in Tijuana, Mexico City and Santiago, Chile, the company recently signed a deal to become the official video gaming channel for MSN Latino.



Conferences Coming to Area

The Hispanic Chamber of E-Commerce, aka HISCEC, is another San Diego organization adding to the quality of the area’s Hispanic business scene. The HISCEC is an online business association focused on promoting Hispanic businesses via the Internet and the use of its own software applications that it offers for free. The chamber accumulated more than 750 businesses and professional members in its first year. To further support Hispanic business and the use of Internet and e-business tools, the HISCEC is hosting the 2010 Business and Technology Expo on Sept. 10 and 11 at the San Diego Convention Center.

Mexico Insurance Services Inc., a San Diego company and leading Internet insurance provider of commuter auto insurance for Mexico, changed the cross border insurance model six years ago by allowing customers to purchase insurance online when planning to drive into Mexico.

The city has been increasingly recognized as the detour location for Hispanic commerce. This acknowledgment is evident by the increased amount of Hispanic-oriented conferences being held in the area such as the recent Hispanic National Bar Association Mid-Year Conference and the upcoming Latin American Energy Conference.

As the role of the Hispanic community grows, so will the economies of metropolises with established Hispanic commerce.

Ramon Toledo served as the director of foreign capital for both the Probursa and Inverlat brokerage houses; and is the CEO of Busca.
Richie Matthews leads communications at the DiálogoPR offices in La Jolla and has carved out a niche as a leader within the Hispanic public relations sector.