It's About Growth

Luis and Dennis Aldana have found a successful niche in serving the needs of Hispanics. Nine years ago, the brothers opened Maya Express in Fort Myers to help people new to the United States file income taxes and visa documents. Realizing that many workers were paying high fees to send money to their families, Maya offered money-wire services at a lower rate.

Since then, the business, which is also the parent company of Maya Travel (opened to aid Hispanics who were having a hard time finding local agents who could communicate with them) and DDL Executive Transport Service, has grown to nine offices and 25 employees. "Everything has come from a necessity in the Hispanic community," says Luis, who adds that the businesses attract non-Hispanic customers, too.

Of all the growth in Southwest Florida, no segment is exploding with as much force as the Hispanic component, bringing with it workers and consumers, and vast opportunities and challenges for the business community.

Accompanying the population growth has been a spike in the number of Hispanic-owned businesses, says Frank Rodriguez, assistant vice president of business development at First National Bank of Florida and co-founder of the newly formed Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Collier County. Just in Collier, there are an estimated 3,000 such businesses, up from about 1,400 in 1996. The Chamber hopes to bring together Hispanic leaders and business owners and to provide education on local issues.

In Lee and Collier, nearly half of the more than 91,000 Hispanic residents are of Mexican ancestry, according to census figures. But the term "Hispanic" includes people from cultures and nations such as Spanish-language Mexico, Cuba, Argentina, Colombia, Guatemala and the Dominican Republic. It also covers Puerto Ricans (who are U.S. citizens) and longtime U.S. residents moving here from other states or Florida's east coast and Portuguese-speaking Brazilians.

Most of those new to the United States find work as laborers in the agriculture or service industries. It's a good place to start-even for those with college degrees-until they can learn English, says Leonardo Garcia, executive director of the Southwest Florida Hispanic Chamber of Commerce in Fort Myers.

Many Hispanics have skills as electricians, plumbers or other trades, but the language barrier prevents them from passing licensing exams, explains Dave Correa, chairman of Collier County's Hispanic Affairs Advisory Board. (Lee has a similar advisory board that also reports to county commissioners.)

Correa, who moved to Collier after retiring from the New York Supreme Court, says Southwest Florida "has been discovered" as a better alternative to Miami or Orlando. But education remains a challenge. Correa is working to help smooth the transition and provide job training. In addition, groups such as Florida Gulf Coast University's Small Business Develop-ment Center frequently sponsor seminars for Hispanic businesspeople.

Hispanic professionals are becoming more active locally in fields such as engineering, finance, real estate, medicine and academia. In addition, the region's access to the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean promises trade opportunities between the United States and Latin America that have drawn Hispanic investors, says David Vargas, owner of the Vargas Group, a market research and analysis firm in Fort Myers.

Still, more than 70 percent of the region's Hispanic-owned businesses are in the construction field or a service industry like cleaning and landscaping. The most productive niche is in services that others "don't like to do," says Rodriguez.

Creating even more challenges for workers and customers are recent crackdowns and changes in immigration standards. Because undocumented immigrants are unable to obtain a social security number, for example, they can't open a bank account; and so they make tempting targets for robbers. Businesses like Maya Express help customers apply for tax identification numbers, which were originally designed only for income tax purposes but now are accepted by some busi- nesses as proof of identity.

Fifth Third Bank, Florida has begun accepting identification cards issued by the Mexican Consulate. According to the bank, more than 30 million Hispanics with approximately $428 billion in disposable income reside in the United States. Recognizing the importance of this market, the bank is launching a local advertising campaign targeting the Hispanic population.

Image is important in attracting the Hispanic market, Vargas says. Some local firms are hiring employees who reflect customers in culture and language. Spanish-speaking managers can help customers feel comfortable discussing a problem, he says.

Becoming active in Hispanic business groups and sponsoring events will build familiarity and trust, says Garcia, who is seeing increases in involvement. For example, a business doesn't have to be Hispanic-owned to join the Southwest Florida Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. Of the group's 380 members, 60 percent are Hispanics, Garcia says, while the other 40 percent are insurance companies, retailers, printers, financial institutions, law firms and other businesses targeting the Hispanic market.

Some businesses are putting ad dollars into the local Hispanic media, which include five newspapers, two magazines, at least three radio stations, a television show and the Hispanic Yellow Pages. Those who depend on Spanish-language advertising are primarily first-generation newcomers.

Cathy Whidden-Perez, owner of Humphrey & Whidden Agency, a Fort Myers insurance firm, has hired bilingual employees from Guatemala, Mexico, Puerto Rico and El Salvador, and she makes sure that all information for clients is written in Spanish. "When you're talking about insurance, you really need it in your native language," she says.

Vibrant sector

Hispanics represent almost 20 percent of Collier's population and 9.5 percent of Lee's.

In Collier, the Hispanic population grew by 137.8 percent to 49,296 between 1990 and 2000. Collier's total population grew by 65 percent to 251,377.

Lee's Hispanic sector jumped by 178.5 percent to 42,042 between 1990 and 2000. Lee's total population grew by 31.5 percent to 440, 888.

Source: Census 2000.