The Stanford Graduate School of Business (GSB) partnered with the Latino Business Action Network (LBAN) and the Stanford Latino Entrepreneurship Initiative (SLEI) for an annual research report on Latino entrepreneurship in America. Titled the 2018 State of Latino Entrepreneurship (SOLE) report, it found that while the number of Latino-owned businesses is increasing, national banks only provide minimal loan funding to Latino-owned businesses across all capital types.
Businesses under Latino ownership are the fastest-growing entrepreneurial segment in America, but the current political landscape on the future of immigration reform places this in jeopardy. GSB argues that a strengthened U.S. economy relies on the future support of Latino and Latina-owned businesses, with special attention on Latina entrepreneurs, growing at a rate that outpaces every other demographic group combined.
To detail the full findings of the report, all three organizations are presenting the report’s findings at GSB’s CEMEX Auditorium on February 7th, with experts from GSB as well as industry experts and top-level CEOs in attendance. Included in the presentation is a panel discussion about the experiences in Latino entrepreneurship shared by top Latino entrepreneurs like Maria Rios, president and CEO of Nation Waste, Inc., Catalina Campos, CEO of Greenovate Construction, and Tom Chavez, founder and CEO of Krux Digital.
The SOLE report is conducted annually to help identify growth opportunities for Latino and factors that hinder entrepreneurship. 2018’s report includes responses from over 5,000 Latino and Latina-owned companies across the United States.
