Latino Market Numbers Amaze

So the problem with an event-filled month like Hispanic Heritage Month is that I get behind in posts and .. filing. I'm working on both now.

Speaking of this month of events, did you know that an estimated 90,000 Latinos turned out for our area's biggest event of the year: Fiestas Patrias at the Puyallup Fair. That's double the Latino attendance last year. It just keeps growing. A reflection of the growing overall Hispanic presence here in the Puget Sound region.

Last week I attended a great workshop hosted by the City of Federal Way. And this is my opportunity to say "Bravo" to Federal Way, because this City has its own Hispanic Liaison--Teniel Sabin--who is a very approachable young lady who is helping Federal Way officials effectively reach out to its Latino residents and make services and opportunities known. Very cool!

Anyway, this workshop was entitled, "Business Development in the Hispanic Market." I expected a lot of companies to show up, looking for ways to better link to Latinos locally. There were some, yes, but there were also a fair number of Hispanics--established business owners, aspiring entrepreneurs, others in transition. That surprised me, but I thought that was cool that they were showing up for a government workshop, which by the way, was partially presented bilingually.

Before the presentation attendees were encouraged to check out several displays of some of the services available, including those of Washington CASH and others.

Idalie Muñoz was the speaker. She worked for the U.S. Census in a past life--so she loves numbers. Idalie covered a lot of data, most of which I was very familiar with but will repeat here nonetheless for those of you just tuning in:

• There are about 46 million Latinos in the U.S. That's about 15% of our total population. In fact, in the entire world, the only country with more Hispanics is Mexico.
• Washington is one of 16 states that has at least a half-million Hispanic residents.
• Washington is one of 20 states wherein Hispanics are the largest minority.

Check this out--overall, buying power (personal income for spending) is growing by leaps and bounds in the Hispanic segment, especially when you compare it to the non-Hispanic population. In Washington, while the non-Hispanic population saw 265.9% growth in buying power, Hispanics experienced 788.1% growth!

Between 1990-2008, the Hispanic segment saw a great advantage nationally as well.

• Hispanics: 348.9%
• Non-Hispanics: 140.75%

And watch the growth that is expected to take place when we elongate that time period to 1990-2013!

• Hispanics: 554.3%
• Non-Hispanics 211.1%

The main message here is: In this shrinking economy, the Hispanic market is growing. And so is its pocketbook!

National numbers from the U.S. Census show unbelievable Hispanic buying power growth:
1990 - $12 billion
2000 - $450 billion
2008 - $951 billion
>>and forecast for 2013? $1.4 TRILLION.

What are some of the factors in this growth? It's the fastest-growing segment, there's a higher level of education attained now versus in the past, this segment boast a larger young population entering the job market, and a fast-growing number of Hispanic-owned businesses were cited by Idalie.

In addition to U.S. Census numbers, she also referenced The Multicultural Economy 2008, from the Selig Center for Economic Growth, University of Georgia. It's an amazing reference for anyone interested in an in-depth look at some more current numbers.

Fiestas Patrias is a big darn deal!

If you represent a company that's looking to grow, and you haven't heard of Fiestas Patrias, then listen up!

Fiestas Patrias is, in a nutshell, U.S. Hispanics' way of celebrating independence of their homelands here in their new home. It's embraced by Latinos from all countries and has become something of a "low-hanging fruit" for marketers eager to earn their share of this market segment.

So why isn't your company involved? According to Bustos Media, the radio giant in town, Liberty Tax Service signed up 60 new students to attend its tax school at a previous Fiestas Patrias event down at Puyallup Fair. This year's event is Sunday, September 20, and true to its tradition they're bringing name bands that attract big crowds. That's why Comcast decided to invest in a major sponsorship!

This is the mother of them all: 40,000 Latinos at last year's event--all in one place, all day long. This is what you call target marketing.

The Seattle Center and its Festal organization are also hosting Fiestas Patrias events both Saturday and Sunday, September 19 and 20. Events all day long, including a first-ever boxing tournament brought to us by ESPN Deportes Seattle! This is a great opportunity to enjoy your favorite Latin American foods and entertainment. Community Health Plan of Washington is among the sponsors at the Seattle Center Fiestas Patrias celebration.

This is the last week to sign up and sponsor one of these traditional events - for as little as $500! Please let me know if you'd like more information. I've seen the energy at these events first-hand and can tell you that if you've got a great product to share, Fiestas Patrias may be the ideal place to share it!

Call me at 206-621-2185 if you'd like to discuss. In any case, plan to attend either event so that you'll know better than to miss another year.

50,000 Latinos?

Posted by Intern Tim Hemphill, a student at the UW with a double-major in Spanish/Economics.

Fiestas Patrias is taking place at The Puyallup Fair again this year, an event for the Hispanic community filled with excitement and entertainment, from live music and dancing to great Latin American foods. It's a full day of festivities on September 20 at the fairgrounds.

In recent years, over 50,000 people from the community have participated, and this year will be no different.

So for companies in the Northwest: If you are interested in having a booth at this event, just contact us to learn more! Email or call 206.621.2185.

For the rest of you, join us at Fiestas Patrias for a great time to experience Latino culture and have fun.

Fiestas Patrias in our own backyard

In case you didn't know, we just had a weekend jam-packed with Hispanic fiestas. Fiestas Patrias is that time of year when Latinos celebrate the independence their homeland gained, and most Latin American countries' independence were won in the late summer months. Mexico won theirs September 16, which launches Hispanic Heritage Month (clearly only celebrated here in the U.S. of A.) which isn't a month per se, but a month-long period from September 15 - October 15.

So right here in the Seattle area we're all over Fiestas Patrias, with celebrations all weekend long at the Seattle Center, a community parade in South Park, an entire day of Puyallup Fair dedicated to Latinos, and even a Bellevue celebration at Crossroads Mall.

We watched the Saturday parade in South Park, and were amazed to see the turnout--especially among parade participants: The Latino Riders (a motorcyclin' group), Cascade Middle School Marching Band, some lowriders with the most unbelievable hydraulics, beautiful, dancing horses with their riders in traditional Mexican dress, lots and lots of participation from the various SeaMar groups in Washington state (SeaMar puts on the Fiestas Patrias parade), and even more cheap candy thrown to the bystanders that I kept picking up. See some of the photos I took to get the flavor.

At the end of the parade, there was food and aguas frescas for sale, to benefit SeaMar. The horchata rocked! Jorge Madrazo of SeaMar took the stage and we also heard from Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels, Congressman Jim McDermott, Senator Margarita Prentice, Rep. Bob Hasegawa, and others. Then those beautiful horses showed off more of their fancy footwork!

On Sunday, I stopped by the Fiestas Patrias celebration at the Seattle Center. There were several sponsor booths (including three banks vying for business from local Latinos!) and a good selection of south-of-the-border foods. The sun was out and people were enjoying some great live music in the Fisher Pavilion, everything from mariachi to bacchata. It was a decent turnout.

The interesting thing about this celebration is that it served as an announcement to Seattle by the old Radio Sol--the new El Rey--of some changes made just a week or so ago. OK, so the name changed. The music's not supposed to. The DJs we knew and loved are off the air. A new live and local DJ just moved up from Bakersfield, CA to take the 10-3 weekday spot, and she's starting the week of 9/22. So this new DJ, Marimar Flores, was up on stage between sets, getting the crowd excited about stuff with interactive contests that got people out of their seats. She recognizes that she's not there to "replace" longtime DJ Jaime Mendez, but in any case people seemed to respond to her pretty well. We'll see how her show goes, and what happens to listenership at the station, which was finally on par with La GranD the last several months.

If anyone attended the Puyallup Fair celebration on Sunday or the Bellevue Crossroads event, or other related events, feel free to add your feedback. Thanks for your participation!