LOS ANGELES (By Hildy Medina, Hispanic Business) September 7, 2006 — While Hispanic-owned businesses are the fastest growing economic sector in the country, they still make up only a fraction of the mainstream economy for reasons ranging from not having access to capital to not knowing how to start a business, Hispanic leaders reported at the National Latino Congreso in Los Angeles Thursday.

"What do we do, as our population increases, to close this gap?" asked Jorge Corralejo, Latin Business Association board member and moderator of a morning panel discussion on economic empowerment for Hispanics.

Hispanics need to put their money where their mouth is and harness their purchasing power, said Massey Villarreal, a U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Foundation member and panelist.

"We need to take our trillion dollar buying power and go to corporate America and tell them, 'We'll buy from you if you buy from us,'" Mr. Villarreal told an audience of more than 200 people at a breakfast forum. "We also need to buy from (Hispanic-owned) businesses."

Delegates spent most of the afternoon Thursday presenting and voting on resolutions for public-policy changes ranging from access to medical care and gang injunctions to mortgage lending and more money for schools.

Friday's Congreso will be devoted to environmental issues. The forum will wrap up on Saturday with discussions and workshops on immigration reform and immigrant rights. A 4 p.m. rally calling on justice for immigrants will close the event.

Of the 1.6 million Hispanic-owned firms, fewer than 5 percent make more than a million dollars and of that sector fewer than 30,000 have more than 500 employees, said Mr. Villarreal.

"We are not growing as big as we could, yet we have the buying power," said Mr. Villarreal. "It's incumbent on us to spend money in Latino-owned firms."

Hispanics also need to be assertive business people and consider partnering with bigger firms if they want to get into the big league.

"You need to be the squeaky wheel and have the capacity to do the job," said Mr. Villarreal.

The five-day Congreso at the Downtown Sheraton Los Angeles aims at establishing a long-term Hispanic agenda on bridging the disproportionate socioeconomic gaps between Hispanics and non-Hispanics.

Workshop sessions, panel discussions and talks from experts are being offered at the forum, which its organizers say is one of the first comprehensive gatherings of Hispanic leaders in nearly 30 years.

One of the primary economic obstacles facing Hispanics is the lack of financial know-how.

"Latinos are paying way too much on loans, whether they're business loans, home loans or car loans, financial literacy is a key issue across the table," said Mr. Corralejo. "You talk to 10 Latinos at least seven of those are paying subprime rates or more than they need to be."

Mr. Corralejo urged participants to fund financial literacy programs to educate Hispanics on starting a business or finding the best business loan.

But getting a business loan, however, hasn't always been easy even for the savvy Hispanic entrepreneur.

Carlos Montoya, founder and chief executive officer of Chicago-based Azteca America bank, told business owners to look to groups like the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce or New America Alliance for large loans.

"They've become specialists in getting huge allotments of money," said Mr. Montoya, who raised $25 million to start a bank serving Hispanics primarily.