The Latino organization Aquí: The Accountability Movement (ATAM) this week launched the national Buy Latino campaign, which seeks to turn Hispanic Heritage Month – which begins next Monday, September 15 – into a platform for economic action to strengthen this community’s businesses in the United States in the face of the current adverse immigration climate.
The initiative seeks to mobilize consumers, institutions and businesses to increase their purchases in Latino establishments and reverse the gap in access to capital, ATAM explained in a press release.
Buy Latino to boost Hispanic business
Although Latinos represent about 20% of the country’s population and generate a GDP of “$4.1 trillion annually,” equivalent to the world’s fifth largest economy, their businesses receive less than 2% of venture capital funding and face higher rejection rates in the banking system, according to the organization’s data.
“Buy Latino is an opportunity to invest back into our local communities, because every dollar spent is an opportunity to support and keep businesses open,” said ATAM Executive Director Sindy Benavides.
The organization stressed that the campaign stems from the ‘Somos America’ program, which seeks to counteract misinformation and make visible the contributions of the Latino community to the U.S. economy.
Latino entrepreneurs create 36% of new businesses in the country and have increased by 44% over the past decade, a rate well above the national average, according to the movement.
Economic downturns due to raids
The launch of Buy Latino takes place in a context marked by immigration raids in the country, such as the June operations in California.
ATAM noted that the detention of thousands of workers led to a 3.1 drop in private sector participation in just one week and hit agriculture and small businesses hard, which has “underscored the extent to which the U.S. economy depends on Latino workers and businesses.”
The campaign includes a digital rollout with hashtags such as #BuyLatino and #SomosAmérica, partnerships with content creators and stories of Latino entrepreneurs in the United States.
The organization called on large corporations to go beyond the “superficial ally” and make “measurable financial investments” in Latino businesses.
Hispanic Heritage Month, celebrated each year from September 15 to October 15, commemorates the history and contributions of the Latino community in the United States.
With Buy Latino, Aquí wants to link this cultural celebration with sustained economic action: “Buy Latino is building America,” sums up its core message.
Buy Latino es una oportunidad de invertir de nuevo en nuestras comunidades locales, porque cada dólar gastado es una oportunidad para apoyar y mantener abiertos los negocios
Sindy Benavides,directora ejecutiva de ATAM
With information from EFE