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Business news briefs
HISPANICS LEANING TOWARD ENGLISH, TURNING TO INTERNET, TRENDS SHOW
Hispanic consumers are moving from Spanish to English, and from traditional media to the Internet, according to recent studies.
The two trends are generated by Hispanic progress in education, income, English-language usage, and product sophistication. Growth of the second- and third-generation means young Hispanic consumers have more English-language skills and less connection to a country-of-
origin culture.
The movement toward English has marketers and advertisers confused and throws into flux the Spanish-only media strategy of the past 30 years.
More than three-quarters (79 percent) of U.S. Hispanic Web visitors express a preference for English or bilingual Web sites.
In the 80-plus metropolitan markets surveyed, 46 percent of adult Hispanics or 8.5 million access the Internet regularly and 19 percent, or 3.5 million, are heavy users who are online more than 7 hours or more per week.
Hispanics adults 18 and older who frequent the Internet are considerably more affluent than other Hispanics and adults in the general population.
About 51 percent of Hispanics who accessed the Internet at least once during the previous 30 days have a household income of $50,000 or more. In the general adult population of the metropolitan markets surveyed, only 44.9 percent have household incomes of $50,000 or more. Of all Hispanics in the general adult population, just 31.8 percent have household incomes of $50,000 or more.
Approximately 49.0 percent of Hispanics between the ages of 18 to 54 access the Internet on a monthly basis. In the general population approximately 69.0 percent of that same age group frequents the Internet on a monthly basis.
The educational differences between Hispanics on the Internet and the Hispanic population in general are marked. While 27 percent of all Hispanic adults in the 80 markets surveyed have less than a high school education, only 8.8 percent of Hispanics who frequent the Internet are
lacking a high school education. Among those who are heavy users of the Internet that figure drops to 6.4 percent.
Sources for this article include Hispanic Business magazine, Media Markets Report; comScore Media Metrix; The Media Audit; and International Demographics.
NATIONAL GEOGRAPHICTAPS AZ-SONORA
The State of Sonora and southern Arizona have been selected as the fifth geo tourism zone sponsored by National Geographic Society. The distinction means a wealth of promotional value for the two states.
The pact, known formally as a National Geographic Geotourism Charter, was signed recently at the plenary session of the Arizona Mexico Commission meeting in San Carlos before Governors Janet Napolitano and Eduardo Bours Castelo. It takes about a year to implement, said Mitch Nichols, president of the Phoenix-based Nichols Tourism Group. Nichols helped work on the proposal and said the "co-branding opportunities here are huge."
Signing on behalf of the U.S. witnesses were Ernesto Gandara, director of the Sonora Commission for Tourism, and Arizona director of tourism Margie Emmermann.
The distinction, part of National Geographic's program to increase knowledge about sustainable tourism and destination stewardship, means the Society will provide its members worldwide with detailed information about cultural and historical sites throughout both states.
This project, part of a collaboration with the Sonora and Arizona Offices of Tourism, the Bureau of Land Management and the Sonoran Institute, will include the creation of a geotourism map, associated Web site and interactive online maps that encompass both cultural and environmental concerns regarding travel, as well as the impact tourism has on local communities and their individual economies and lifestyles.
For information about the program, visit www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/sustainable.
BASHAS' EARNS 2005 RETAILER OF YEAR
Bashas' Family of Stores, which operates A.J.'s Purveyors of Fine Foods, Bashas' Diné Markets, Bashas' Supermarkets and Food City stores in Arizona, was recognized in the magazineÕs December issue.
'Progressive Grocer editor-in-chief Stephen Dowdell pointed to BashasÕ status as a homegrown food retailing power in a very competitive market, to its savvy approaches to merchandising and operations, and its reputation as a contributor to the community."
Progressive Grocer also cited Bashas' for "being ahead of the curve for Hispanic merchandising, training and investing in its members (employees), possessing a great reputation as a fresh food purveyor, and covering the market successfully with varying formats."
For more information, visit progressivegrocer.com
YUMA CENTER FOR KIDS OPEN
Chicanos Por La Causa opened the Ed Pastor Yuma Center last month. The center will house the organization's early childhood development (Head Start) program, which will serve 73 migrant and seasonal farm workers and their children.
Services provided by the migrant and seasonal Head Start programs are identical to those of regular Head Start, but meet the specific needs of migrant and seasonal farm worker families. Programs have a unique emphasis on serving infants and toddlers as well as pre-school age children so that they will not have to be cared for in the fields or left in the care of very young siblings while parents are working. Infants as young as six weeks of age are served in migrant and seasonal Head Start program centers.
For information about the program, contact CPLC at (602) 257-0700, Ext. 2317.
FIRM NABS NEW CLIENTS
PRfect Media has added three clients, according to co-owner John Hernandez.
The Phoenix media and public relations firm will create a branding and image development campaign for Scottsdale-based Copperwynd Financial, a financial services company.
Internet Commerce Group, a provider of broadband services based in Scottsdale, signed PRfect Media to provide a national and international media relations campaign.
And the Governor's Council on Developmental Disabilities has signed with the media firm to conduct an outreach program to inform Arizonans with disabilities about housing information that would meet their accessibility needs.
For information, visit www.prfectmedia.com.
CARL'S JR. CROSSES BORDER
Carl's Jr. has announced plans for its first franchise in Nogales, Sonora, a $1.4 million facility with capacity for 220 people and a drive-in lane. Carl's Jr. recently opened in Ciudad Obregon, Mexico.
The Nogales store, which will be opened in the El Greco section of Nogales, will employ 50 people and expects to open in March, 2006.
NEW GRANT HELPS UA RECRUIT LOW-INCOME STUDENTS
The Office of Early Academic Outreach at the University of Arizona has won a grant from Lumina Foundation for Education to help more low-income students go to college. Funding will be used to enhance the UA's outreach efforts to serve young students in the local community.
The $100,000 grant was awarded as part of Lumina Foundation's McCabe Fund, which supports organizations that enable students, particularly low-income students and students of color, to make the most of their university opportunities.
For information, contact the UA Office of Early Academic Outreach at (520) 626-2300.
GRAND OPENING
ASU TO OFFER NEW LEADERSHIP DEGREE
Beginning fall 2006 Arizona State University's School of Global Management and Leadership will offer a new Leadership in International Management undergraduate degree program. The program was developed to complement and enhance global business degree opportunities, offering students a higher level of learning and multicultural experiences.
The new degree program was approved by the Arizona Board of Regents at its Dec. 2 meeting.
The Leadership in International Management degree will be offered at the West campus and expands the School of Global Management and Leadership's focus on international management.
The undergraduate program will have a strategic focus on Spanish-speaking countries. The new program will be the first cohort degree program offered by the School of Global Management and Leadership. The Leadership in International Management degree is different from other study abroad programs. All students in this program will spend one semester of their senior year studying with members of their cohort at a Mexican university.
For information about the Leadership in International Management degree call (602) 543-6200.
SMALL LOANS BUSINESS BRISK
Bank consolidation hasn't hurt competition for small loans, according to a new federal report on small-business lending.
Small loans from commercial banks totaled more than $522 billion as of June 2004, up 5.5 percent from a year earlier, according to the U.S. Small Business Administration's Office of Advocacy. Overall business lending grew 4.2 percent to nearly $1.4 trillion during the
same period.
Loans to small business are considered essential to growing the economy and jobs creation. Small loans are defined as less than $1 million and microloans are less than $100,000.
The biggest growth area is loans between $250,000 and $1 million, which increased 8.4 percent to $293.9 billion, according to the report.
The SBA advocacy office uses the report to develop a list of "small-business-friendly" banks. Arizona-based banks on the list included Sunrise Bank of Arizona in Phoenix, Sunstate Bank in Casa Grande, Commerce Bank of Arizona in Tucson and Canyon Community Bank in Tucson.
$1M FOR STUDENTS
The Maricopa Community Colleges received a $1 million federal grant to support its dropout prevention program.
The grant was awarded to the Maricopa Community Colleges Foundation and will be used to expand the Achieving a College Education (ACE) Program. ACE works to keep minority and low-income youth and high school and transition them into college.
U.S. Rep. Ed Pastor, D-Ariz., guided the grant through Congress via the annual Energy and Water Appropriations Act, which includes education funds. For information call (480) 731-8503.
