'Best Cities for Latinos' is a Latin Post feature series

Salt Lake City is an epicenter for urban opportunity, business growth, entrepreneurial development and affordable living. The most populous city in the state of Utah, Salt Lake City also has a budding Hispanic/Latino population that shares a symbiotic relationship with the city.

Salt Lake City has more to offer than its budding tech industry, mountainous terrain, crisp-white snow, the Sundance Film Festival, the white plains of Bonneville Salt Flats, the world's first KFC, and "fry sauce." It also owns an emerging Latino market that benefits from the local and statewide resources.

In a recent assessment of the 52 largest metropolitan areas in the U.S., a report by New Geography determined that Salt Lake City ranked #14 among cities where Hispanics are doing the best economically. They took a look at homeownership, entrepreneurship (measured by the self-employment rate) and median household income. It confirmed that Hispanic/Latinos have 49.5 percent home ownership rate in Salt Lake City. Also, the average household income is $42,232, the share of total self-employment is 10.8 percent, and the change of population between 2000 and 2013 is 78.3 percent.

According to the U.S. Census, 22.3 percent of Salt Lake City's population was Hispanic in 2010 (13.4 percent), ten percent higher than the overall state. The city continues to see tremendous Hispanic growth; they're the biggest and fastest growing ethnic group in the state of Utah, said the Utah Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. The state's Hispanic population grew by 78 percent within the past decade.

"The Latino population growth will continue thanks to the number of jobs available in Salt Lake City and the diverse workface," Olga de la Cruz, senior vice president of business development at Utah Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, told Latin Post. "Also, there are more and more people who will be coming to Utah so that they're going to see Utah as not only as a great place to run their business, but to raise their family,"

Most Latinos in the state are between the ages of 25 and 34, with the median age of 27 (compared to 37 for the general U.S. population) and men outnumber women the area. Salt Lake City's population -- immigrant and non-immigrant -- is overwhelmingly diverse. Latinos contribute to the growth of minorities in the state, particularly in Salt Lake County. That population growth has translated into local business growth, an influx of skilled workers in the work force, as well as ethnic- and women-owned firms, which are best able to communicate with and support individuals of the same background.

In the state, technology is a big sector, as well as retail and manufacturing. They also rely on tourism, so careers in hotels, transportation, restaurants and winter/summer outdoors activities are a large part of the community.

"The work force [in Salt Lake City] is becoming increasingly diverse," de la Cruz said. "It's still a very vibrant economy here. [Utah was] probably just one of a handful of states that wasn't quite as heavily hit during the recession. We were able to revolve and bounce back from the recession a lot quicker than other states. In terms of the work force, there are lots of jobs available. A few weeks back, we had our annual convention, and we had 25 companies that were a part of our job fair that we held as part of our convention. There were the companies that needed low-skilled workers, but there were also companies that were present that wanted a more skilled worker.

"Also, another thing that we're seeing is a more bilingual workforce. We saw that several of our exhibitors were looking for bilingual, skilled job candidates. We're definitely becoming a much more diverse workforce."

According to the Census, 4.1 percent of Salt Lake City's businesses are Hispanic-owned firms. While out-of-date Census information can't confirm entrepreneurial growth in the area, countless Latino-owned businesses have sprouted up in Salt Lake City, often endorsed by pillar organizations such as the Utah Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, which often hosts workshops and events to stimulate business development and commercial growth. Representing 10,000 businesses and 52 corporate partners, they manage to lead 42 events annually (networking, VIP and corporate) potentially benefiting 370,000 Hispanic Utahans statewide.

"In terms of entrepreneurship, what we see here at the chamber is that Latino entrepreneurs start businesses for a very different reason than the mainstream entrepreneur. For the mainstream entrepreneur, they might want to have that big company where they call the shots, and drive around in a really nice car ... and there's really high income and high status," said de la Cruz. "But, the Latino entrepreneur is really focused on being self-sufficient and being able to provide for their family. It's more of a survival kind of thing, as opposed to a status. They really want to be able to provide for their family, to have just a little bit extra to give to their children and families, and to have more ownership of their time to spend with family."

According to de la Cruz, entrepreneurial spirit is true of Hispanics no matter where they're from, and many arrive to the county aware of the many opportunities to launch a business. Because Utah is a family-oriented, relatively low-cost state, many consider it the ideal planting ground for ideas and dreams of entrepreneurialism.

"For small business owners, this is really the place to start a business. Also, we're starting to see a lot more women entrepreneurs, a lot more Latinas who want to start a business, and their reasoning for starting a business is quite different," said de la Cruz. "They might've gotten to a point where they're in a job where they're paying a lot money for childcare, so they decide, 'I'm going to try to do something on my own, so that I'm not paying that out in childcare.' So, I think that's one aspect of it. Also, we see some really diverse businesses that women are starting, including home-based scrapbooking businesses, construction, restaurant and catering, very different types of business."

Salt Lake City has an up-and-coming economy filled with dedicated Latino workers and spenders. Statewide, they contribute billions to the economy, with the purchase of furniture, homes, cars and more. Also, Hispanic residents tend to be very loyal to local brands, relying religiously on particular businesses or labels.

When it comes to home ownership, Salt Lake City has been named one of the Top 10 major metro areas for Hispanics, ranking above Seattle, Indianapolis and Milwaukee.

The United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce partnered with the Utah Labor Commission to fund safety training for the growing demographic of Latino subcontractors in the construction field. Because there are many accidents in that sector, the partnership could appeal to and protect emerging business owners within the construction field. Also, later this year, USHCC will host a women's conference, sparking leadership and business ownership in Salt Lake City and throughout the state.

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