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The Latino community is "small enough that you can have some influence quickly. But it's big enough to have some muscle," says David Olivencia, with Yesenia, Sofia and Juan in their Madison Heights home.Hispanic culture, clout grow in Metro Detroit
Power brokers' presence at events, live Latino acts and TV station display growing numbers, status.
The Hispanic Business Alliance's gathering at Vicente's Cuban Cuisine in Detroit drew local and state officials and Big 3 executives.Related special report
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Vicente's Cuban Cuisine, which opened two weeks ago in Detroit, is more than just another downtown eatery.
A white-tablecloth restaurant by day and salsa club on weekends, Vicente's represents an emerging market in Metro Detroit: upscale Latinos. Many businesses have made moves in recent months to serve this growing demographic.
Programming on WUDT-23, the new Troy-based affiliate of Univision, the national Spanish-language television network, is chock full of commercials by automakers and national retailers.
At the same time, many politicians and major corporations send representatives to schmooze with members of the Hispanic Business Alliance, a nonprofit group that promotes Hispanic commerce, at the group's monthly mixers. An event last week at Vicente's drew staffers of Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, state senators and Detroit's Big Three automakers.
"The Latino population is growing eight times faster than the general population," said Ron Pulera, WUDT's general manager. "Our median household income is higher than the general population. Why would you ignore such an audience?"
The number of Hispanics in Metro Detroit has more than doubled in the last 15 years, from 50,000 in 1990 to 130,000 in 2003, the latest census figures available. Hispanics now make up 5 percent of the area's population.
The median income for Hispanic households in Metro Detroit is $61,000 compared with $49,000 for the entire region, according to market research from Univision, helping to give local Hispanics more than $2 billion in buying power.
The Hispanic community is surging even as Metro Detroit's overall growth remains sluggish and the city of Detroit's population shrinks. It mirrors the national rise of Hispanics, who became the largest minority group in 2003, and account for 40 percent of all U.S. growth since 1980.
Some Hispanic professionals, like Enrique Carrillo, are recruited for jobs in Metro Detroit to help their employers tap into the local Latino market.
Carrillo is a vice president at Comerica Inc. and helped organize last year's Hispanic Business Expo & Economic Summit in Detroit, which drew 900, including Gov. Jennifer Granholm, and companies that paid more than $100,000 to be sponsors.
"Most people are just becoming aware of the great local market," Carrillo said.
Cable and satellite television outlets recently began offering packages of Spanish-language channels, ranging from Venezuelan soap operas to Mexican political talk shows.
The Detroit Opera House is now booking Latin pop stars such as Juanes, a Grammy Award-winning rocker, who sold out the 2,700-seat venue earlier this year.
"We looked at that great, diverse audience and we knew we were on to something," said spokesman David Blackburn.
Carrillo is among the many Latinos who seem driven to connect Hispanic business leaders with Metro Detroit's movers and shakers.
Today, he and his wife, Maria Carrillo, a physician, plan to host their fourth annual Pachanga Cubana (Cuban party) at their Bloomfield Hills home, where 150 Latino professionals will sip mojitos and eat ropa vieja with Kilpatrick, Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson and Wayne County Executive Robert Ficano.
David and Yesenia Olivencia of Madison Heights, who moved to the area four years ago, plan to attend. David, who's of Puerto Rican descent, was born in Chicago.
"I really like the Latino community here," said David, who heads the local chapter of the National Society of Hispanic MBAs.
"It's small enough that you can have some influence quickly. But it's big enough to have some muscle."
Yesenia, a native of Colombia, joined a local association of Colombians who gather socially and keep in touch with events in their homeland. But she says Metro Detroit still poses challenges.
"I still can not find children books in Spanish, or any educated-oriented videos for them," Yesenia said.
"I am worried they will not be so naturally exposed to Spanish outside of our house. Spanish is such a valuable skill now."
You can reach Louis Aguilar at (313) 222-2760 or laguilar@detnews.com.
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