April 15, 2026
By Joelle Martinez
Last week, I had the honor of presenting at the LGHN Annual Conference, where I posed a question to leaders from across the country: are we underscaling our own future?
Demographic Destiny—But Not a Guarantee
When we look at the trajectory of this country, one thing is clear: the future of the American economy will be shaped in large part by the Latino community. By 2050, Latinos will represent nearly one in three Americans and could own one in four businesses across the United States.
That is not just demographic growth. It is an economic destiny. But destiny is not a guarantee; it is a possibility. And possibility only becomes reality if we build for it.
Growth Without Scale
The data tells a powerful, but incomplete, story. Today, the Latino economy exceeds $4.1 trillion in GDP, and there are more than five million Latino-owned businesses across this country.
We are starting businesses at one of the fastest rates in the nation. We are contributing, creating, and expanding. By every visible measure, it looks like progress. But beneath that growth is a structural challenge that will define the kind of economy we ultimately build.
Because today fewer than three percent of Latino-owned businesses ever cross $1 million in revenue. And that number matters more than it appears at first glance.
The $1M Inflection Point
At $1 million in revenue, a business begins to transform. It moves from being dependent on the owner to becoming system-driven. It shifts from generating income to creating wealth. It gains the ability to hire, to scale, and to build something that lasts beyond the individual. So, the question is not whether we are building businesses, because we are. The question is what those businesses are becoming and whether they are positioned to meet the demands and opportunities of the future.
The Illusion of Progress
Right now, we are seeding an economy that is growing in numbers, but not yet in scale. There are more than 33 million small businesses in the United States, and Latinos own about 15 percent of them. According to the most recent SOLE report from SLEI, Latino-owned businesses now account for 9.7% of employer firms in the U.S. While this number has increased over time, Latino-owned businesses still face the widest gap in employer firms of any group.
That gap is not just a statistic. It is a signal. It tells us that while we are increasingly participating in the economy, we are not yet shaping it at the level our demographic trajectory demands. And that has real consequences.
A Bigger Economy with Smaller Outcomes
If current trends continue, we are on track to have more Latino-owned businesses than ever before, but with the same low rates of scale. That means more activity, but not more jobs. More participation, but not more wealth. A larger presence, but a smaller impact. We risk building a bigger economy with less power behind it. That is the tension we must confront.
The Shift We Must Make
For too long, we have measured success by how many businesses we start. But the future of our economy will not be defined by startup volume—it will be defined by how many businesses we scale. Scale is what creates jobs. It is what builds wealth. It is what strengthens local economies and ultimately determines who holds economic power. The future is already on its way. The demographics are clear. The economic contribution is real. The potential is undeniable. Meeting potential with action requires us to scale our own future.
