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Family is the secret formula – Latinx businesses growing fast and strong

From bakeries to restaurants, the Latinx labor force is growing in Los Angeles

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The Latinx community has many businesses all around Los Angeles including La Guadalupana Bakery which adds to the increase of the latinx population within the workforce. (Photo by Nicole Santos)

By Nicole Santos

The Latinx community is not only an important part of the L.A. community and its culture, but responsible for 84% of the growth in its workforce, as the study shows.

“It’s great [to see so many Latinx businesses growing in the community] because we all have a goal called the need for progress,” Maria Hernandez, owner of La Guadalupana Bakery in the neighborhood of Central-Alameda, said. “That’s why we come to this country and I’m glad many Latinos can make it.”

A study made by California Lutheran University in collaboration with UCLA Geffen School of Medicine, and funded by the Bank of America Charitable Foundation, showed that Latinx people occupied positions seven times faster in the labor force than non-Latinx people.

Representing almost half of the L.A. County population, according to the Census Bureau, the study revealed that in the course of eight years, people from the Latinx communities added an average of 38,610 workers per year to the L.A. Metro’s labor force.

a tray of cookies

The smell of sweet bread, conchas and cookies fill the air at La Guadalupana Bakery, one of the many Latinx owned businesses in Los Angeles. (Photo by Nicole Santos)

Kimberly Sandoval, the owner of a food truck called Kimmy’s Crepes, said owning her own business was a challenge as a full-time mom and worker.

“In the streets I know that sometimes it is dangerous, but at the end of the day we are really grateful and happy with the things we do,” Sandoval said.

Many Latinx people come from different countries in search of better career and financial opportunities to get ahead, according to a survey made by the Pew Research Center, and many times, they are not able to go back to their places of origin. Here in Los Angeles, the community is working hard not just to earn a living but to bring their culture with what they do.

An employee of La Guadalupana Bakery, Blanca Valdivia, said that the growth of Latinx businesses in Los Angeles, “is something good for the community both economically and in terms of employment and in having more job opportunities.”

“It’s satisfying to be able to taste what you’re used to up close,” Valdivia said.

The growth of Latinx businesses in L.A. can increase financial independence, provide more job opportunities to Spanish-speaking people and bring culture together for those who cannot go back to their countries.