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Opponents of Walmart’s planned Neighborhood Market in downtown Los Angeles are trying desperately to paint a portrait of David versus Goliath – mom-and-pop shops against Walmart.

But when it comes to economic growth, small businesses and large companies actually support each other. Indeed, the entrance of a large retailer like Walmart into a new marketplace is the key to helping many local vendors to grow.

As a former U.S. Small Business Administrator, I advocated for the small businesses that are vital to this country’s economic fabric and ingenuity. We helped minority- and women-owned businesses to expand and flourish, and awarded more loans to small business owners than any previous administration.

But during my time at the SBA, I learned that small businesses cannot flourish without a strong and healthy free-market that is friendly to companies of all sizes.

The positive impact Walmart would have on Los Angeles’ small businesses can be explained by the basic law of supply and demand. When a large retailer like Walmart enters a new market, it needs local suppliers to help fill its maintenance and product needs, which means surrounding vendors benefit.

According to Dun & Bradstreet, an independent firm that compiles commercial and business data, Walmart spent $25.85 billion for merchandise and services with over 4,000 suppliers in the state of California in fiscal year 2012. The number of supplier jobs that result from Walmart’s relationships with such vendors is approximately 281,785. READ MORE

Many Californians have been struggling with rising gas prices this week, but Latinos especially are feeling the pain at the pump.

Gasoline prices reached up to $5 per gallon on Monday, after a week of soaring gasoline prices. According to the AAA Daily Fuel Gauge Report, which tracks gas prices from the Oil Price Information Service, the cost of fuel is reaching record-breaking levels.

Although the record-setting prices have begun to ease, the cost of the gas prices is still at unprecedented levels. The average price on Wednesday was around $4.67 a gallon, making it the highest in the nation.

RELATED: Pedro Santos discovers new technology to produce cheaper gas

Latinos are traditionally among the hardest hit when gas prices go up. According to a Center for American Progress report, 72 percent of Latino households experienced financial hardship in 2011 as a result of rising gas prices. The numbers are even worse for California. Last year, 88 percent of Latinos reported financial hardship due to soaring gas prices.

Angelica Solis is the Executive Director of the Alliance for a Better Community, a California-based group that promotes economic development and financial literacy for Latinos. According to Solis, many Latinos that the Alliance works with come from lower-income families in the Los Angeles area, and are having to cut back on all their expenses in order to save money.

“This had already been the case because of the economic crisis, but the Latino community is further impacted in addition to what they’ve already been experiencing. They’re being resourceful,” Solis says. READ MORE

A new TV network joint venture between ABC News and Univision News, targeting the young and fast-growing Hispanic market in the United States, will begin broadcasting out of Miami in late summer of 2013, company officials announced on Wednesday.

The two companies are investing $275 million in the new English-language news and lifestyle network, which will create about 350 jobs, Cesar Conde, president of Univision Networks, told a luncheon of Miami business leaders also attended by Florida Gov. Rick Scott.

"The new ABC-Univision network will be headquartered in a state-of-the art facility and will retain and attract the very best talent in the industry," Conde said.

In the lead-up to the launch, the two companies explored locations in New York, Houston and Los Angeles, before opting to put the new network's production facilities in Miami, where Univision already has its headquarters.

The companies each own 50 percent of the venture and will share operating costs. The networks are banking on an exploding Hispanic population across the country to fuel the channel's growth. Hispanics currently number about 52 million in the United States, representing about 16 percent of the population, with that number expected to grow to 30 percent by 2050. READ MORE

In a movie career spanning more than 20 years, Benicio del Toro has won an Oscar for Traffic, been nominated again for 21 Grams and starred in Che, The Usual Suspects, and The Wolfman.

But the Puerto Rican-born, Pennsylvania-raised star believes Latino actors are still being typecast in Hollywood.

''It's a little bit better than when I first started … but, yeah, we're still typecast,'' he says during a visit to Sydney to launch the Oliver Stone crime thriller Savages.

''But there's more Latino film makers giving opportunities to other Latinos [and] also showing that they can tell stories. And there's more Latinos in positions of power that will provide opportunity to Latino actors.''

The charismatic 45-year-old, who visited Bondi Beach and climbed the Harbour Bridge during his short stay, played his share of thugs and drug dealers before his Hollywood breakthrough as a resourceful Mexican cop in Traffic.

In Savages he plays what could easily be seen as another Latino cliche: a ruthless Mexican drug cartel enforcer who chainsaws off the heads of his enemies. READ MORE

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the Hispanic demographic represents a full 16% of the total U.S. population, and is growing more than three times the rate of other ethnic groups. For retailers, it’s a consumer segment that presents tremendous opportunities in the area of health and wellness.

Hispanic consumers need some guidance. Statistics compiled by The NPD Group for its new benchmark It’s Mealtime with U.S. Hispanics study found that more than 70% of Spanish language-dominant adults are overweight or obese, compared to 60% for English-dominant or non-Hispanic adults.

An interesting challenge that the marketers of wellness products and services face in wooing Hispanics is overcoming cultural perceptions, particularly in the way this group of consumers looks at food.

NPD researchers found that many subgroups (those foreign-born or Spanish-dominant) define nutrition not only in terms of quality, but quantity, too. So, for instance, filling and eating everything on your plate is a sign of robust health. In other words, a hearty appetite is just as important as putting that salad, or those green beans, on the plate. READ MORE

The U.S. unemployment rate for Latinos fell to 9.9 percent in September, the lowest jobless rate in nearly four years, and the lowest level since President Barack Obama first took office.

Latino unemployment has hit a 45 month low as September marks the first time the Latino jobless rate has fallen below 10 percent since December of 2008, when it was 9.4 percent.

The number of unemployed Hispanics has dropped by nearly 20 percent since the number of unemployed Latinos hit its peak at over 3 million in November 2010.

If not for all the people who have simply dropped out of the labor force, the real unemployment rate would be closer to 11 percent.

- Mitt Romney, Republican Nominee

According to the report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, September's Latino unemployment rate declined from 10.2 percent in August and is in line with the overall downward national trend for the jobless rate, which fell to 7.8 percent, down from 8.1 percent,--a 44-month low. The number of unemployed Americans is now 12.1 million, the fewest since January 2009. READ MORE

As we celebrate the final week of Hispanic Heritage Month, the American Latino Heritage Fund (ALHF) of the National Park Foundation, the official charity of America's national parks, today proudly joined the President of the United States Barack Obama, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar and National Park Service Director Jon Jarvis, in establishing the Cesar E. Chavez National Monument as an official park of the National Park System. Located within the property known as Nuestra Senora Reina de La Paz (Our Lady Queen of Peace), the Monument commemorates the home and final resting place of renowned Latino civil rights activist, Cesar E. Chavez, which also served as the former headquarters for the labor movement he helped create – the United Farm Workers of America (UFW).

The American Latino Heritage Fund of the National Park Foundation has dedicated $150,000 needed to open and fund operations of the national monument throughout its first year. ALHF's mission is anchored in preserving the full spectrum of American Latino history in the U.S. by identifying and celebrating historic sites and places essential to understanding the influence of Latinos' cultural, economic and civic contributions to the American story.

"The national park system exists to tell the stories of this nation and its people, and to provide individuals with a place to visit and honor those contributions. Today's dedication is a seminal moment as we ensure this historic chapter is noted in our American history," said Neil Mulholland, President & CEO of the National Park Foundation. "The American Latino Heritage Fund is dedicated to ensuring that the contributions of this nation's Latino community, like Cesar Chavez's legacy of equality and rights, are honored and protected forever." READ MORE

Steep declines in Hispanic birth rates and a new low in teen births, according to a new government report released Wednesday.

U.S. births fell for the fourth year in a row, with experts calling it more proof that the weak economy has continued to dampen enthusiasm for having children.

Hispanics have been disproportionately affected by the flagging economy, experts say, and teen birth rates have been falling for 20 years.

But there may be a silver lining: The decline in 2011 was just 1 percent — not as sharp a fall-off as the 2 to 3 percent drop seen in other recent years.

"It may be that the effect of the recession is slowly coming to an end," said Carl Haub, a senior demographer with the Population Reference Bureau, a Washington, D.C.-based research organization. READ MORE

President Obama and Mitt Romney are both playing pander bear with the Hispanic vote as they prepare for their first debate tonight. It’s so transparent that it borders on insulting.

Obama’s pandering is perhaps the more egregious. He has 70 percent of the Hispanic vote, according to a CNN poll this week. Those voters likely feel they have nowhere to go, but even they have to admit he didn’t do much to move the needle on immigration reform in his first term in office, an issue close to the heart of the community. The president failed to build support in Congress for the DREAM Act, a bill which would have provided a path to citizenship for young adults brought here without documents as children. Obama did finally issue an executive order to lift the threat of deportation hanging over that group, but there’s no path to citizenship. And it came awfully close to the election. READ MORE

The value of partnering with local Hispanic chambers of commerce is that they can open doors for your business’ marketing campaign to Hispanic consumers.

A big mistake companies make is asking Hispanic consumers for their business before establishing friendly relationships within the Hispanic community.

Latinos can be loyal business associates and customers of companies they respect, trust and consider friends. Establishing this relationship takes time, and -- most important -- showing up. Your executives need face-to-face interactions and conversations in order to learn about Hispanic cultural and buying patterns.

Showing up means being visible at chamber networking events, in the community, and via financial support of nonprofit groups and schools that serve Hispanics.

So, like the TV game show “The Price is Right,” Hispanic chambers offer three doors, each with opportunities to win with your Hispanic marketing efforts:

Door No. 1 -- Meeting Hispanic businesses that are looking to partner with non-Hispanic companies. They can become collaborative associate businesses. Some Hispanic businesses have the potential to become suppliers for your company. Either way, you can glean valuable information from them about Hispanic consumers and cultural buying trends. READ MORE

Latinos make up the largest group of minority students enrolled for the academic term beginning this autumn at the University of Southern California, the school said Thursday.

Out of more than 46,000 applications, 3,021 students were admitted, of whom 21 percent are members of minorities, more than half of them Hispanics.

USC's dean of admissions, Timothy Brunold, said that about 90 percent of incoming students were in the top 10 percent of their high school classes with an average GPA of 3.70.

The number of Latino students admitted for the 2012-2013 academic year is more than twice the number of African Americans and more than six times the number of Native Americans and Pacific Islanders.

Of this year's freshman class, 14 percent are the first in their families to go to college, Brunold said.

Of the total number of USC undergraduate students in 2011, about 3,300, or 19 percent, belonged to minorities, the largest percentage among the country's private research universities. READ MORE

A coalition of 30 national Latino organizations is still waiting for an apology from Kennedy Center President Michael Kaiser after he swore at a prominent Hispanic leader.

Kaiser allegedly cursed out Felix Sanchez, the chairman for the National Hispanic Foundation for the Arts. Kaiser has since said that he regretted using ?strong language? during the tense telephone conversation.

?There is no excuse for Mr. Kaiser?s outburst and it should not and cannot be tolerated,? Janet Murguia, President and CEO of the National Council of La Raza, said in a statement sent to Fox News Latino. ?He profoundly disrespected our colleague Felix Sanchez and the Latino community, a community that merits inclusion and fairness, not insults, when it comes to one of the nation?s highest cultural honors."

Sanchez said Kaiser told him to ?go f*** yourself? after he called the foundation's president to discuss the lack of Latino artists being named Kennedy Center honorees. Kaiser then abruptly hung up. READ MORE

We start with the obvious question: Why do the media, political observers and presidential campaigns spend so much time talking about the Latino vote?

Many Americans resent the implication that some votes are more important or have more impact than others. (No one is saying that's the case.)

Still, why don't we talk with equal enthusiasm about voting by African-Americans or white evangelicals or left-handed senior citizens who live in Rhode Island? READ MORE

As part of its efforts to promote equity in health and health care, the Aetna Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Aetna (NYS: AET) , has bestowed a $130,000 grant on the New York-based Hispanic Federation. The funds will be used to launch the organization's pilot program that will engage Brooklyn teenagers in the drive to improve Latino health outcomes and reduce health disparities in the North Brooklyn community of South Williamsburg.

The initiative, called Youth Health Explorers, will train 36 Latino teenagers, aged 14 to 19, in the science of community mapping, on-the-street interviews and data analysis, to determine the environmental factors in their predominately Hispanic neighborhoods that can influence their communities' high rates of obesity, especially among young people.

The initiative's goal is to develop a significant pool of useful data to guide neighborhood health policies in South Williamsburg and coach young people to work with community leaders to address environmental factors that contribute to obesity. The teenagers will be trained in leadership, public speaking, and community mobilization skills. Upon completion of their analysis, they will present their findings to local public officials, community groups and civic organizations. When the pilot program is concluded, the Hispanic Federation hopes to expand the project to other communities across the country.

"Nearly two in five Latino youth are overweight or obese - the highest prevalence rate in their age group by race or ethnicity," said José Calderón, president of the Hispanic Federation. "Latinos want to be healthy, but food choices and environmental factors in our neighborhood frequently contribute to poor outcomes. Thanks to the Aetna Foundation's support, we are able to develop a project that explores the relationship between environment and health using data-driven methods."

Gillian Barclay, D.D.S., Dr.P.H., the Aetna Foundation's vice president of programs, said, "Teaching young people the fundamentals of public health assessments and advocacy to improve the health of their own neighborhoods can be a powerful force for change. By engaging teens in this endeavor, we not only expect to get a clearer picture of how the built environment can influence obesity rates in urban neighborhoods, but also inspire a young generation of Latinos to become leaders in public health." READ MORE

Candidate Barack Obama made this promise to Univision anchorman Jorge Ramos in May 2008:

"What I can guarantee is that we will have in the first year an immigration bill that I strongly support and that I'm promoting. And I want to move that forward as quickly as possible."

Didn't happen. When Ramos interviewed Obama on Thursday, he brought up "the Obama promise." "At the beginning of your (presidency)," Ramos said, "you had control of both chambers of Congress, and yet you did not introduce immigration reform. And before I continue, I want for you to acknowledge that you did not keep your promise."

Obama laid the blame on the economy. He then aw-shucked, "I'm happy to take responsibility for being naive here." As is his habit, the president then blamed Republicans, including Sen. John McCain, for playing politics on immigration.

It was a low-road swipe at a senator whose support of an ill-fated 2007 bill nearly cost him the 2008 GOP presidential nomination.

An outraged McCain went to the Senate floor Friday to lambaste Obama for not offering "one piece of legislation" on immigration.

The fact is that George W. Bush worked harder to pass a comprehensive immigration package than Obama ever has. Bush pushed for a bill even though the effort hurt his standing with the GOP base.

Obama faced no such obstacle. Yet during the two years when Democrats controlled Congress, he couldn't be bothered to introduce a path-to-citizenship measure or a DREAM Act to provide legal status to young illegal immigrants who came to the United States as children. READ MORE

From concert coverage to seats on the corporate board, Latinos are not getting the kind of representation they deserve, according to several chief executives of Fortune 500 companies.

When Mexican rock band Mana surpassed Britney Spears' record for the most sold-out shows at Staples Center, few media outlets in Los Angeles covered it.

Timothy J. Leiweke, president and chief executive of sports and entertainment firm AEG, believes that was a mistake considering that Latinos are making up a greater portion of ticket buyers.

Media outlets and other large corporations need to recognize the Latino consumer, Leiweke said, echoing four other CEOs who sat on a panel discussion at the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce convention Monday.

Leiweke said his company was "addressing our future majority marketplace" by marketing and promoting Latino events and sports teams such as the L.A. Galaxy soccer team that are heavily reliant on the "Hispanic consumer."

According to the U.S. Census, Latinos make up 16% of the population -- expected to grow to 30% by 2050.

Though Latinos generate more than $465 billion a year in revenue, fewer than 3% of corporations have Latinos on their board of directors, and more could be done to address the gap, said Javier Palomarez, president of the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, which is made up of 3.1 million Latino-owned businesses. READ MORE

ERICK GARCIA Hernandez moved his tire shop to 902 Hardy St. from Laurel because he thought it would be good for his business.

The move was at the advice of a friend.

Five months ago, he opened his doors, and things have been busy.

"My friend said Hardy Street was a pretty good spot. Right now, things are going good," said Hernandez, whose business sells new and used tires and rims, repairs brakes and flat tires, and offers other services.

"A lot of people know me. Things are all right."

Hernandez's Tire is one of several Hispanic-owned businesses that have popped up along Hardy Street over the years.

They join several Hispanic-owned stores and restaurants throughout the city that have been around for several years.

According to 2010 Census data, the number of Hispanics/Latinos living in Hattiesburg jumped from 630 in 2000 to 1,996 in 2010.

Similar growth was seen in Lamar and Forrest counties. Lamar County saw the Hispanic population jump from 426 to 1,205, while Forrest County saw it spike from 912 to 2,637. READ MORE

For the better part of a decade, Vamos Marketing was everything Frank Garza hoped it would be.

He'd started small, in 2003, launching his fledgling promotional products firm shortly after completing a dual undergraduate-graduate degree program at the University of Texas. As he cobbled together an increasingly diverse list of clients around Central Texas, his business started rolling. He brought on a full-time employee, freeing him up to focus on clients.

He started to think about building a sales force, too, but ultimately decided against it.

"I was content with where I was at," Garza said.

But that changed last year. With Vamos approaching its 10th year in business — and now generating about a half-million dollars in annual sales — Garza has started to think about what the company could become. He wants to add a new division or two, bring on more employees and put processes in place that would help build the value of his business in case he ever decides to sell it.

"I'm hitting 10 years (and) I have a good reputation in town," he said from his office in Southeast Austin. "So if there's a good opportunity to try to grow it, it's now."

As the Texas and Austin populations skew increasingly Hispanic during the next several decades, the growth of Vamos Marketing and the thousands of other Hispanic-owned businesses here and around the state could become an increasingly vital source of new jobs and income — both for the Hispanic community and for the economy at large. READ MORE

Mitt Romney's struggles in earning Latino support have been well-documented throughout the campaign. But what gets less attention is the drastic gap in support for Romney and President Barack Obama among Latina women.

According to a tracking poll from the firm Latino Decisions, Latina women prefer Obama to Romney by an astounding 53-point gap.

Romney has spent considerable campaign resources trying to improve his image with Latino voters, including a recent round of Spanish language ads that aired after the Republican National Convention. He will make another push today in Los Angeles, where he will address the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce with a speech that will slam Obama for the grim economy and high unemployment, which have hit the Latino community particularly hard. Romney will also talk immigration, but excerpts released by his campaign provide nothing new in terms of specifics. READ MORE

September 20, 2012 – HispanicPro and the Hispanic Professionals of Greater Milwaukee (HPGM), announce a new partnership to cross promote networking and business opportunities between Chicago and Milwaukee professional Latinos. “Both networks stand to benefit from expanding connections across state lines while sharing resources for the professional development of its members”, stated Alfonso Barrera, founder of HispanicPro.

This partnership aims to promote, develop, and inform our members of great opportunities for career and professional development. "We are very excited to partner with great organizations such as HispanicPro," said Griselda Aldrete, from HPGM. "This partnership is an added value to all the members of both organizations."

For more information and to find resources for Latino professionals in Chicago and Milwaukee, visit www.HispanicPro.com and http://www.hpgm.org.

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About HispanicPro
HispanicPro is The Hispanic Professional Network and is the largest email newsletter and website targeting the Hispanic professional community in Illinois.

Now in its eleventh year, HispanicPro serves as a networking resource for Hispanic professionals providing diversity job listings, a member driven events calendar and is the largest producer of networking events for Hispanic professionals in the state of Illinois.

About Hispanic Professionals of Greater Milwaukee (HPGM)
As Milwaukee and its business community strive to attract and preserve a talented, diverse workforce, HPGM's founding members recognized the important role they could play in this endeavor and the service it could provide to the Hispanic professional community as well as to corporations in the Greater Milwaukee area. HPGM was started with the help of the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Wisconsin and the Metro Milwaukee Association of Commerce.

After several critical strategic planning sessions, key recruiting of members, and several fun, informal networking socials, HPGM has launched as a multi-generational non-profit 501c(3) organization. With membership over 550 and the positive buzz within the Greater Milwaukee community, HPGM is ready to ask the question: Hispanic Professionals... Have you seen us lately?