Hispanics Lifting NC Economy

I wanted to give a shout out to Kerra Bolton for her excellent and informative front page article in last Wednesday's Asheville Citizen Times. It dealt with the annual forum given by NC Citizens for Business and Industry and the NC Bankers Association. This year's forum concentrated on a 13 month study by a pair of UNC professors dealing with the impact of Hispanic immigrants on the economy of our state. If you didn't get a chance to read it, I would highly recommend it. As it says in the article it "challenges some commonly held beliefs about the states fastest growing minority."

Here are just a couple:

"Hispanics living in the Asheville metropolitan area spent $214.5 million in 2004, creating 2,300 jobs and $100,095 in state and local taxes. In Buncombe County, Hispanic purchasing power totaled more than $122 million."

"Hispanic residents contribute about $9.2 billion a year to the state’s economy, and businesses chasing the money they spend employed 89,900 workers in 2004."