Growth in Hispanic population brings in new bilingual services company

As the Latin American population grows throughout southwest Missouri so does the need for services and one new business is reaching out to companies who want to reach this market.

Hortencia Vasquez Wilcox opened American Latin Consultants on Feb. 1 at 115 S. Main in Nixa. Her business also houses the Missouri headquarters of the League of United Latin American Citizens, a nonprofit organization of which she is state director.

Helping businesses

The main purpose of American Latin Consultants is to help businesses reach out to the Latin American market, Wilcox said.

Her business provides one-on-one interpretation and Spanish classes for businesses. "We can go to the business or they can come here. We have a conversation type of class that caters to their business," she said.

The cost of Wilcox's consultant service can vary depending on the business' need, she said. Translating typically starts about $35 an hour with a minimum of two hours. Spanish classes cost approximately $49 for a six-week class, but rates depend on the number or people taking the class; classes are available for individuals or groups. Wilcox said classes are specialized for each business and focus on the basic conversational Spanish needed for a particular business.

Language education is "just a new way to open the door to becoming more comfortable, and less fearful of doing business with Latin people," Wilcox said. "It's a great way to help this area, the Midwest, to begin to understand our culture and understand how we can partner and integrate. Because (Latin Americans) do live here and work here and pay taxes and our children go to the school," Wilcox said.

Demand for services

Wilcox said the need for her services is evident.

In the past 20 years the Hispanic population has grown dramatically in Christian and Greene county.

According to Missouri Census Data Center, in Christian County in 1980, there were only 97 Hispanics out of 22,402 residents; in 1990, the Hispanic population grew to 356 out of 32,644; and in 2000 the Latin American population reached 639 out of 54,285 residents.

In Greene County, the Hispanic population was 1,282 out of 185,302 total residents in 1980; 1,645 out of 207,949 residents in 1990; and 4,171 out of 240,391 in 2000, making the Hispanic population the fastest growing minority group in the area.

Wilcox said she believes the growth is even greater than Census reports indicated.

"There's about 5,000 Latin people in this area (according to the Census), however I believe there are at least a third more if not half as many more," Wilcox said.

Background

Wilcox said she worked out of her home for several years before moving to the new location on Main Street.

The youngest of a large family, Wilcox said she is the first member of her family to start a business. Wilcox has lived in seven different states and moved to Nixa in 1999.

Wilcox is upbeat about the potential of her company.

"There are a lot of large corporations, but they were once where I am starting," Wilcox said. "And for me this is a little bit of a historic thing. I am Hispanic; I am a woman; I am a single parent. It could be against the odds, but I want to be optimistic and think that if I can do it anyone can."