Springfield falls 22 spots on Hispanic entrepreneur list

While Springfield is still a top city for Hispanic entrepreneurs, it dropped 22 spots on a list published this morning by personal finance website WalletHub.com.

Springfield ranked No. 60 on WalletHub’s 2019 list of the best cities for Hispanic entrepreneurs, according to a news release. That’s down from its No. 38 ranking a year ago.

For the list, 60 points of a possible 100 focused on Hispanic business-friendliness, with categories including share of Hispanic-owned businesses, entrepreneurship rate, average growth of revenues and startups per capita. The other 40 points counted toward Hispanic purchasing power, including affordability, income growth and job security.

Springfield scored 49.19 overall, placing No. 36 in Hispanic business-friendliness and No. 106 in Hispanic purchasing power, according to the release.

The Queen City’s individual metrics include:
• No. 1 in average growth of Hispanic businesses, 2007-12;
• No. 6 in average monthly rent for office space;
• No. 6 in Hispanic population growth;
• No. 10 in Hispanic job security;
• No. 11 in corporate tax rate; and
• No. 17 in small-business loans per total number of small businesses.

The top city on the list, for the third year in a row, is Laredo, Texas, with an overall score of 64.69 out of a possible 100. It was followed by No. 2 Pembroke Pines, Florida, at 63.6; Corpus Christi, Texas, 61.02; Miami, 60.34; and San Antonino, Texas, 59.84, according to the release.

Of the other two Missouri cities on the list, St. Louis ranked No. 59 with a 49.25 score and Kansas City placed No. 84 with a 46.44 score.