What South Dakota runs on
Of 66 counties, the most common economic types are farming (41), government (13), tourism and recreation (4). Latino-owned firms in South Dakota concentrate where the work is — agricultural operations, processing and equipment services. Construction is worth naming specifically: Latino-owned construction businesses grew 86% between 2017 and 2023 against 2% for white-owned.
What gets reported
"Latino entrepreneurship is on the rise."
— the framing in university press releases, bank small-business marketing, chamber of commerce material and corporate supplier-diversity disclosures.
And it is true. 465,202 Latino-owned employer businesses. Up 44% between 2018 and 2023 while white-owned businesses slightly declined. Revenue up 36%. More than 55% of every net new firm in California and Florida. 72% report a positive outlook on where their business is going.
Every one of those figures is real, and every one of them measures the same thing: formation. How many businesses got started.
What our research shows
The same body of research measures something else, and that figure does not travel.
| What is measured | Latino-owned | White-owned |
|---|---|---|
| Share of all US venture funding | under 2% | — |
| Received the full amount requested | 21% | 40% |
| Given a reason when denied | 51% | 87% |
| Cited immigration enforcement as a business challenge | 15% | 5% |
Formation gets a press release. Capital gets a footnote. Both come from the same survey, in the same year, of the same businesses.
Brown to the back. 465,202 firms are told they are a success story and handed under 2% of the venture capital in their own country. When they ask for money, 21% get what they asked for. When they are refused, 49% are not told why.
The answer offered is that the ventures lack merit. The next page is what the data says about that.
By county
What actually exists
- SBA 7(a) and 504 — federally guaranteed, and the guarantee is the point: it transfers the lender's risk to the government. sba.gov.
- Community Development Financial Institutions — mission lenders that underwrite differently and are federally certified. cdfifund.gov.
- SBA Microloans — up to $50,000 through nonprofit intermediaries, for the requests banks decline without explanation.
- Small Business Development Centers — free counselling and help assembling the package before it goes in. find yours.
- MBDA Business Centers — federal, built for exactly this gap. mbda.gov.
Ask for the denial in writing, every time. A written reason is the difference between a market signal and a closed door — and you are entitled to one under the Equal Credit Opportunity Act for credit applications.
En español
Menos del 2% del capital de riesgo en Estados Unidos va a negocios latinos — mientras hay 465,202 empresas latinas con empleados, que crecieron 44% mientras las empresas de dueños blancos disminuyeron.
Cuando piden financiamiento, solo el 21% recibe la cantidad completa, frente al 40% de los dueños blancos. Y cuando les niegan el préstamo, solo al 51% le explican por qué — frente al 87%.
No es falta de mérito: cuando sí reciben capital, el monto mediano es de $6 millones, por encima de la mediana nacional, y el 84% fueron rentables en 2024.
Pida siempre la negación por escrito. Bajo la Equal Credit Opportunity Act usted tiene derecho a una razón.