As the Hispanic population here continues to mushroom, Spokane-area universities and businesses are bolstering their efforts to recruit from and tap into that increasingly important ethnic group.


Gonzaga University has ramped up its advertising in bilingual journals and college guides that target students with Hispanic backgrounds, and has started to reach out more to Latino communities in the Yakima, Wash., area by holding workshops about the college application process.


New this year, Gonzaga also has a regional admissions representative working in California, where the Hispanic community is particularly large, says Julie McCulloh, dean of admissions at the university.


Its a good business decision, because thats where the population is shifting, McCulloh says of the stepped-up efforts to recruit Hispanic students. If youre going to maintain the size of your university you have to know where the students are.


Ben Cabildo, executive director of the African-American, Hispanic, Asian, and Native American Business and Professional Organization (AHANA) here, says businesses are recognizing that shift and responding by targeting Hispanic groups in their marketing and hiring.


If its a growing population, then its a growing market, Cabildo says, adding that a lot of companies are understanding that growth and trying to leverage that for their businesses.


Higher-education institutions say the reason behind their increased recruitment of Hispanic students isnt simply to get their share of that growing demographic, but also to help ensure that students of all backgrounds can earn a degree and that employers have a diverse pool of graduates from which to choose.


As our community grows, theres a lot of potential opportunities for individuals to become professionals, and we cant waste that human resource, says Carlos Maldonado, director of Eastern Washington Universitys Chicano Education Program and College Assistant Migrant Program. We need to have professionals that serve cultural bridges between mainstream community and our community.


Statewide growth


Washington state had roughly 546,000 Hispanic households in 2005, ranking 11th among U.S. states for Hispanic population, which had jumped nearly 26 percent since 2000, according to the Washington D.C.-based Pew Hispanic Center. As of 2005, Hispanics made up nearly 9 percent of the states total population.


Spokane County had more than 14,000 Hispanics or Latinos in 2006, compared with more than 13,000 in 2004, according to state estimates.


Nationwide, Hispanics represent the biggest anticipated population jump among racial and ethnic groups in their share of public school enrollments, growing from nearly 17 percent of enrollments in the 2001-2003 academic year to a projected 21 percent in 2007-2008, according to the Boulder, Co.-based Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (WICHA). The high school class of 2014 in the U.S. is expected to be nearly one-fifth Hispanic, and the graduating class in the West is expected to be about one-third Hispanic, the commission says.


Gonzagas efforts appear to be paying off. In 1997, 12.6 percent of the applicant pool at Gonzaga University was students of color, but that number jumped to 20 percent this year, McCulloh says.


Its also a method of outreach, because we think its important we do a better job of working with Latino families to communicate how to get into college, how you pay for college, and what it takes to be successful, McCulloh.


Meanwhile, the number of Hispanic students at EWU has more than doubled since 2000, to 656, or about 6.5 percent of total enrollment, in 2006, from 291, or nearly 3.4 percent, seven years ago.


EWU offers printed information about its admissions process, financial aid, and policies, among other things, in Spanish. Those materials are intended primarily for the parents of Hispanic students, since most students are fluent in English, says Jennifer Nunez, a counselor and recruiter in the Chicano Education Program. EWU representatives also attend parent nights at high schools around the region, participate in radio interviews on Spanish radio stations, and work with community organizations and school districts across the state to promote the benefits of a higher education to Hispanic families, Maldonado says.


Family involvement


Its important when recruiting Hispanic students, in particular, to include families in the college application process, Nunez says. Many of the students had jobs in high school to help their families pay the bills, and family members sometimes have difficulty seeing the long-term economic benefits of their child going to college, she says.


For many families, its much more of a sacrifice for them to go on to post-secondary education, and the sacrifice on the familys part is a resounding notion, says Michelle Whittingham, associate vice president of enrollment management at EWU. For this population, its really critical because of the language barrier that you cater to and meet the needs of the families.


Involving the family in their childs life at college also is an important aspect of retaining Hispanic students, Whittingham says. Many Hispanic families worry that if they send their children to a big school, where no other family member has attended before, theyll become overly assimilated into mainstream culture. EWU offers programs to help students adjust to college life, while still maintaining their cultural ties.


Whenever you recruit a specific population, its critical that you create an inclusive campus environment, she says.


Of all ethnic groups, Hispanic students have the highest graduation rates at EWU. The six-year graduation rate of Hispanic students is 45.5 percent, slightly higher than the average male graduation of about 44 percent.


Whitworth College has focused its recruiting efforts this year more heavily in Central Washington, partly because of the large number of Hispanic high school students living there, says Greg Orwig, the schools spokesman. Whitworth also participates in the Act Six Leadership & Scholarship Initiative, a program that works with faith-based colleges to recruit, train, and support ethnically-diverse, urban students from Tacoma, Wash. All 11 of the first students to attend Whitworth as part of the Act Six program were scheduled to graduate May 20.


We would be foolish if we didnt recognize that a greater percentage of college-bound students are Hispanic, and we need to be a place that they are considering, Orwig says. We focus, though, on the moral rationale. A more diverse campus is a better campus for the kind of education we want to provide.


He adds, College education more and more is a prerequisite to economic success, and we need to find ways to open up access to more first-generation students, including Hispanic students.


Recruiting employees


Yvonne Lopez-Morton, Spokane-based chairwoman of the Washington state Commission on Hispanic Affairs and a past president of the Hispanic Business Professional Association here, says that while schools have stepped up efforts to recruit Hispanic students, businesses have been slower to do the same with their work forces.


Were now a global marketplace, and we need to reflect that diversity in the way we do business, Lopez-Morton asserts. Its something businesses definitely need to consider when looking at business plans, advertising, and their own workplaces.


Stan Key, industry manager at Greater Spokane Incorporated, says he often recruits companies, particularly manufacturers, from Southern California that have work forces made up largely of Hispanics. In light of the tightening labor market and the rising costs of training employees, the economic-development group encourages companies that it recruits to bring their key personnel with them when they relocate here. Often, those companies want to see theres enough diversity in the community that employees would feel comfortable living here, Key says.


For instance, the group currently is working with a Los Angeles-based manufacturer, which Key declines to name, thats considering moving to Hayden, Idaho. The company has 35 employees, and wants to bring 20 of those workers, many of whom are Hispanic, here.


Their main concern is that theres diversity in the community, Key says.


Cabildo says demand has been rising within the last year from companies that are seeking help with hiring Spanish-speaking employees and are training their employees in conversational Spanish and the ways of the Hispanic culture.


Businesses also ask AHANA for help in developing marketing strategies to target Hispanic consumers. Cabildo says he advises businesses to conduct home-based meetings with Hispanics and get involved in the Hispanic community, rather than rely on focus groups.


Hispanic business owners also increasingly are seeking help from AHANA in developing business and marketing strategies, Cabildo says.


Theres been significant growth in the mom-and-pop Latino businesses, which a lot of times start out as shoe-string operations, Maldonado says. Those individuals need to learn how to write a business plan, get loans, and manage their businesses.


An example of a thriving Hispanic-owned business is De Leon Foods Inc., a Mexican deli and grocery store at 102 E. Francis, Lopez-Morton says. She says she advises Hispanic business owners to reach out to customers beyond their own communities, to become more integrated into the mainstream economy.


Contact Emily Brandler at (509) 344-1265 or via e-mail at emilyb@spokanejournal.com.