By: Las Vegas Now Staff
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, minority purchasing power in America is expected to represent 32-percent of all purchases by the year 2045. It is the fastest growing segment of buying power.
Minority businesses are also growing quickly nationally and here in Nevada. A national group of minority business owners chose Las Vegas for the site of its convention this year.
According to the state chapter president, there are more than 20,000 minority owned business in Nevada. And even the most successful businesses started modestly.
Minority Business Development Agency
From the video playing on the monitor in the conference room, you might not think of Arcata Associates as a typical small, minority owned business. It is a defense aerospace company which has been in Las Vegas since 1985 and is located in northwest Las Vegas.
CEO Tim Wong's father founded the company, “His very first federal prime contract was here at the air warfare center at Nellis Air Force Base.”
Wong says the company was welcomed by the Nevada business community, but did face unique challenges, “From the Air Force's perspective, at the time it was a little bit different viewpoint. Because at that time there were not a lot of small, minority-owned companies running technical services for the United States Air Force.”
Nevada Minority Business Council
Arcata's lunch room is lined with awards from NASA and the Small Business Administration for the work the company does with the military. But Wong says growth was not always easy, “There definitely was some resistance. I think a lot of people didn't know whether a small, minority-owned company could do this work.”
Arcata was one of the local exhibitors at the meeting of the National Minority Supplier Development Council held at the convention center. Diane Fontes is the Nevada chapter president, “I think if there were any special challenges it is always financing and access.”
Wong says with his company's local success, he's willing share lessons learned along the way, “I think the customer relationship is very, very important. You need to come in and understand that you bring something of value to the customer. Nobody is going to hand anybody a piece of work.”
The U.S. Small Business Administration says the largest number of minority businesses in Nevada are owned by Hispanics, followed by Asians and Pacific Islanders, Blacks and American Indians.
