UNITY WILL HELP ECONOMY THRIVE, SAYS USHCC CHIEF.

• Author: Christensen, Lisa
• Position: Around Utah

Salt Lake City -- The U.S. economy is growing, and the way to keep it that way is to shed divisive identities and unify as Americans, said the president and CEO of the United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, speaking as part of the fourth annual Utah Global Forum, presented by Gov. Gary R. Herbert.

Javier Palomarez said there's plenty of reasons to celebrate the economy and the small business owners driving it. The Hispanic and Latinx contributions are plentiful, he said: immigrants and native-born descendants of immigrants account for hundreds of billions of dollars of commerce, as well as hundreds of major companies helping to spur economic growth. The total economic contributions of Hispanics total more than $2.1 trillion; if the U.S.'s economy and population were whittled down to that number and demographic, he said, it would be the richest Hispanic country in the world.

"Every tax bill we pay, every job we create goes to growing the American economy," he said.

The Hispanic population is growing in the United States. In the last 10 years, Hispanics have accounted for 53 percent of the nation's population growth and are on track to claim the same percentage of growth over the next decade--and that growth will be predominantly in births, rather than immigration, Palomarez said. Hispanic-owned businesses are starting three times faster than businesses owned by persons of other ethnicities and backgrounds, he said.

"Any person running for an elected position, whether it be for dogcatcher or president, who fails to remember [the growing Hispanic population] does so at their own peril," he said.

Palomarez knows well the journey from immigrant to American. The youngest of 10, Palomarez and his family immigrated after his father abandoned the family. Palomarez was six, and he and his family had to work as...