Recently discovered by corporate America, Hispanics like Aramburo are changing the way companies do business across the nation. From soda ads and clothing commercials to Spanish-language Web sites and commercial marketing campaigns targeting Hispanics, corporate America has jumped on the Hispanic bandwagon in the hope of tapping into the Latino cash flow.

Hispanics living in Pima County number 271,529, according to 2002 federal data. In Tucson, billboards feature messages in Spanish as do radio station commercials. Many bank brochures are available in Spanish and English.

This appeals to Judith Olivarria, 25, a customer service phone operator who works in Tucson and lives in Amado. Spanish is her first language and although she's fluent in English, she's more likely to buy goods promoted in her native tongue, she said.

"If I see something in Spanish, I tend to buy it more," she said.

Her advice to companies: "More Spanish like that would increase their sales in products."

From 1994 to 2004, U.S. Hispanic purchasing power grew at a compound annual rate of 7.5 percent, compared with 2.8 percent for total U.S. disposable income, according to HispanTelligence, a research firm operated by Hispanic Business Inc. That purchasing power is projected to reach $1 trillion by 2010.

Metro Tucson spending by Hispanics is projected to top $5 billion in 2004, up from $3 billion two years ago, says Fred Orozco, president of the Tucson Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.

That is being done on a median household income for Hispanics of $36,400, an average for the past 12 months, according to a recent Scarborough survey conducted for the Tucson Citizen. In 2001, the survey placed the median income at $35,343, with 70 percent of the households having an income of $25,000 or more compared to 73 percent this year.

Michael Bolchalk, owner of Michael Bolchalk Marketing, Advertising and Public Relations, said companies are trying harder than ever to appeal to Hispanic consumers.

"There is a higher awareness among companies about the importance of reaching the Hispanic market," he said. "Evidence of that can be seen not only in the use of Spanish-language media, but also in the hiring of Hispanic talent in English-language television commercials."

Bolchalk said companies are also hiring more Hispanic sales and marketing professionals.

Perhaps for a good reason.

Patti Barragan, 46, is a loan officer who lives in Tucson. She speaks Spanish, considers herself Hispanic and agrees that Hispanics have more buying power.

She thinks businesses should do more to cash in on that potential.

"I haven't really noticed (more ads in Spanish)," she said.

Not all good news

According to 2002 census data, only 11.1 percent of American Hispanics 25 years and older have a bachelor's degree or more compared with 29.4 percent of white non-Hispanic Americans the same age. The same data say only 26.3 percent of Hispanics make $35,000 or more annually.

But 28-year-old Aramburo, a Mexico native and Sahuarita resident for 12 years, is not a typical member of the demographic. He is upwardly mobile. He attends college by night, manages his father's Green Valley business, Rambo Landscaping, by day and is investing for a financially secure future.

All this makes Aramburo an exception to the rule for Hispanics, a rule that is not disappearing as fast as financial consultant Jose Vargas would like.

"I still see Hispanics living day to day ... paycheck to paycheck," said Vargas, owner of Azteca Financial & Tax Service, 4431 E. Broadway. "It's a hard habit for us to break because that is how our parents in Mexico have always lived."

A federal report released last month by the U.S. Department of Labor Statistics said 1.5 million American jobs were created since September 2003, and Hispanics reaped 28.5 percent of those new jobs.

But the report doesn't address the type of jobs.

Although more Hispanics today may be buying homes and investing for the future, "most Hispanics are still filling jobs in low-paying industries such as food and hotel services," said Tilly Arvizu, assistant vice president of the Tucson Chicanos Por La Causa office.

"If we're spending everything we make, it's because we're not making the high wages we need to make. Our wages are way behind the eight ball," Arvizu said.

Vargas is also concerned. He serves a Tucson clientele that is 90 percent Hispanic. Aramburo is one.

"(Hispanics) are not participating in the investment end of the economy as much as we should be. We tend to spend everything we make. ... We're not saving or investing for the future," Vargas said.

"It's not that Hispanics don't want to save or invest," Arvizu said. 'It's not that they don't have the motivation. It's just that it's difficult, especially when both parents are working at low-paying jobs."

Helping Tucson Hispanics manage their money better is another area of concentration for Chicanos Por La Causa, Arvizu said. The center provides a range of financial information and training for Hispanics.

The organization has partnered with Wells Fargo & Co. to provide grants to first-time Hispanic home buyers to make financial stability and growth less of a pipe dream and more of an American reality.

"We are very committed to the Hispanic community and have been very proactive in reaching out to them," said Maria Alday, Wells Fargo marketing president in Tucson.

The bank takes pride in being the first financial institution in the country to accept the Mexican government card, Matricula Consular, as sufficient identification for opening a bank account, Alday said.

Financial planners say having a traditional relationship with a bank or credit union can be helpful in saving and managing money.

At A Glance

• Hispanics in America are projected to have nearly $700 billion in spending power in 2004 and $1 trillion by 2010.
• Hispanics are the country's largest ethnic demographic, with 38.8 million living in the United States.
• There are 271,528 Hispanic Americans living in Pima County or 29.3 percent of the population.
• Hispanic purchasing power has increased at a compound annual rate of 5.6 percent since 1978. That is more than twice as fast as the 2.31 percent rate for total U.S. purchasing power during the same period.
• Driving the economic impact of Hispanics on the U.S. economy are immigration, rising education levels and rapid employment growth.

Sources: HispanTelligence; U.S. Census Bureau; U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

Hispanic Income

Annual Hispanic national per capita income:

2002 - $13,487
2001 - $13,003
2000 - $12,650
1999 - $12,344
1998 - $12,401
1997 - $11,847
1996 - $11,287
1995 - $10,727
1994 - $11,147
1993 - $10,652
1992 - $10,622

U.S. Census Bureau

Advocates: Data don't give true picture of Hispanics' earnings

Don't read too much into the latest economic data on Hispanics' financial trends, a local Hispanic advocate said.

That's because it focuses on the strength of Hispanics as a group, not as individuals, said Tilly Arvizu, assistant vice president of the Tucson office of Chicanos Por La Causa.

While the entire Hispanic demographic wields a lot of financial power, she said, that is because of the high number of Hispanics in the United States and not because individual Hispanics are earning high wages.

Census data seem to support Arvizu's argument.

The data put 2002 median income for the average Hispanic household in the United States at $33,103, about $4,000 higher than African-American households ($29,026), but nearly $14,000 less than non-Hispanic white households ($46,900) and $19,500 less than Asian-American households ($52,626).

In annual per capita income for 2002, a Hispanic made $13,487 or $12,641 less than his white counterpart at $26,128.

One of the challenges Hispanics face is the lack of education, which makes them less informed and, therefore, not astute consumers, Arvizu said.

Others say data indicating Hispanics are disproportionately low paid do not take into account the underground economy of Hispanics.

Raul Aguirre, a member of the board of directors of the Tucson Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, said Hispanics continue to be financially challenged, but they meet the challenges with hard work.

"A Latino who cooks or buses tables or fixes coolers for a living during the week - on weekends he works in construction or fixing someone's plumbing," Aguirre said. "This adds to his economic power, but most studies don't take this into account."

Latino families, Aguirre said, cannot live on the wages they are being paid and still have the consumer power they enjoy.

"A Latino may be earning $20,000 on the books," Aguirre said, "and someone may say, 'How can he support a family of six on that?' Well, because on Saturday and Sundays he's working for cash. He's cleaning all the yards, he's cutting all the palm trees, he's digging all the ditches and laying all the tile."