Review of Literature on Hispanic Enclave Entrepreneurs in Cuban Miami

Miami Now: Immigration, Ethnicity, and Social Change Edited by Guillermo J. Grenier & Alex Stepick III (1992) University Press of Florida

By 1990, there were nearly one million Latins in the Miami area. Forty-nine percent of the entire metropolitan population (pg 5). In 1982, Miami stood second to New York in international banking centers, and sixth in the world for it’s International Airport in cargo tonnage. Furthermore, Port of Miami was the largest cruise ship port in the world. The decade of the eighties was one of tremendous growth in Miami due to the influx of Cuban’s into the area, stagnating the economic recession that Miami was initially experiencing. A majority of the small business that were the engine for economic growth at this time were Latin owned and operated. “From 1968 to 1980, Latinos (mostly all Cuban) received 46.9 percent of all Small Business Administration loans in Dade County” (pg 11). “Miami has almost half of the largest Hispanic-owned businesses in the United States. The rate of business ownership among Miami Hispanics (43 per 1000) far exceeds that in other metropolitan areas” (pg 125).