Latino Integration: Pathways to Economic Prosperity and Business Competitiveness

Keynote Remarks:

• Hon. Jim Suttle, Mayor, City of Omaha

Speakers:

• Roslyn Dickerson, Regional Senior Vice President, Americas Corporate and Public Affairs, InterContinental Hotels Group
• Michael Fahey, Chairman of the Board, Omaha Community Foundation; former Mayor of Omaha
• Ray Hankes, Complex Manager, Tyson Foods, Inc., Council Bluffs, IA
• Mario Rodriguez, President of the Board, Nebraska Hispanic Chamber of Commerce
• Christopher Sabatini, Senior Director of Policy, AS/COA; Editor-in-Chief, Americas Quarterly
• Moderator: Jason Marczak, Director of Policy, AS/COA

Summary

Since 2007, AS/COA, recognizing that integration and immigration is a U.S. but also a hemispheric issue, has actively worked to promote greater private-sector involvement in Latino integration across the United States but with a focus on new gateway cities. Omaha, NE, is one of these new gateway cities. Its Hispanic population increased 185 percent between 1990 and 2000, and now accounts for approximately 11.4 percent of the city population.

To raise awareness about Latinos’ contributions to this new gateway city and the importance of workforce integration efforts, AS/COA hosted a lunch discussion attended by approximately 100 guests. The program was part of a larger AS/COA series of public events and private meetings in other new gateway cities, including New Orleans, LA, Nashville, TN, Portland, OR, and Atlanta, GA. These meetings bring together private-sector leaders as well as representatives from the public sector, community groups and religious organizations to discuss strategies for improving Latino integration and their overall contributions to new communities.

Read coverage of the luncheon by The Omaha World-Herald.

Non-traditional Gateway Cities: Opportunities for Integration

In his introduction of Mayor Jim Suttle, Christopher Sabatini emphasized the importance of integration efforts in cities that, like Omaha, have experienced large influxes of Hispanics in recent years. Such growth poses challenges for local communities, but it also presents great opportunities. Communities that are quick to recognize Hispanics’ contributions are often the first to benefit from such opportunities.

Mayor Suttle noted the importance of respecting and fostering diversity in the day-to-day policymaking process. He indicated not only his respect for different ideas and perspectives, but also his dedication to fostering an environment where all stakeholders are involved: “a city is more than a collection of people and neighborhoods. A city is the total sum of its parts, which must all be working in unison for the city to function.” The mayor fully recognized that Omaha’s Latino community is a vibrant part of the “city family,” having significantly contributed to the revitalization of South Omaha.

Following the upcoming census, Omaha is poised to become the fortieth largest city in the United States. This growth compels Omaha to take on a greater role in regional affairs, and show leadership in how to best integrate a growing population.

Integration and Business Competitiveness

The private sector employs a large number of Hispanic workers and plays a key role in their integration, which in turn promotes business competitiveness. In his introduction of Roslyn Dickerson and Ray Hankes, Jason Marczak (the moderator for the panel) outlined the rationale behind Hispanic integration programs and the reasons why it is in the interests of the business community to support their Latino workers.

The two private-sector representatives who participated on the panel presented their perspectives on how integration efforts make good business sense and contributes to the bottom line.

Roslyn Dickerson noted that the goal at InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) is no longer simply about promoting diversity; instead, IHG’s “efforts now focus on how to leverage diversity to improve our business success.” Moreover, she noted that there are three constituents that InterContinental typically thinks about in developing future plans. The first is employees, particularly with staff that consists of 70 percent minority employees and immigrants. Clientele is the second: “our guests are as diverse as our employees and we need to be able to reach as diverse a population as possible…often through our employees.” She also noted that Hispanics represent an increasingly large portion of their ownership base and that IHG supports Latino hotel owners through its support of organizations like the Hispanic Hotel Owners Association.

Ray Hankes noted that over 70 percent of his workforce is foreign born. Of the plant’s total workforce, approximately 50 percent are Latino, 20 percent are Asian and the overwhelming majority of the remaining 30 percent are not from the United States. From a strictly practical standpoint, it has made business sense to accommodate the needs of an employee pool that speaks 14 languages.

The Council Bluffs plant also has an extensive training program that teaches employees not only how to do a job, but also leadership and management skills. He said that over half of the plant’s managers began as hourly employees and have since been promoted. With regard to worker retention, he noted that the local effort has been to develop a strong team with low turnover, which has been facilitated by worker integration and dedication to their employees.

Conclusions

Roslyn Dickerson helped to conclude the program by stressing the importance of high-level executives understanding the business implications for diversity and integration and the power that large companies possess to advocate for their employees interests at the national level. Understanding integration from a productivity and talent-recruiting perspective is the best way for CEOs and small business owners alike to understand these issues and act on them to achieve greater success.