Construction firms are still unconventional businesses for women to own. According to the Census Bureau, only about 7 percent of them are run by women. But thanks to raw need, more women are heading firms in specialties ranging from framing to architecture and engineering.

Mutual fund CRA Qualified Investment Fund has announced an initiative to raise $50 million to support loans to small businesses in minority and emerging markets. The initiative is a joint project of Florida-based CRAFund Advisors and the Minnesota-based Community Reinvestment Fund.

Nurturing and enhancing the visions of their forefathers is the goal of many young people who inherit family businesses. Still, not everyone is convinced that following in their family's footsteps is the right career path.

Retail sales rose at the fastest pace in more than four years in January as consumers cashed in holiday gift cards and unusually warm weather enticed shoppers to get out of their homes and spend, the government said Tuesday.

The new chairman of the Federal Reserve said Wednesday that more interest rate increases might be needed to combat inflation. The Fed has raised the core interest rate 14 consecutive times since June 2004, and it now stands at 4.5 per cent.

Nearly 40 percent of Hispanic voters in Chicago have seen their registrations challenged by election officials in recent years, and they could be purged from voter rolls in the next four years, Hispanic activists say.

Educated Americans are America's competitive edge, President Bush said in last month's State of the Union address. But thanks to a bill he signed last week, the cost of getting an education could increase. That's no way to encourage today's students.

The California Department of Managed Health Care announced the release of draft regulations "that will require all health plans in California to provide care in the patient's primary language."

More than 20 percent of Cubans are 65 or older, while a scant 4 percent of Mexicans are in that age bracket. On the other hand, 37 percent of Mexicans and 31 percent of Puerto Ricans are younger than 18.

Search the 2005 Hispanic Business 500, a national benchmark of the surging development of U.S. Hispanic-owned companies.

Yankelovich Inc., a leading marketing research and consulting firm, emphasizes in its predictions for 2006 that the Hispanic market is "a main driving force" and "catalyst for growth" in the American economy, destined to receive heightened attention from marketers this year and beyond.