Walk down Bellaire Boulevard, Bissonnet or Hillcroft and you're looking at the American Dream with the lights on. Taquerías, tire shops, roofing crews, dental offices, accounting firms. A lot of them were started by someone who arrived with nothing but a skill and a reason.
Hispanic small business in Houston, by the numbers
Latino-owned businesses are the fastest-growing group of employers in the country. Between the Census Bureau's 2017 and 2022 counts, Latino-owned employer firms grew 44% while white-owned firms shrank 3%.
Latino-owned business
- U.S. employer firms (2023): 496,000, with $730 billion in receipts (Census ABS)
- U.S. employees (2022): 3.6 million, $143 billion in payroll (Census ABS)
- U.S. self-employed / no-employee firms (2022): 5.1 million (Census)
- Texas employer firms (2022): 70,451, up 36% in five years (Stanford LEI)
- Houston metro employer firms: 17 for every 100 white-owned firms, vs. 8 nationally (Stanford LEI, 2021)
- Latino share of new U.S. entrepreneurs: 24% in 2021, up from 10% in 1996 (Kauffman)
- Hispanic share of the City of Houston: 44% (City of Houston, ACS 2020–24)
What holds Houston's small businesses back
Small business loans. Only 21% of Latino business owners who applied got all the financing they asked for, against 40% of white owners. When they were turned down, half got no explanation (Stanford, 2024: https://www.workingnation.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/2024-State-of-Latino-Entrepreneurship.pdf). The Fed's own survey found just 33% of Hispanic-owned employers got the full amount in 2025.
Regulation. Federal rules cost firms with fewer than 50 employees about $14,700 per employee a year, more than big companies pay per worker (NAM/Crain, 2023: https://nam.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/NAM-3731-Crains-Study-R3-V2-FIN.pdf). A large company has a compliance department. A family business has the owner, at the kitchen table, at 11 p.m.
Small business health insurance. A family plan at a firm with 10 to 199 workers cost $26,054 in 2025 (KFF: https://www.kff.org/health-costs/2025-employer-health-benefits-survey/). And Latino-owned firms are more likely than white-owned firms to offer benefits anyway (89% vs. 75%). They're paying for it.
Alexander Hale's plan: clear the path, then get out of the way
Alexander is running on a simple idea: “Constitutional principles. Limited government. Market-based solutions for Houston.” For small business, that means:
Keep the pass-through deduction. The 20% Section 199A deduction that most family businesses use was made permanent in July 2025, with a $400 minimum for active owners starting this year. Alexander will defend it against any attempt to let it lapse.
Cut the cost of coverage. The health care middlemen who drive up premiums hit small employers hardest. His plan to lower health costs (https://www.halefortexas.com/priorities/healthcare) goes after pharmacy benefit managers and hidden hospital prices.
Lower the cost of compliance. Every new federal rule should come with an honest estimate of what it costs a ten-person business, and agencies should cut old rules before adding new ones.
Bring down the bills. His affordability plan (https://www.halefortexas.com/priorities/affordability) targets the costs that hit a storefront first: insurance, power and borrowing rates.
The American Dream isn't a slogan here
For Houston families who came from Monterrey, Caracas, Havana, San Salvador or Lagos, the American Dream is the business on the corner with their name on the sign. Washington's job is to make it easier to put the next one up.
Frequently asked questions
Is the American Dream still alive for small business owners? In Houston, yes. Latino-owned employer firms grew 44% nationally in five years, and Houston has roughly twice the national rate of Latino-owned firms relative to white-owned ones.
How many Hispanic small businesses are in Texas? About 70,000 Latino-owned employer firms as of 2022, plus many more self-employed owners.
Why is it hard for Latino-owned businesses to get loans? Only 21% of Latino owners who applied got all the funding they asked for, versus 40% of white owners, according to Stanford's Latino Entrepreneurship Initiative.
What does small business health insurance cost in Texas? Nationally, a family plan at a small or mid-size firm averaged $26,054 in 2025; workers paid about a third.
What is the 199A pass-through deduction? A 20% deduction on qualified business income for sole proprietors, partnerships and S corporations. It became permanent in 2025.
Back the businesses that built Houston
Early voting runs through October 30, and Election Day is November 3. Vote at any site in your county; find one at https://www.harrisvotes.com (Harris) or https://www.fortbendvotes.org (Fort Bend). Or read the affordability plan (https://www.halefortexas.com/priorities/affordability).
Sources
- U.S. Census Bureau, Annual Business Survey (Nov 2025): https://www.census.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2025/business-owner-characteristics.html
- U.S. Census Bureau, Annual Business Survey (Dec 2024): https://census.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2024/employer-businesses.html
- U.S. Census Bureau, nonemployer characteristics (May 2025): https://www.census.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2025/nonemployer-business-characteristics.html
- Stanford Latino Entrepreneurship Initiative, 2024 State of Latino Entrepreneurship: https://www.workingnation.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/2024-State-of-Latino-Entrepreneurship.pdf
- Stanford LEI, Houston metropolitan area report: https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/faculty-research/publications/houston-metropolitan-area-2021-state-latino-entrepreneurship
- Kauffman Foundation, Who Is the Entrepreneur?: https://www.kauffman.org/reports/who-is-the-entrepreneur-united-states-1996-2021/
- Federal Reserve Small Business Credit Survey via FRED: https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/SBCSS3B1V5FRB
- NAM / Crain, cost of federal regulation (2023): https://nam.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/NAM-3731-Crains-Study-R3-V2-FIN.pdf
- KFF, 2025 Employer Health Benefits Survey: https://www.kff.org/health-costs/2025-employer-health-benefits-survey/
- City of Houston Planning, race and ethnicity (ACS 2024): https://cohips.houstontx.gov/planning/Demographics/docs_pdfs/2024-demographics/City-County-Metro-Race-Ethnicity-ACS-2024-Landscape.pdf
- WilmerHale, One Big Beautiful Bill Act and Section 199A: https://www.wilmerhale.com/insights/client-alerts/20250714-one-big-beautiful-bill-act