Cingular, a joint venture between the domestic wireless divisions of AT&T and BellSouth, is placing Spanish signs inside some Southern Nevada stores, including this one near Sahara Avenue and Decatur Boulevard in Las Vegas. Cingular hopes to reach local Hispanic customers. Photos by Clint Karlsen. A Cingular spokesman says bilingual employees will be on hand at its stores to ensure that Hispanic shoppers receive a culturally appropriate sales approach strongly emphasizing family ties.

Local business owners have for years profited from supplying the everyday needs of Southern Nevada's emerging Hispanic community.

But those who look beyond the shoppers at the valley's obvious array of mercados, carnicerias and zapaterias will also find a booming pool of Hispanic businesses and consumers with increasingly sophisticated demands -- as well as a growing pool of professionals seeking to supply them.

"As the Spanish-speaking population has grown here ... so has its purchasing power," said Maite Salazar, whose Salazar Communications has provided Spanish public relations services locally for nearly two years. "That has created areas for industries to move in, such as special products or services."

Alex Cabrera, a Mexico native who works locally with American Family Insurance, agreed.

"It's a natural thing. Anglos often seek out Anglos, blacks tend to look for blacks and Hispanics look for Hispanics" when doing business, Cabrera said. "There's a huge opportunity for people who speak both (English and Spanish) because there are so many Hispanics in this area."

Bilingual real estate agents and loan officers; doctors, lawyers and other professionals should consider doing business here, too, said Cabrera, whose wife, Nicole, is a bilingual nurse.

"There are not enough (bilingual professionals) here, judging by the size of this market," said Cabrera, who moved here from Minneapolis three years ago to capitalize on Nevada's thriving Hispanic population.

Salazar launched her business in 2001 in her native area, California's Imperial Valley. When she chose to relocate, Salazar studied the nation's fastest-growing Hispanic markets and ultimately selected Las Vegas over New York City.

"It's closer to home," she reasoned, adding growth in either area fit her business model's needs.

"Even in the established (Hispanic) communities along the border, which is where I'm from, there still is some void" for certain professional services, Salazar said. "I knew with a new population here, there would be opportunities."

U.S. Census data show 22.8 percent of Nevada's population in 2004 was of Hispanic origin. That was well above the national average of 14.1 percent.

More importantly, the local Hispanic population is expanding. In 2000, Hispanics made up just 19.7 percent of the state's population; and in 1990, they accounted for 10.3 percent of the Silver State's residents.

Six percent of Clark County businesses were Hispanic-owned as of 1997, according to Census data supplied by the Las Vegas Latin Chamber of Commerce. Given the sector's population growth over the ensuing years, the percentage of Hispanic business owners is likely higher, as well.

"Many of the new businesses are owned by Spanish speakers who need service and prefer service in their own language, only because sometimes if it's technical there's a certain comfort level" in using a native tongue, said Salazar, whose clients include North Vista Hospital in North Las Vegas and Henderson's Nevada State College.

WOW! Card Services, a 6-year-old Las Vegas company that sells prepaid debit cards, has seen an approximately 50 percent increase in sales since it began marketing to Hispanic locals a year or so ago.

Spokesman Jeff Hein said WOW! struggled to differentiate its product from the competition before the company began "affinity marketing" in partnership with well-known Hispanic businesses.

By branding its cards with a popular Latin nightclub, for example, WOW! could sell its products directly to nightclub patrons. Once those buyers became comfortable with the cards, they began to tell their friends and family about WOW! as well.

"(Hispanics) are a very loyal group," Hein said. "They're very much into word-of-mouth, so a lot of our business came from referrals."

Hispanics aren't the only ethnic group targeted by WOW!, Hein said. The company has achieved similar success among Filipino-Americans who purchased long-distance phone cards before buying debit cards.

Prepaid debit cards are a popular method for sending money to friends and relatives outside the United States, Hein said.

Cingular, a joint venture between the domestic wireless divisions of AT&T and BellSouth, is placing Spanish materials inside eight Southern Nevada stores and kiosks.

Bilingual employees are also on hand to ensure that shoppers receive a culturally appropriate sales approach, said Art Navarro, a Cingular spokesman based in Cerritos, Calif. One such cultural trait, Navarro said, is a strong emphasis on family ties.

"It's not, perhaps, one line they're selling, but that there's an opportunity in which a customer may come in wanting to outfit their entire family" with cell phones, Navarro said. "What is the appropriate phone? Is prepaid or postpaid a better fit? It's that kind of sensitivity and understanding that the community needs."

Cingular has placed bilingual stores in other cities with large Hispanic populations, including Chicago, Dallas, Miami and New York, Navarro said. Early feedback has been positive.

On a national level, Cingular offers musical ring tones based on songs from popular Latin artists; news, sports and weather content in Spanish; four bilingual call centers; and a Spanish Web site. Its customers can even request to receive their phone bills in Spanish.

"It just makes good business sense. ... (Hispanics are) a rapidly expanding consumer segment that we want to cater to with a slightly different approach," said Navarro, who emphasized English speakers remain welcome at Cingular's bilingual stores.