Gris Bailey and Manolo Betancur provide vivid examples of the ingenuity and influence of Latino and Hispanic entrepreneurs and workers in Charlotte’s economy. Bailey grew up in Southern California, where she hoped to become a lawyer. She did, in fact, go on to earn a law degree and practiced immigration law, but consulting and business development became her career focus, taking her all over the country and developing expertise in a range of fields, including companies that provide college planning for students and parents. Those steps brought Bailey to Charlotte in 2018. Two years later, the pandemic shut down many of her consulting options as Covid-19 wreaked havoc on business travel. Bailey, after the temporary grounding, realized she needed a job with less travel to allow her more time with family. At that point, she thought she might move back to California. She wound up staying after being encouraged to apply in 2020 to lead the Latin American Chamber of Commerce Charlotte, where she is president and CEO. Betancur emigrated from his native Colombia to the United States in 2000. He arrived in Miami with $900 and a couple of changes of clothes; he did not speak English. Within five years, Betancur would earn a college degree from King University in Tennessee, get married, and move to Charlotte, where he became part of a family bakery on Central Avenue. The Great Recession nearly killed the bakery but, over the next decade, Betancur became the small business’ de facto CEO and sales recovered. Annual revenue went from $300,000 in 2008 ($427,000 adjusted for inflation) to $1.8 million last year. Over the same span, the bakery grew from six employees to 40. Betancur’s in-laws started the bakery and sold it to Manolo and his ex-wife in 2014. Soon after that, he bought out his ex-wife and changed the name to Manolo’s Latin Bakery. Along the way, he’s become a tireless advocate for east Charlotte while making national and international news for humanitarian campaigns including trips to Ukraine to help bakers revive their businesses through equipment donations. Bailey and Betancur are immersed in the Hispanic — and broader — business community. And that community is significant. During the last 10 years, the Charlotte area’s Latino workforce grew by a whopping 40%. And, based on continuing population gains, their influence is expected to keep getting stronger in the years ahead. According to the latest Census figures, Hispanic and Latino people account for 11%, or 315,000, of the Charlotte metro area’s 2.76 million people. Analysis by the Charlotte Regional Business Alliance of data collected by labor tracking firm Lightcast found that the Hispanic population increased 20% between 2018 and 2023. Bailey added that Charlotte is unique because its Latino population is more diverse, much less concentrated than in South Florida (Cuba, Puerto Rico) and Southern California (Mexico, Central America), for example. “I didn’t know the richness and the culture of Latinos here in Charlotte,” Bailey said. “Very unique in Charlotte is that we have Latinos from all over Latin America. We have people from Colombia, from Guatemala, from Mexico, from Venezuela, it’s an array.” Bailey and Betancur this month appeared on CBJ’s Two Views podcast to discuss the growth and financial muscle of Latino business leaders, workers, and consumers across the region as well as their challenges. Immigration, political influence and equal opportunity to accumulate and build personal wealth and stability were among the topics discussed. The Charlotte Business Journal’s Two Views podcast is brought to you by Segra, one of the largest independent fiber network companies in the Eastern United States based right here in Charlotte.
