According to the Small Business Administration (SBA), Hispanic-owned businesses are the fastest growing segments of the U.S. economy. To help reach more small businesses, this important government agency is joining forces with the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (USHCC) to increase lending to Hispanic small businesses. Read the full SBA announcement.

Other organizations also have expressed interest in working with Hispanic small businesses.Google, for example, partnered with Intuit to create a program that is specifically designed to reach Spanish-speaking entrepreneurs.

  

"Hispanic businesses in the U.S. have grown more than 44 percent in the past five years," said Mark Lopez, Head of U.S. Hispanic Audience Sales, Google. "This makes 'Get Your Business Online con Google' a natural next step to continue driving economic growth and empower Latino business owners to get online."

However, one important aspect that seems to be missing in helping Hispanic small businesses move forward is lack of capital. In a recent article "Why Aren't There More Hispanics in Franchising?" Rob Bond, the founder of the National Minority Franchising Initiative (NMFI), said "It's clearly money. Some of it may be a language barrier or lack of professional experience, but money is the key determinant."

Credit unions are extremely well positioned to help Hispanic entrepreneurs attain their business goals in 2013. This is particularly true now that banks are making it more difficult for small businesses to get credit. Don't allow this precious opportunity get away.