Latinas are helping fuel Nevada’s economy
Ivette Barajas, of Las Vegas, is used to being the only woman in a boardroom, but that landscape is changing.
Barajas, CEO of Mikbar Construction, started her career in finance and is used to being in male-dominated industries. Now, in C-suite level meetings as a construction executive, she is not surprised to see she is the only female, if not the only Latina.
“At least in the construction industry, I don’t feel so alone because I’m not the only Latina,” she said. “I don’t let it faze me [being the only woman], and now I just don’t even pay attention to it.”
Founded in 2018, Mikbar Construction is family owned and operated, and specializes in commercial contracting for apartment complexes, condominiums, senior living spaces and corporate offices.
The inaugural U.S. Latina GDP Report, funded by Bank of America, found Latina-owned or operated businesses are helping fuel the economy. Latinas contributed $1.3 trillion in gross domestic product in 2021, making the entire Latina GDP larger than that of the state of Florida. Additionally, the economic contribution of Latinas grew 51.1 percent from 2010 to 2021.
In Nevada, around 50 percent of businesses are women owned and 20 percent are Latino owned, according to the 2023 Small Business Profile.
“I’m seeing Latinas thriving and rising in all industries,” said Peter Guzman, president of the Latin Chamber of Commerce. “In restaurant ownership, I see more trends in ownership and landscaping companies. I just see a trend of booming in a group of different businesses, not one specifically.”
Guzman also noted the number of Hispanic females with a bachelor’s degree grew a total of 103.0 percent from 2010-2021, the study found.
“Now, once a month on one of our programs, there’s probably 150 women that are just really anxious to be entrepreneurs,” Guzman said. “So the entrepreneurs that are in these programs and classes are very educated. There’s something to be said for that.”
Contact Emerson Drewes at edrewes@reviewjournal.com. Follow @EmersonDrewes on X.
