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Hispanics making huge financial impact on North Carolina, Surry County

Published: Thursday, January 3, 2008 7:18 PM CST
Nine billion dollars. That's how much North Carolina's rapidly growing Hispanic community contribute to the state's economy. If recent migration trends continue, the total economic impact of Hispanic spending in the state could increase to $18 billion by 2009.

Those were some of the key findings of a 2006 study by researchers at the University of North Carolina's Kenan-Flagler Business School.

"Immigrants from Latin America, authorized and unauthorized, are dramatically changing North Carolina's demographic and economic landscape," said John D. Kasarda, one of the study's authors.

Closer to home, here in Surry County, Hispanics have an estimated $72.4 million economic impact with buying power exceeding $78 million. With its large agricultural base and manufacturing industry, Surry employs thousands of Latino workers. The most recent population estimates put the Hispanic population at 6,382, or roughly 11 percent of the county's estimated population of 72,687.

Hispanic households have the highest percentage concentration in Dobson where 2000 Census figures estimated that Latinos account for 25.8 percent of the town's population. In Mount Airy, Hispanics make up an estimated 6 percent of the total residents.

Surry County also has the ninth highest percent of Hispanic students in the state with an estimated 12.1 percent enrolled in local public schools.

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