SOUNDING OFF:

About 25 years ago, when “Reaganomics” became synonymous with open-market economics and Orange County turned into the second most populous county in California, Latinos had few Spanish-language radio stations to listen to.

It didn’t matter whether someone was flipping hamburgers at a restaurant or doing a middle-class administrative job at a car dealership; many of us dreamed of switching radio stations like mainstream Americans did. My compadre Macedonio Pary, on his way to work to an assembly line, would tune to KLVE (107.5 FM) because it was the only available Spanish-language station on FM radio.

My compadre’s fortune has changed for the better. He owns a small spray-on protective coating business around Orange County and has many radio stations to choose from.

Something similar happened with television. Twenty-five years ago, Latinos could watch only novella after novella (soap-opera shows) on Univision television network during prime time hours. Luckily, today there are other competitors in the market, including cable companies with heavy Spanish and English programming packages. With a relatively inexpensive monthly payment, Latinos can get first-world soccer matches from overseas on their TV sets.

Early this month, a Mexican media titan, Grupo Radio Centro, bought KMVN (93.9 FM). The new management immediately changed its English-language programming to Spanish. It was the second switch of this kind in fewer than three months.

Like the media outlets, other county businesses have adjusted their market strategies to cater to the growing Latino population.

Some savvy businesses have moved resources and capital to invest in the Latino population. Their spending power is hard to pass by. After all, we comprise 32% of the population in this county. That’s close to 1 million of us ready to spend our weekly earnings on food, clothes, services, gadgets, etc. To say the least, our buying power nationwide is projected to grow to $1.1 trillion by 2009 and to $12.4 trillion by 2011, according to researchers at the University of Georgia.

Despite rumors that the economic meltdown is pushing some Latinos out of the country, the reality is that the vast majority is staying here. In fact, more of them are surging slowly into this area.

When they move in, they often bring their families, customs, culture, politics and their economic needs. Those entrepreneurs who recognize the new changing patterns of the market will likely reap the benefits of it. Those who don’t, I’m afraid, will lag behind. The Latino market is here to help those eager managers and investors who are ready to boost their profit margins.

HUMBERTO CASPA is a Costa Mesa resident.