Census Day 2010

Back on November 22, 2009 I posted an entry ("Community Banks and the 2010 Census") about the importance of the Census for communities such as East Los Angeles and Santa Ana - the Bank's two service areas.  Since Census Day 2010 is one month away (April 1, 2010) I thought I would provide an update to my earlier commentary.

As I stated back in November, the Census count determines how approximately $400 billion is disbursed across a multitude of federal programs.  The larger the population, the larger the portion of the pot.  As such, communities benefit by an accurate count and are penalized by an undercount.  The City of Los Angeles estimated that it lost out on roughly $20 million per year as a result of the 2000 Census undercount.

In the January/February issue of Hispanic Business Magazine Rob Kuznia addressed the challenges faced in obtaining an accurate census count ("Census Budget Bigger Than Ever, But Some Officials Predict a Miscount").  According to Mr. Kuznia, "at about $15 billion, the outlay for the once-a-decade event is nearly three times the amount of the Census budget in 2000.  Still, prominent experts predict that the 2010 Census will overlook many more people than the one in 2000, which undercounted the U.S. population by millions."  Yikes!  Three times the budget but fewer counted?  What's up with that?

Back in November I stated that "as a local corporate citizen it is in our best interest to maximize investment dollars in our community. Investments boost the standard of living of our customers, attract additional investments into the community and generate the need for financial products and services provided by community banks."  In his article Mr. Kuznia quoted Clara Rodriguez, a sociology professor at Fordham University and author of "Changing Race: Latinos, the Census and the History of Ethnicity in the United States," who concurred.  According to Ms. Rodriguez, "There's always been a lot of activity around this, but that activity in the past has been in the background, not at the forefront.  Now it's much more in the open.  I think more and more people are realizing how important the Census is."

Census officials estimate that the 2010 edition of the Census will show 306 million Americans of which 46 million will be Latino.  If accurate, that figure will show a rise in Latinos from 12.5% at 2000 to 15% in 2010.  Further, Census predictions show Latinos growing to between 21 and 31 percent of the total population by 2050.  That means up to one-third of the U.S. population will be Latino in 40 years. 

With roughly 40% of Latino household unbanked or underbanked, according to a recent FDIC study, I'd say this little Latino bank has its work cut out for it.

2W3DN5PDERGH

Our Trip to Santa Ana

On the evening of November 2, 2009, I visited the city council in Santa Ana, California.



In an act of appreciation, the city council presented to me, on behalf of Pan American Bank, a proclamation honoring our service to the City of Santa Ana for 40 years.



If you know about our bank you know that we are focused on serving the Latino markets in Southern California. When we set up shop in 1964 we started by establishing ourselves in East Los Angeles - Los Angeles County's Latino stronghold. Five years later we established a branch in Santa Ana - Orange County's Latino hub. Since then we have opened one more branch in East Los Angeles.

Something great that evolved from our interaction with the city council was a request to establish a community-based advisory council. The city council in Santa Ana has been taking a very proactive approach to improving the standard of living of their residents. Part of that initiative is what they call Bank on Santa Ana.


Pan American Bank jumped all over the Bank on Santa Ana program. This program, which seeks to convert the unbanked and under-banked segments of the City of Santa Ana, is in perfect alignment with our mission (see my post on our mission) since roughly 80% of the City of Santa Ana is comprised of Latinos.

As I stated above, the city council requested that Pan American Bank establish a board or committee comprised of community stakeholders that would work with the Bank to ensure that the residents of the City of Santa Ana have access to needed financial services. I thought it was a fantastic idea. Since our headquarters is located in Los Angeles County, an advisory board would ensure that there is always someone in Orange County looking out for community development opportunities and ensuring that needs are consistently being addressed.

We are now in the process of working with the community development officers at the FDIC, Federal Reserve and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to develop a framework that will be successful in achieving these goals. We look to having the framework completed by mid-December and rolling out the program in Santa Ana at the start of the new year.

We are very excited for the new program and we're looking forward to working with the City of Santa Ana at a more intimate level. Since we are a true community bank, what is good for the City of Santa Ana is good for Pan American Bank.