American Business Faces Increased Demand for Asian and Hispanic Translation Services To Meet Fundamental Communication Needs

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, about one of every three residents in the United States today is a minority. The United States continues to live up to its reputation as a cultural melting pot with its total minority population reaching over 100 million. This reflects an upward swing of 2.4 million in the 2005 to 2006 period.

The Hispanic population remained the largest minority group in America, accounting for 14.8 percent of the total population, with 44.3 million in July of 2006. They also accounted for almost half of the national population growth of 2.9 million between July 1, 2005 and July 1, 2006. The Asian population rose by 3.2 percent, showing an increase of 460,000 during the same period.

“Businesses that want to serve these markets are having to take a closer look at communicating with these growing segments of the population,” said Jinny Bromberg, of Bromberg & Associates. “Many are beginning to realize the need not only for expert interpretation, but also for translation of web content, newsletters, legal documents and sales materials.”

Four states and the District of Columbia have the greater part of the minority populations. In 2006, Hawaii led this group with a 75 percent minority population. Following close behind was the District of Columbia with 68 percent, New Mexico and California each with 57 percent, followed closely by Texas with 52 percent.

“As professional translators and interpreters, we see the bulk of our work is currently being done for U.S. clients to fulfill the needs of serving customers in the U.S., rather than expanding business to a foreign country,” said Bromberg. “This is probably contrary to what the general public thinks that a translation agency does,” Bromberg added. “However, we see much of our future growth coming from companies that need translation help to reach international markets.