Editor's note: This story is part of Southwest Michigan Second Wave's On the Ground Calhoun County series.

Hispanic populations in Calhoun County are keeping the American dream alive. They are following a national trend that finds them outpacing other minority groups through earning undergraduate and graduate degrees from colleges, which positions them to get higher-skilled jobs and become entrepreneurs, according to a study conducted by Ida Byrd-Hill, CEO of Automation Workz headquartered in Detroit.
 
The study titled “West Michigan Titanium Triangle Shifting Hispanic-Americans into High-Tech Drive” was released in November. In June, 2024, she shared the findings of a similar study which focused on the need to get more African Americans into high-tech jobs. Both studies were funded by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation (WKKF).
 
“The Hispanic population is making a lot more money and is employed in technology positions,” Byrd-Hill says.
 
The national data comes as a surprise to her, she says.
 
“Michigan does not have a large Hispanic population in general,” she says. “Hispanics are employed and in a lot of technical positions. Much of the rhetoric we hear says they’re all in these low-paying migrant jobs. We see a lot of Hispanics working in these types of jobs and they may not be legal. Those who are legal are employed in some very technical jobs.”
 
As an example, she says that 19 percent of electricians in the United States are Hispanic. Statistics like this aren’t often cited because it doesn’t fit the narrative of a conversation that many people are pushing in the current political climate.
 
In addition to looking at the Hispanic workforce, Byrd-Hill cites Hispanic-owned businesses including Goya Foods with annual revenues of $1.5 billion; Carvana with annual revenue of $2.7 billion; and Mastec with annual revenue of $12 billion.
 
“Where African Americans are serving corporations, Hispanics went into business serving consumers directly,” she says. “Of the top 25 Hispanic companies, three are car companies. The food companies they own provide food products geared towards the Hispanic population. They are catering to unmet needs of this population and doing it from a consumer perspective. These are entrepreneurs who aren’t satisfied with what’s already being offered and are driven to offer alternative products and services.”
 
The businesses are being supported by Hispanics who over the past decade have grown their household consumption. In 2020 buying power for Hispanics was $2.085 trillion. By 2026 its is predicted to be $2.775 trillion, according to the Selig Center for  Economic Growth within the University of Georgia’s Terry College of Business.

This growth is being fueled locally, regionally, and nationally by wages earned through good-paying jobs, Byrd-Hill says. The data in her report focuses on the West Michigan Titanium Triangle, the name she has given to a geographic area that includes Battle Creek, Benton Harbor, Grand Rapids, Jackson, and Kalamazoo. She refers to this area as a “burgeoning tech corridor." She uses Battle Creek as the home base for her work to increase the number of people having access and opportunity to train for high-paying tech jobs because of its central location.
 
In Calhoun County, home to the city of Battle Creek, 6.1 percent of its total population of more than 133,000 identifies as Hispanic, according to the Michigan Department of Health website.
 
Twenty-nine percent of Calhoun County’s Hispanic residents are employed in technology occupations. 15 percent of these jobs represent computer and computer integrated systems which pay an hourly wage of $78.88, and another 7 percent are computer and information research scientists and analysts who make an hourly wage of $65.69. The remainder are employed in electrical, electronic and electromechanical occupations that require varying amounts of technology skills, Byrd-Hill says.
 
“When you have a lot of the Hispanic population involved in technology jobs, they make good money giving them a great deal of purchasing power which drives the local economy,” she says.
 
WKKF’s Michigan team is having conversations now about the best engagement approach to take to connect underserved populations to good-paying tech sector jobs given the current climate, says Dr. Alana White, WKKF Program Officer. 
 
“That’s probably the big thing. And where we go from here given the climate?” she says.
 
Workforce development issues continue to be a focus for WKKF because it is among the priority areas underpinning its mission to improve the lives of vulnerable children and families.
 
In June, 2022, WKKF came alongside partners in a consortium and contributed funding to their work to design and launch a website called Connect Battle Creek which offers resources designed to remove barriers such as being unhoused or lacking affordable childcare or stable transportation.
 
The website is the product of ongoing discussions among members of a consortium that is made up of the organizations that founded Connect Battle Creek — the Woman’s Co-op;  Michigan Works Southwest; Goodwill Industries of Central Michigan’s Heartland; Kellogg Community College; Community Action Agency; and the Village Network of Battle Creek. The organization is described on its website as a “centralized workforce hub for the Battle Creek community. Job seekers can find the resources they need to get or keep a good job. Employers can find ways to address workforce challenges so that their workers can have a positive work experience. Community organizations can list their services so that people who need them can find them.”
 
White says Connect Battle Creek eliminates the task for jobseekers of multiple stops on a journey throughout the community to get employment services. She says this is one example of how community partners have come together to try to figure out what the “No Wrong Door” approach is to assist those looking for work, acknowledging that there are multiple entry access points for them.
 
“Because children live in families that are multi-dimensional and multi-generational, we really wanted to focus not just on education and health, but also how we create conditions for children to be successful. Part of that is having parents, guardians and caregivers who have income to meet their needs and access and opportunities for higher paying jobs,” White says. “That’s what really sets the tone. It really is about what does it look like for children to thrive.”
 
Similar to Byrd-Hill’s report about the African American workforce, which highlighted how the jobs needed “for the Electrical Vehicle revolution don’t have African Americans employed in it” at all levels from electrical technicians to data managers and everything in between, she says the same can be said of the Hispanic population.
 
“When we look at the data and the responses from members of our community, one thing that stood out was around income disparities,” White says. “In particular, we had our Black and Latine communities which had the lowest median income. A number on a data set sometimes can be used to determine why we should do XYZ. 

"When Ida and I started talking, given where we were with some of our work with our community and the establishment of Ford’s Blue Oval facility in Marshall, it seemed like a good time to start these reports. We said, let’s start here and think through how best to serve our community.”
 
Solutions to the challenges
 
Citing the challenges is one thing. Offering ways to meet them is something else, and Byrd-Hill’s report includes recommendations to address the issues discussed in the key findings, preventing West Michigan Titanium Triangle Hispanic Americans from enjoying a thriving lifestyle. Some of these suggestions include:
 
Strengthen the Hispanic Commission of Michigan

West Michigan Titanium Triangle Hispanic Americans need a pipeline to deliver multimillion-dollar business contracts to Hispanic American businesses and multimillion-dollar grants to the Hispanic American community. The State of Michigan can begin the leveraging process to deliver high-paying, high-demand careers to the Hispanic American West Michigan Titanium Triangle communities.
 
Trade mission to the top three PISA Countries to learn how to turbo boost West Michigan Titanium Triangle Hispanic American economic development

The global competition for dominance revolves around Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM). Math is the core of this competition, as it is the foundation for the other subjects.

The West Michigan Titanium Triangle Hispanic American communities must figure out how to get the entire community, adults and young people, to love and no longer be afraid of math. The West Michigan Titanium Triangle Hispanic Americans need to learn how Singapore, Korea, and Canada were able to achieve these results so we can set our residents free from their math anxiety so they can matriculate to
high-tech careers.
 
Restructure Workforce Development within the West Michigan Titanium Triangle to launch Hispanic Americans into high-paying careers

In the 21st century, the mantra should be “STEM EDUCATION PAYS.” Yet educational and workforce development leaders are continually directing young Hispanic Americans to non- or low-STEM educational and workforce development options that lead to low-paying wages.
 
Focus on growing current Hispanic American employer businesses

Research shows the Hispanic American job application rate is much higher at firms with executives or owners, as potential Hispanic American applicants perceive they are less likely to experience discrimination in hiring or promotion or less likely to be working in hostile environments. West Michigan Titanium Triangle needs larger Hispanic-American employer firms to focus on assisting current employer firms to expand rather than focusing on the startup sole proprietorships.
 
Upping the training game
 
Calhoun County has the highest Hispanic Educational Attainment rate, 30.9%, in the West Michigan Titanium Triangle, says Byrd-Hill’s report. Although Kent County and Kalamazoo County have larger universities, Calhoun County Hispanics have a significantly higher Educational Attainment rate.
 
Yet, the report says, “Workforce development is preparing Hispanic Americans for low-wage occupations in office and administrative support, production, transportation, and material moving, which will soon become obsolete as automation expands exponentially. West Michigan Titanium Triangle Hispanic Americans exited the Michigan Workforce Development (WIOA) system from April 2022 through March 2023 with median hourly wages of $13 to $14.”
 
On the state and national level, Byrd-Hill says individuals aren’t receiving training that takes into consideration their current level of education or the length of training necessary to position them to take higher-paying jobs.
 
“We need to change the training to meet where the employers are in West Michigan electronic tech companies. The entire state of Michigan does a poor job of preparing people for tech careers. With the population served, state-funded programs only want to train them in 12 to 16 week sessions,” she says. “Then you have the normal tech bootcamp that caters to someone with a Bachelor’s degree and already knows how to study.”
 
These bootcamp trainings include 70 hours of training and homework a week. The individuals participating in this type of learning aren’t the ones attending workforce development trainings.
 
“With a regular bootcamp, you may only be in class 8 hours a day but you’ve got 30 hours of homework on top of that,” Byrd Hill says. “People who come to workforce development trainings are low income with no degree.”
 
If they have the skills and training, they’ll be better positioned to compete for higher paying tech jobs. This requires meeting students where they are on their learning journey.
 
It is not uncommon, Byrd-Hill says, to encounter students who don’t have a basic working knowledge of Microsoft Office. Her training programs are anywhere from 36 to 48 weeks with students attending classes for three hours each week and the rest of their time focused on homework.
 
“If I do so much lecture time, there’s not enough time for them to do their homework to get the skills they need,” she says. “The way the tech industry runs, when you apply you have a verbal interview and they may have an impromptu exam or projects or presentation, which requires you to have those skills.”
 
Automation Workz receives money through various state sources, including Michigan Works, to train low-income students in a virtual format using Zoom. The company graduates between 100 and 125 students per year, some of whom stay in Michigan while others work remotely from other states.
 
The average starting salary for graduates is $67,250. She’s had many success stories.
 
“I had one student who started on a production line who was able to move up to a managerial position and is now making $73,000 a year because of the training he received, but you’ve got to have the basics of technology to do that,” Byrd-Hill says.
 
White says one of the things that became very clear working with the community’s workforce development partners is that the “nature of the work is continuing to evolve and shift. We weren’t talking about AI (Artificial Intelligence) the way we are now. A lot of jobs are quickly evolving into tech jobs. We need to figure out who is included and excluded. We’re all trying to figure out how to do right by our community.”
 
“We want people to rise,” Byrd-Hill says.