As a result, Gomez said he -- and other minorities -- have greater buying power and the business community is taking notice.

"It used to be when Hispanics worked in this country we were the maids and porters," Gomez said. "I'm a second-generation Hispanic. I was born in the U.S., and I have a college degree in hotel management (from UNLV). Therefore, more of us are becoming business owners, we're management people, we're moving up in the ranks of employment to higher paying jobs."

Gomez is owner and general manager of Las Vegas-based Magic Brite Janitorial and vice president of the Latin Chamber of Commerce.

And there's good news for entrepreneurs like Gomez: The growth in disposable income or buying power for minorities will accelerate faster than that of white households at least through 2010.

That's according to Jeffrey Humphreys, director of the Selig Center for Economic Growth in the Terry College of Business at the University of Georgia, who authors an annual study that measures the buying power of Hispanics, blacks, Asians, American Indians, whites and others, nationally and in each state.

The study also compares the growth in buying power of each of those groups in 1990 and 2005. The study defines buying power as personal income available after taxes that individuals can use to purchase goods and services.

The study indicates that the growth in buying power can be attributed to growing population numbers and the fact that more minorities are getting better educated, which means more minorities are getting better paying jobs with more responsibilities or are becoming entrepreneurs.

"Population is one very important factor," Humphreys said. "You have really very strong job growth in Nevada. That's the magnet that brought people to Nevada. That was a necessary condition for population (growth) to take place. You have some entrepreneurial activity, you have Asians, African-Americans and Hispanics opening businesses at a greater rate than others."

Humphreys' study indicates that Nevada's Hispanics enjoyed greater growth in buying power between 1990 and 2005 with 640 percent growth compared to the state's total buying power and that of other ethnic and racial groups. Hispanic Nevadans ranked fifth in the nation in buying power growth.

Asian Nevadans followed Hispanics in buying power growth with 532 percent growth and the state ranked second in the nation for Asian buying power growth; the buying power of black Nevadans grew by 331 percent and they ranked fifth in buying power nationally; American Indians saw their buying power grow by 220 percent and their growth ranked 12th in the nation. Multiracial Nevadans weren't ranked on their buying power growth.

All of the state's residents experienced 249 percent buying power growth and the state ranked first in the nation for buying power growth as did Nevada's white residents, who saw their buying power grow by 232 percent.

Humphreys said the business community should and is tailoring their approach to potential consumers and employees with the needs of minorities in mind.

"I suspect as we speak companies are devoting a large amount of their advertising to those groups," he said. "It goes beyond advertising and marketing. It touches on product development. Increasingly companies are developing products for those groups, particularly in cosmetics. Some of the best evidence that Corporate America is paying attention to these trends is... the fact that we've seen an explosion in niche media."

Gomez echoed Humphreys' statements.

"The main thing that comes out of this is the fact that it would not be a prudent business decision to ignore the buying power of the minority groups," Gomez said. "The buying power of the minority groups is getting stronger and stronger each year. You see the recognition in regular life if you look at advertising. If you go back ten years ago they weren't concentrating on the minorities. Today you can't put an ad on and not see minority people."

Debra Nelson, vice president of corporate diversity and community affairs for MGM Mirage, said that company has risen to the challenge and targets minorities as potential customers and employees.

"MGM Mirage, several years ago with the launch of our corporate diversity initiative, recognized that multicultural and emerging markets would be important to our future success," Nelson said. "As a result we began to critically examine our efforts to reach these audiences. Our goal is to position our hotels and casinos as destinations of choice for such consumers. Also, we want to communicate that our company is an ideal place for people to work."

The study shows that in 2005 Nevada's Hispanics have the largest amount of buying power compared to other minority groups, with $10.0 billion in buying power. Because of that the state ranked 11th out of the 50 states for Hispanic buying power.

Of the state's other minority groups the study showed that blacks have $3.8 billion in buying power in 2005 and they ranked 32nd out of all of the states for black buying power; Asians have $3.6 billion in buying power and ranked 22nd; multiracial Nevadans have $1.1 billion in buying power with a ranking of 25th and American Indians have $.8 billion in buying power and ranked 18th.

The study showed the total buying power for all of Nevada's residents was $76.1 billion and the state ranked 32nd in the amount of buying power residents have and whites have $66.9 billion in buying power and they ranked 32nd as well.

Humphreys said all of Nevada has excelled in buying power and minorities are benefiting from that.

"Nevada is generally an attractive market for virtually every group," he said. "If you look at total buying power, you're the fastest growing in the nation."

Hannah Brown, president of the Urban Chamber of Commerce, said the fact that blacks have less buying power than other minority groups is of concern. She said one reason Hispanics and Asians are excelling at buying power is they purchase goods and services from each other as much as possible.

"It's something we have to be aware of and try to improve and increase our economic power," Brown said. "We need to try to concentrate on purchasing from each other as much as we can."

Despite what some business leaders say, Brown said businesses should do more to court minorities as potential clients and employees.

"It should reflect in their hiring and promotions," Brown said. "If we're spending a gazillion dollars in one particular area, say construction, African- Americans should be more visible in that industry."

Brown acknowledged that local gaming companies are beginning to effectively target minorities as potential employees and consumers.

"In short order we'll see more changes in Harrah's and MGM Mirage has made strides that are immeasurable," Brown said. "They deserve credit for that. I mean within the last year and a half to two years the whole complexion of their upper level management staff has changed. They've taken very large steps. Station Casinos has done an outstanding job of hiring women, they're actively searching for more African-Americans, both males and females."

Gomez agreed that the local business community, particularly gaming companies, are targeting minorities.

"They're trying hard," Gomez said. "Everyone's working together to come together. I love what they're doing lately. There's MGM Mirage. Five years ago they didn't have a diversity program. They went from not measuring their results to measuring them and actively doing so. Now other gaming companies are doing the same thing."

Alana Roberts covers courts and labor relations for In Business Las Vegas and its sister publication, the Las Vegas Sun. She can be reached by e-mail at alanar@lasvegassun.com or at (702) 259-4059.