Reflecting the growth of the industrial and institutional cleaning market in Latin America, and the number of Hispanic workers in the building services industry, ISSA has launched a Spanish language website.

The site, www.issa.com/latam, expands ISSA’s global member services and serves as the only comprehensive web site dedicated to the Latin American cleaning market, providing regional news updates, educational videos, ISSA membership and services information, and much more.

“The site is not only valuable for Latin American cleaning professionals, but also for Span-ish-speaking employees of ISSA-member companies worldwide, as well as companies interested in targeting the growing Spanish-speaking market,” said ISSA Executive Director John Garfinkel.

It’s a good move for ISSA, underscored by the most recent financial results of Ecolab Inc., the largest provider of cleaning and disinfection products, which said that sales in Latin American posted double-digit gains in the second quarter.

Also, as we all know, the rate of U.S. Hispanic employment has grown exponentially in re­cent years. As the U.S. labor force grows, the number and proportion of Hispanic workers in­crease, many in the building services industry.

According to the Pew Hispanic Center, professional and other business services, which range from management and technical services to janitorial, landscaping and waste management ser­vices, were the main source of new jobs for Latinos in 2007. They gained 203,000 jobs in that industry last year, and in 2006, two thirds of all new construction jobs were filled by workers of Hispanic descent, many of whom are Spanish-dominant or bilingual.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that by 2010, the Hispanic labor force will number 30.3 million, up from 22.4 million in 2000. And when presented as a percentage of all non-fatal occupational injuries and illnesses with days away from work, the cases among Hispanic workers show a fairly consistent upward trend. They also suffer more serious injuries, accord­ing to the BLS, which has found that Hispanic workers had the highest median work loss (7 days). According to Pew, this has highlighted a need for greater workplace safety information and education in both Spanish and English that is readily accessible and which can help mitigate on-the-job injuries.

When visiting ISSA’s web site, members will be able to access a variety of resources, includ­ing an assortment of valuable educational videos produced in the Spanish language, featuring in­dustry professionals speaking on a number of industry topics and business trends; the latest Latin American industry news and updates. In addition, pertinent news covering the Latin American mar­ket will be translated into English and posted to ISSA.com to help non-Spanish-speaking members remain informed about this growing region of the industry.

Critics might say, those who work here should speak the language, and they might be right. But they miss the point. ISSA is bridging the gap, and offering what we think is a valuable service for its members until their employees become proficient in English, which a recent study suggests is their goal.

The study found that despite common perceptions to the contrary, Hispanic immigrants are significantly more in agreement than those born in the U.S. that immigrants should learn Eng­lish if they plan to stay in this country. Eighty percent of the foreign born agreed, compared to only 60 percent of the U.S. born.

“Our study demonstrates that the notion that Hispanics do not want to integrate into U.S. society is erroneous,” said David Morse, president and CEO of New American Dimensions, which provides customized multicultural consumer research. “Hispanic immigrants are learning English, raising their children as Hispanic Americans, and engaging in the political process.” According to Thomas Tseng, principal and co-founder of the firm, “Despite widely miss-held as­sertions to the contrary, our research shows that Hispanic immigrants would like nothing more than what previous generations of immigrants have achieved — to become American.”

Can you blame them? Thanks and good luck.