Focus Silvia Evans manages to make a living, even though some of her customers are too scared to come into her store. Those clients stand on the sidewalk and describe the products they need. They tell her they’ve been discouraged from going to “botanicas” by church leaders, who say the women there are witches. Evans, who is from Bolivia, doesn’t mind the label. It dates back to before the Spanish Inquisition, when women used natural herbs and roots to treat the poor. “The Inquisition called that kind of people witches and burned them,” Evans said. These days, candles and incense are the only things set afire at Maiz, Copal & Candela, Evans’ store on Lafayette Boulevard in Fredericksburg. Botanicas are shops that offer natural remedies made from roots and herbs. The shops are found in many Latin American villages. Evans sells small bottles of water from the sea, lake or ocean for people who need a drop or two for religious ceremonies. “Some people put the water on charms and bless them,” she said. She also offers oils and bubble baths, teas and liniments for a variety of ills. Some are designed to help the users hold their men or get rid of their gas. Others help women through menopause or men through divorce. Evans calls herself “the woman who helps”—la señorita que ayuda. She and her friends stay “in touch with Mother Earth” and follow the same beliefs as their Indian ancestors. “Spanish is not our mother language. The Spanish came to colonize us and to kill many Indians and to destroy many, many towns,” said Evans, who’s earning a business degree from Strayer University. “Personally, I don’t consider myself Hispanic. I am Latina.”

When Elizabeth Manzano first started selling houses in the Fredericksburg area, she went door to door in search of Spanish-speaking customers.

Things have changed in 18 years. These days, Latinos come looking for her.

“When you sell to a Hispanic, you don’t make just one sale,” said Manzano, a Realtor with Long & Foster. “You sell to the parents, you sell to the cousins, you sell to the uncles, you sell to the whole family. It’s a lot of repeat business.”

Manzano is among a growing number of Spanish-speaking Realtors in the region, but says she doesn’t have to compete for business. Return buyers keep her busy—to the tune of $11 million in sales last year—and she says there are plenty of Hispanic clients to go around.

Not all area Latinos are poor laborers struggling to keep a roof over their heads, said her husband, Rod Manzano.

He joined his wife in the real estate business after 28 years as a government engineer, working with everything from submarines to the space shuttle program.

“You cannot assume, just because we speak Spanish, that we’re all Mexican, all illegal aliens, all taking jobs from Americans,” Rod Manzano said. “There are many Latinos like us who have worked hard to make something of themselves.”

But recent news stories about the influx of illegal immigrants may lead some to believe that all Latinos are impoverished and uneducated, said Ray Lora, a retired federal marshal.

“I’m also a Hispanic person, and that’s not the image I have of myself, of the social circles that I participate in,” said Lora, who teaches Spanish and cultural diversity at the Rappahannock Regional Criminal Justice Academy. “That’s not who I am.”

Lora serves on the Spotsylvania School Board and is the only elected official in the Fredericksburg area with Latino roots. He believes his conservative Republican stance—not his ethnicity—got him elected in the rural Livingston District.

Lora understands the plight of those looking for better lives. At the same time, he believes their lifestyles are far different than his and others in the professional world.

“The poor laborers don’t really represent the rest of us—I would say the majority of us,” he said.

Hispanic businesses growing

Across the United States, Hispanics are gaining a foothold in almost every industry and career sector, according to monster.com, a Web site that offers professional networking.

Monster listed some of the well-established associations for professional Hispanics in the nation. There are groups for everyone from engineers and scientists to surgeons and social workers.

Five percent of all managers in the United States and 7 percent of the federal workforce is Hispanic, according to the National Society for Professional Hispanics, based in Miami.

What’s more, Hispanics are starting businesses at a rate that’s three times faster than the national average, according to the Census Bureau.

Currently, one of every 13 small businesses is owned by Hispanics. By the end of next year, the rate probably will be one in 10, according to the Internal Revenue Service.

Maria and Eladio Pacheco of Stafford County are among those helping the numbers grow.

The couple started their first Pancho Villa Mexican Restaurant in Culpeper 13 years ago.

It was a disaster, Maria Pacheco said.

Business was brisk in the beginning, but went downhill after a few months. The Pachecos ended up filing for bankruptcy and losing their home and vehicles.

But they didn’t quit.

The couple borrowed money from a relative, got a banquet manager to work with them and started offering a buffet. They brought in music and catered their Mexican dishes to American palates.

Business flourished so much, the Pachecos eventually opened a second Pancho Villa on Bragg Road near Spotsylvania Towne Centre.

Then, a third off Mine Road.

Then, a fourth, fifth and sixth, as they branched out into North Stafford. A seventh restaurant is about to open off U.S. 17 in Falmouth.

More than 100 people work at the restaurants, including Eladio Pacheco’s parents, his 10 siblings and their families.

“My husband’s family has done a lot,” Maria Pacheco said. “It’s all of us who make the restaurant work.”

Reaching Hispanic customers

The Pachecos realized they had to adjust their menu to accommodate American tastes. Likewise, American-owned businesses are discovering they have to make adjustments to reach Hispanic consumers.

For instance, Plastic Surgery Services of Fredericksburg already has translated many of its documents and consent forms into Spanish and is considering part-time interpreters.

The company started making changes when it realized the number of Hispanic patients had tripled between 2000 and 2005, said administrator Lesi Beamon Mackey.

“We’re definitely realizing that these individuals have the same resources available, and they’re considering many of the same things as our other patients,” she said.

Roberto Baggio moved his business to Falmouth from Arlington a year and a half ago because of the growth of the Latino community. He owns JC Jacques, a company that specializes in Hispanic advertising and helps American businesses reach Latino audiences.

He’s been translating ads and commercials, as well as Web sites and graphic illustrations, for every kind of business from auto repair shops to dentists.

“Hispanics are the same as Americans,” said Baggio, who is from El Salvador. “We need cars, we need doctors, we need lawyers, we need chiropractors, we need people to paint our houses.”

Nikki O’Dell, a linguist and translator, also helps businesses and governments gain prominence in the Hispanic market.

She opened her office of Bi-Lengua in Stafford Courthouse two years ago because the area “was not tapped at all,” she said. “There’s definitely a growing need for businesses to reach out to the Hispanic community.”

American businesses need to be aware of several cultural points about Hispanics, she said. They’re family oriented, they tend to deal with cash more than checks or credit cards, and everything spreads by word of mouth.

“Once they find a business they love, they tell everyone they know,” she said.

O’Dell offers services in more than 120 languages, but believes services in Spanish—which she studied at Brooke Point High School and later at Old Dominion University—will be the bulk of her work. She believes the same will be true for other businesses that tap into the growing market.

“I don’t think anyone should look at the growth of the Hispanic community as a negative,” O’Dell said. “It’s good for diversity, it’s good for teaching your children about culture, it’s good for business.”

To reach CATHY DYSON: 540/374-5425 cdyson@freelancestar.com