Reaching out to the area’s growing Latino population, the Napa Valley Register’s parent company, Napa Valley Publishing, has debuted Hispanos Unidos (United Latinos).

The newspaper, which comes out twice a month, began publication in early August, said publisher Brenda Speth.

Speth said members of the Latino community approached her shortly after she was named publisher in July 2005 about creating a Spanish language newspaper.

“People were asking for it,” said Speth. “Not only leaders in the Latino community, but established businesses that wanted to reach a new market. They were recognizing that there was a potential new audience for their products and services, but they didn’t have a good way to reach those individuals.”

Speth said she knew there had to be a solution.

“We spent over a year researching, talking with members of the community, doing informal and formal focus groups,” she said. “We did a lot of research nationwide on Spanish language newspapers and successful business models.”

Indeed, the Spanish language newspaper industry is burgeoning.

According to Diane Hockenberry of the Newspaper Association of America, “More and more newspapers are developing diversified products in their portfolio to allow specialized content to reach targeted audiences.”

One industry source estimates there are more than 735 Spanish language newspapers in the United States.

“Spanish language newspapers actually  ease the transition for new community members, because they have access to very basic things like goods and services, bus schedules, city regulations and laws,” said Speth. “We discovered one of our fellow Lee newspapers, based in Lincoln, Neb., could provide Spanish Associated Press and translation services for an affordable fee. They also send us completed electronic page layouts that we output and print on our press here in Napa.”

In July 2006, Register reporter Carlos Villatoro was named editor of Hispanos Unidos.

Villatoro joined the Register newsroom in 2003.

“Carlos was a natural choice to lead the news effort,” said Speth. “Having grown up in our community, he’s in a great position to understand the needs of all of our readers.

“Not only does he write but he selects relevant content from our daily Napa Valley Register (and weekly publications in Calistoga, St. Helena and American Canyon) to be included in Hispanos Unidos,” she said.

“I was very happy that they had enough faith in me to make me the editor of the newspaper,” said Villatoro. “There’s been a void in Napa Valley’s Latino community as far as news services.”

Previously, Napa Valley Publishing produced a Spanish language paper, Tiempo Latino. Production of that monthly publication stopped several years ago.

Ed Shenk, President of the Napa County Hispanic Network, was one of the community leaders providing input on the new paper.

“When I heard that Hispanos Unidos was going to be a full-blown newspaper similar to the Register, that was exciting,” said Shenk. “(Hispanos Unidos) is informative, easy to read, and covers a wide spectrum of local news. It’s exactly what was promised.”

Villatoro elaborated on Hispanos Unidos’ content and focus on local news. “Readers can find news and information that pertains to Latinos in Napa County. Things that we care about. For example, stories about how DUI rates for Latinos are disproportionate to Latino census estimates. You can also find stories about how immigration legislation will affect the Latino community. And how local Latinos are reacting to that legislation.”

One feature Hispanos Unidos includes came from focus groups.

“We heard it was important to provide both Spanish and English versions of some content in Hispanos Unidos,” said Speth.

Bilingual readers “have a choice of how to read the story,” said Villatoro. Two sections are written in both Spanish and English, including news briefs from major stories that run in the Register.

“We’ve also discovered that typically Spanish is only spoken for one generation, and by having the Spanish language newspaper in both languages, it can be a tool to help readers learn English faster,” said Speth.

Speth explained the new paper’s name.

“We discussed other names, but in order to receive AP and translation services from our Lee newspaper peers we would need to use their brand name, Hispanos Unidos. This newspaper wouldn’t be possible if we did not operate under the Hispanos Unidos umbrella,” she said.

Reaction to the new paper been favorable.

“It enriches our community to have multi-lingual newspaper. I think that’s a great stimulus,” said Shenk. “(Hispanos Unidos) provides an opportunity for everyone to reach out and communicate with the Latino community. I am so thrilled that the opportunity is here for people to read info about our community in a language that they are very comfortable with.”

Speth and Villatoro described their long-term plans for Hispanos Unidos.

“One of our goals is to have a letters section as vibrant as we do in Register,” said Villatoro. “Another goal is, of course, to get more advertising and more distribution points. In the future I hope to add a classifieds section and a business page.”

Said Speth, “I’d love to see this at least a weekly product and the companion Web site for Hispanos Unidos up and running. It’s just a matter of time and resources.”

Norma Kostecka is the advertising director for the new paper. Kostecka said each issue of Hispanos Unidos reaches about 17,250 readers.

“Ads in Spanish are 61 percent more effective than in English,” said Kostecka. “Latinos use the newspaper as their number one source when making purchasing decisions. ... We’ve got the number one resource for businesses to use to reach the fastest growing population in the U.S. and we hope they take advantage of it.”

Speth said Hispanos Unidos would be distributed for free at markets and other gathering places. While some focus group members suggested making the newspaper subscription based, the company decided to try to reach the maximum number of readers from the start with free distribution.

“Our long term goal is to increase revenues,” said Speth. “Then we would be able to invest more resources in this publication and all of Napa Valley Publishing.”