The American Dream is alive and well, according to many who are coming to America, and/or starting new businesses here for the first time. More Hispanics are optimistic about their economic future than ever before, in some cases with expectations exceeding those of whites or African-Americans, according to the Washington Post.

While business opportunities might seem to have stalled in the recent economic conditions, new businesses are evolving and springing up across the country. In many cases, the entrepreneurial start-ups are being created by recent arrivals. For those who meet the criteria, there is plenty of help available in both national and local resources.

The Delaware Hispanic-American Business Resource Center is set to host multiple six-week classes on starting small businesses beginning March 1. Roughly 10 percent of the Delaware population is Hispanic/Latino. The center was started by a subcommittee of the Delaware Hispanic Commission.

"The program is all about opportunity, not only for the prospective Hispanic small business owners, but also for the communities that can benefit from having them set up shop in their area," said chairwoman Sonia Aguilar from the Delaware Economic Development Office in a statement. "We're excited to help these entrepreneurs develop their business plans and take the next step toward making their dreams a reality."

Hispanic-owned business start-ups are on the rise, not only in immigrant-rich corridors like Texas and California, but also in states with small Hispanic populations like Delaware. According to the US Census, Delaware has a Latino population that hovers around the 79,000 mark, a tiny fraction of the number that reside in Texas, California or Florida, but a sizable number in a state that carries a total population of slightly less than 1 million people. The Delaware Hispanic Commission was created by executive order to serve the needs of that state's Hispanic population.

In California, the Fresno-Area Hispanic Foundation recently received a $50,000 grant from Wells Fargo to expand services to Latino start-ups. Local business and entrepreneurial resources such as these are available in most areas of the nation.

Nationally, the Latino Start-up Alliance (LSA) has recently gone nationwide and partnered with Hispanicize to provide tools and mentoring to help cultivate a place for Hispanics in the U.S. business landscape.

LSA will use the strength and diversity of its three initial hubs in San Francisco, Miami and New York "to build a vibrant ecosystem around Latino tech entrepreneurship in the U.S. The nonprofit organization will be overseen by its three co-founders Jesse Martinez, Ed Martinez (both of San Francisco) and Manny Ruiz, chairman of the Hispanicize platforms that include the annual Hispanicize event, the Latina Mom Bloggers network, Being Latino, Hispanicize Wire, the Hispanic PR Blog and Hispanicize.com."

"Our alliance with trailblazers like Manny and the partners of Hispanicize will greatly accelerate LSA's national footprint in several dynamic and tangible ways," said Jesse Martinez, LSA's national co-chair and an entrepreneur who has raised capital for several of his past startups including his current venture Media Relevance. "This alliance will provide LSA with a national grid from which it can credibly grow into one of the nation's most vibrant, respected organizations for Latino entrepreneurs and potential investors alike."

All of this lends itself to an atmosphere of opportunity that is not lost on today's Latino business climate. For the Latino entrepreneur, there is more help available from a wider spectrum of sources than ever before in the United States. Part of that help comes in the form of a $1.3 trillion U.S. Hispanic consumer market.

In a recent Washington Post-Miller Center poll, 57 percent of Hispanics said they believe they will move up the ladder as opposed to moving down, and 64 percent see a college diploma as a step on that path.

More Hispanics are headed to college these days, and more and more are graduating with advanced degrees while their parents have continued to work lower paying jobs to finance those educational opportunities. While Latino students statistically trail other established ethnic groups in college completion across the board, there are notable exceptions and more graduates with each passing year.

"Schools that say 'we just don't have the resources' aren't trying hard enough," said Whittier College President Sharon D. Herzberger to the Bill and Melinda Gate Foundation. Whittier College regularly graduates more than 60 percent of its Hispanic students, outperforming most of its peers. "If we can achieve the outcomes we do with our modest endowment, so can many others," she added.