In a city where about 80% of residents do not speak English at home, the Santa Ana Chamber of Commerce has initiated a $4.5-million campaign to get 50,000 residents to learn the language over the next four years.
As part of its project, the chamber last month launched an aggressive advertising campaign, with messages urging residents to learn English plastered on buses and at bus shelters, the train station, supermarkets and self-service laundries.
Census statistics show that at least 51% of city residents "speak English less than very well." More than half the city's employees speak Spanish, most Asian merchants have learned the language, and nearly every retail business has Spanish-speaking employees.
Business owners need employees who speak English, chamber officials said.
"Business owners are screaming for workers, but they need them to speak English," said Mike Weisman, a chamber board member and partner of DGWB Advertising and Communications in Santa Ana, which created the advertising campaign.
Weisman said English proficiency could boost a resident's income.
"If you can't speak English, you might not find a good job," he said. "You might not buy a home. You might not do many things. It's a problem affecting all of central Orange County."
In addition to the advertising, teams of people hired by DGWB have been dispatched to the streets to promote the free English classes, which are offered by the Rancho Santiago Community College District.
Officials with state and national chamber of commerce organizations said they were unaware of another chamber promoting English proficiency in California. Even so, the role of the Santa Ana chamber does not surprise them.
Chambers "solve the riddles of their communities," said Mick Fleming, president of the American Chamber of Commerce. In Santa Ana, "they are looking at the workforce and seeing that if we don't do this, our future prosperity is at risk."
Each year during the four-year campaign, the chamber will spend about $350,000 on marketing and $650,000 on computers that will help students and workers learn English. Other money will be allocated to chamber employees who will administer the campaign.
At Northgate Supermarket, Jimmy Isais, a team leader with the chamber's program, recently flagged down immigrant shoppers with carts loaded with pork rinds, salsas, tortillas, steaks and diapers.
"Would you like to learn English?" he asked.
