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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 4, 2000)
Page C6 ÏÎje ^¡Jortkutò (©böeruer A One-Stop Hispanic Market B\ Jo\ R amos T he P ortland O bserver to a mere $ 100,000.“Cash was worth M eeting tragedy with success nothing," recalled Rodriguez. She has been a drama that had unfolded had put her m oney in two banks for N ellie Rodriguez, ow ner o f El which immediately closed and was Grande in southeast Portland. El forced to liquidate her real estate G rande for the past 5 years has p ro p e rtie s . L o o k in g back, been serving the Hispanic com m u nity in the area and surrounding parts. Rodriguez jokingly refers to her store as a H is p a n ic F re d Meyer. W ithin the 5,000 square foot b u ild in g are tw o rooms with products and services galore. Buyers can shop for their food, order air line tickets for up com ing travel and try on a co ck tail dress-all in one trip. F o r 16 y e a rs , n V - ’ v ; Rodriguez was do ,\ellie Rodriguez » f El Grunde ing very well with h er catering b u si R odriguez regrets not hanging in ness called Fiesta Deluxe in the there lo nger for the financial tide Dominican R epublic.T hings took to turn w hich o ccurred one year a turn for the w orst in 1984 w hen later. the d ev alu atio n o f the p eso o c G oing back to school to earn a curred - creating a fin an cial m elt M a ste r’s degree in C linical P sy dow n. N ellie R o d rig u ez h ad lost chology w as her next venture at h er c a te rin g b u sin ess w hich was 3rd A ge U n iv ersity S chool, an in re p u ta b ly , the m ost su c c e ssfu l in stitu tio n for students 35 years o f the country. C aterin g to d ig n ita r age or older. ies such as th e K in g o f S pain and N ellie Rodriguez later migrated the pro d u ctio n crew o f “The G od to P ortland w ith her fam ily. She fath er, P art 2” m ovie w as b u si saw o p p o rtu n ity to do a start-up n ess as u su al. Fiesta D eluxe was b usiness w ith tw o other inves worth an estim ated $ 1 m illion when tors in A pril o f 1995. They pooled business was boom ing. A fter the th e ir m o n e y , a m o u n tin g to economic crash, its value dwindled $10,000. W ith enough c a p ita l, they opened El G rande located at 1725 SE. 122nd. From the start, their small business was doing very well - gaining a lot o f regular clients. The rise in the Hispanic population added to the overall success o f El Grande. “W hen we started, there were hardly any M exicans. The M exican population has grow n so much.” She attributes the mass exo dus to Portland to the better living conditions that can be had here versus Los A ngeles, C alifornia where most are afraid o f the w ide spread and grow ing violence there. Through word o f m outh. M exican clients have traveled to shop at her store from as faraway as Vancouver, Coos Bay, Hood River and Y akima. For the last five years, El G rande has helped to m eet som e basic needs o f people from Latin America. to have a place to congregate and get overseas products from their hom e land. Due to com peti tion from similar eth n ic m a r k e ts , El G rande has grown to offer a m ultitude o f specialized ser vices. Besides sell ing grocery and re tail, Cam ino Realty C om pany, U nited M o rtg a g e and F a r m e r ’s I n s u r a n c e h a v e th e ir branch office in El G rande for Spanish-speaking cli entele only. D aniel K aptur, N ellie R odriguez’s son opened El Grande Com m unication, located next door about tw o years ago to o ffe r c e l lu lar phones and p agers. R o d rig u e z c o m m e n te d th a t having a bu siness in A m erica has been difficult because o f the m any licenses to o b tain and law s to abide by. “ E ven though it has been very difficult to move ahead, I think that I w ill alw ays b eliev e that you can do an y th in g you w ant if you really decide to do it. W ork for it and be p a tie n t,” she added. Pepsi is a proud Sponsor in support National M inority Business Week October 4, 2000 Latina Entrepreneurs Are An Economic Force Latina-owned firms are an integral part o f the fabric o f business in the United States. Many Hispanic women entrepreneurs were bom in this coun try and own long-established busi nesses in a wide range o f industries, according to a new survey conducted by the N ational Foundation for Women Business Owners (NFWBO) and sponsored by Wells Fargo & Company. “ Latina entrepreneurs are certainly not newcomers in the United States,” noted N ina McLemore, NFWBO Chair and President o f Regent Capital, in discussing the study, entitled The Spirit o f Enterprise: Latina Entre preneurs in the United States. “Those surveyed have owned their busi nesses for an average o f 12 years. Two-thirds were bom in this country and one-third are immigrants who have lived here for an average o f 30 years,” said McLemore. Survey respondents are in a wide variety o f industries. Many more own firms in construction (10 percent); accounting, engineering and other professional services (10 percent); and manufacturing (9 percent) than in businesses such as hotels, res taurants and bars (4 percent). Latina entrepreneurs are a rap- idly-grow ing business segm ent. A ccording to an earlier NFW BO report, Trends A m ong M inority W omen-OwnedFirms, the 382,400 Latina-ow ned firms in the United States in 1996 generated sales o f $67.3 billion - a 534 percent in crease since 1987, com pared to a 120 percent increase for all busi nesses. Despite this growth, the recent NFW BO /W ells Fargo sur vey shows that the share o f Latina entrepreneurs with bank credit and the am ount o f capital they have has not increased significantly in the past two years. Fam ily H eritage are im portant factors w hile latina entrepreneurs interviewed report that they started their own businesses, they are more likely than women business owners o f other ethnicities to describe their businesses as family ran. Three-quar ters (75 percent) o f the participants in the NFWBO/Wells Fargo survey say that th e ir im m ed iate fam ily - spouse, children or parents - is involved in their business. Typically, Latina business own ers say they vary their language based on the type o f interaction. A m ajority use prim arily English in their business dealings w ith advi sors, fellow business ow ners, cus tomers, and em ployees. However, Latina entrepreneurs are involved in the Hispanic market and main tain ties to their heritage; more than one-third use Spanish or both lan guages w ith employees and cus tomers. In addition, Latinas are proud o f their cultural heritage and back ground. Tw o-thirds (64 percent) o f those surveyed say that their cul tural heritage is an asset for them as business ow ners; just 16. percent say it is m ostly a challenge, and 7 percent say it is both. Start-Up Capital and Financing Remain Virtually Unchanged The Latina business owners inter viewed for this survey started their firms with slightly more capital than all women business owners inter viewed for a 1998 NFWBO survey, “Paths to Entrepreneurship.” Just over half (54 percent) o f Latina entre preneurs surveyed started their firms with $ 10,000 or more, compared to 44 percent of all women business own ers. One third (32 percent) o f Latina entrepreneurs started their business with less than $10,000, compared to 44 percent o f all women business owners. The amount ofbank capital carried by Latina business owners has not changed significantly over the past two years. In 1998,24 percent o f the Latinas surveyed had under $25,000 in capital available for use, and 24 percenthad$100,000ormore. Today, 22 percent have under $25,000 and 29 percent have $ 100,000 or more. For a full report on Latina owned business by the National Founda tion for Women Business Owners, call 202/638-3060, ext. 12orvisittheir website at www.nfwbo.org. Saluting Minority Enterprise Development ÜNOW TAKING APPLICATIONS!! of Minority Business Week. Pepsi is an equal opportunity employer. j 1 Now available: 1,2, & 3 Bedroom Houses And Apartments Income Restrictions Apply. Maximum Annual Income ranges from $30,050 for one person to $56,700 for eight people Apply Monday-Friday 9:00 AM-4:00 PM Portland Community Renivestment Initiatives 4829 NE MLK Blvd./Wygant Portland, Oregon 97211 (503) 288-2923 EQUAL HOUSING OPPORTUNITY 4
