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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
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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
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