TechTown celebrates Immigrant Heritage Month
This month, TechTown is celebrating Immigrant Heritage Month, and we are proud to feature a few of our clients to recognize the role they play in driving job growth and innovation in the city.
June is Immigrant Heritage Month
By Mayte Penman, Bicultural Business Strategist, and Amanda Saab, Small Business Services Director
In 2020-2021, TechTown served 1,731 entrepreneurs — 12% were immigrants. We’re highlighting business owners and their stories of how they overcame their fears and confronted the unknown, as well as what continues to inspire them to be the best they can be.
La Jaliscience Taqueria and Market (MĂ©xico)
Leslie Vargas
3923 Vernor Hwy, Detroit, MI 48216
What is your business and how did you get started as an immigrant?
I’m part of the third generation in my family of storekeepers. Our family business is La Jalisciense Taqueria and Market, which is a family-owned business with Mexican products and a restaurant. We are a family of six, working side by side as a team to create a way to connect our roots from Jalisco back to our community, and to serve those who are far away from home. Our goal when people walk into La Jalisciense is an experience that connects back to our roots that we left behind for a better opportunity to pursue the American dream, just like my parents did for my brothers and me.
I enjoy and love what I do, which is helping my parents grow our business with the purpose of connecting back our clients with their hometown, with a product or a taste of our food.
What are you most proud of as an immigrant entrepreneur?
Looking back and admiring what my parents have done for us as a family by coming to an unknown country with no help or knowledge on how to start a business in the States. Especially when you are new to the English language and must overcome a language barrier.
My parents are a huge inspiration. They put aside their fear and comfort to start a new home somewhere else and work hard every single day to make our family business successful. I want my family to be proud and will continue taking advantage of this amazing opportunity that my parents gave my brothers and me.
What resources do you recommend for immigrant entrepreneurs?
Detroit has a lot to offer small businesses that are family-owned and are led by immigrants, minorities and women who need help overcoming struggles such as understanding new laws, language barriers, programs, marketing, technology, permits, city restrictions and many more.
The best resources are the small organizations that want the community to grow and provide sensational resources with information on a range of topics to help your business be successful. But more importantly, they are accessible in many different languages. I am so thankful to have crossed paths with amazing and kind people that have helped me grow as a person and grow our business in the best direction.
El Rey de las Arepas (Venezuela)
Rayner Gutierrez
7701 McGraw Ave, Detroit, MI 48210
What is your business and how did you get started as an immigrant?
We make authentic Venezuelan food and traditional dishes. I do it because it gives me great satisfaction to be pioneers in Detroit and its suburbs in making our culture known through our typical dishes.
What professional goals would you like to reach?
My short-term professional goal is to open another business with the same characteristics as the one I have right now, with a better location and space.
What makes you an outstanding leader in your community?
We have created a great impact in the community through collaborations, donations and our participation together with Detroit Chevere in events and activities for families in Michigan and Venezuela.
Ideas Marketing (MĂ©xico)
Juan José López
7129 W. Vernor, Detroit, MI 49209
What is your business and how did you get started as an immigrant?
We are a small print shop that specializes in graphic design, website and printing services. We provide digital printing, wide-format printing, silkscreen and embroidery. We believe in being a one-stop-shop for customers no matter what line of work is. We currently have a wide variety of customers from landscaping and construction to schools, nonprofits and printing services for promotional material for personal events like birthdays or weddings.
What inspired you to start your business?
A few reasons, but the main one was the desire to do something better. When we first started there were a lot of unknowns and fears but a big desire to do better and to do more. It was not an easy journey, but we wanted to grow and be able to provide quality service to others.
What struggles did you overcome during the COVID-19 pandemic as an immigrant business owner?
The COVID-19 pandemic has been a very difficult time for every business. Since other businesses were not operating, we had to close the store. There was a lot of fear from all of us and uncertainty. We applied for a lot of grants but we only received one from TechTown and another one from the county. As immigrants, it’s hard to understand the process for grants and get information about them.
What are you most proud of as an immigrant entrepreneur?
In a nation of immigrants, a lot of people come here looking for opportunities and a better future. This country is a nation of opportunity and we are here fighting for something better for our families. That is why we are here and every day is a fight to fulfill that dream. It means the world to come to a country that is not yours, learn a different language and learn the culture even though it’s a huge challenge I face every day.
I always joke that as a Mexican, I have to work hard. Not because I’m a hard worker, but because the stereotype is that Mexicans work hard so I have to fulfill that expectation. The truth is, we work to provide not just for ourselves but our families. I do have professional and personal motivations and dreams of success. But to me, I feel happiness and pure success when I see that my family has more opportunities to fulfill their dreams.
What resources do you recommend for immigrant entrepreneurs?
I recommend to always ask questions. The worst problem we can have is ignorance and fear to ask about something we don’t know. When I asked for help or resources I found people were very willing to help me. I’m very grateful to the people that provided guidance, especially at TechTown and other nonprofit organizations. I have received a lot of business and help due to word of mouth from the organizations we work with and free advertising. When I look back to our first days as a business, our first customers were the people that worked at the nonprofits. My dad use to say, “You already have the answer which is NO if you don’t ask, so have confidence and be brave when asking for help and you’ll find yourself surprised by how many people are willing to direct you to the resources that are available that most immigrants don’t know about.”
Baobab Fare (Republic of Burindi)
Hamissi Mamba
6568 Woodward Ave, Suite 100, Detroit, MI 48202
What is your business and how did you get started as an immigrant?
We have a staple saying now: “Detroit Ni Nyumbani”. Detroit is Home. My wife Nadia and I came to the United States as refugees from Burundi, due to many things affecting our well-being. When we came here, we did not know what to expect, but Detroit opened its arms and welcomed us. We made many friends along the way, and all of this support got us a restaurant on the corner of Grand Blvd and Woodward. It is called Baobab Fare, and it is a place that shares the Detroit Ni Nyumbani spirit with others.
As an immigrant, what unique challenges do you face when running a business?
There are several things we share as immigrants. Language has to be one of the first. Language is known to connect with people, but for business, it is like speaking another language. So having to learn how to communicate this way, is a big one. But even with that, it doesn’t matter if you speak English with someone else, sometimes your experiences are not the same, so it is not easy to find a common ground. There is a lot of learning and unlearning.
What resources do you recommend for immigrant entrepreneurs?
There are so many resources in the city. We’ve had the support from ProsperUs Detroit, Hatch Detroit, Invest Detroit, Freedom House, TechTown and Fair Food Network. There are so many to mention, but in the end, it is not about organizations. It is about people. People care for you, and the biggest resource for anyone opening a business or running a business is to find someone to count on. Ask for what you need and know that other people have gone through experiences they can share with you. But also be sure to always expand your network.
El Salpicon Restaurant (MĂ©xico)
Yuriviana Angel
8600 Vernor Hwy, Detroit, MI 48209
What is your business and how did you get started as an immigrant?
Our business is a Mexican restaurant specializing in seafood. We started our adventure in a food truck in the summer of 2015. Due to the success and support of the people in February 2016, we officially opened our business, El Salpicon Restaurant.
The business consists of three owners, Aldo Perez, Esteban Perez and Yuriviana Angel, that make the food unique and incomparable in the heart of Southwest Detroit. We are passionate about cooking, as well as letting you know a little about our culture, traditions and food.
What are you most proud of as an immigrant entrepreneur?
It is a true honor to be a 100% Mexican immigrant. We are proud to have Mexican roots and to be part of thousands of people who immigrated to this country — a country where you have thousands of opportunities to make your dreams come true. But what makes us most proud is being able to share our gastronomy with the world and being able to taste the palates of people with nationalities and cultures different from ours.
What motivates you the most professionally?
Our greatest motivation is showing our people in the community that with effort and dedication, anything is possible, it does not matter if you are an immigrant or if you do not speak the language. We have many organizations like TechTown among others that guide us to break those barriers and imaginary fears that we immigrants have.
Antojitos Los Catrachos (Honduras and MĂ©xico)
Obed Hernandez and Sandra Padilla
4627 Vernor Hwy, Detroit, MI 48209
What is your business and how did you get started as an immigrant?
We own a restaurant called Antojitos Los Catrachos. We started our own business because as immigrants in this country, job options are not so promising and can be limited and are surpassed by a majority group of people who may not have the necessary skills for certain positions but have what many of us do not have in this country.
By taking a photographic view of a future without options on the upper steps of the job ladder. We made the decision to create our own environment and start our own company. Although we still face certain limitations, we no longer depend on someone else for our stagnation, but on ourselves to get out of slow traffic and onto the highway of financial autonomy.
What are you most proud of as immigrant entrepreneurs?
The proudest thing about being immigrant entrepreneurs is knowing that your children, grandchildren and future generations will one day be able to continue transmitting and telling in their family reunions how some immigrants believed in god and put their dreams into the factory of dedication and perseverance to achieve what many more fortunate have not been able to imagine.
What resources do you recommend for immigrant entrepreneurs?
The resources that we could recommend to immigrant entrepreneurs are many and varied. But in my experience, God has placed extraordinary people in my path as an entrepreneur, such as Mayte from TechTown, MarĂa MĂ©ndez from Aid Accounting, Juan Carlos from Featherstone and not to mention Monica Cazares, who in life helped our Latino community.
