Posted on 07/30/2005 7:08:51 PM PDT by Happy2BMe
LITTLE ROCK - Hispanic immigrants lured to Arkansas in the 1990s by the promise of jobs in the poultry and timber industries are moving up the economic chain today by starting their own businesses.
Spanish-language signs hang outside hair salons, convenience stores, bakeries, insurance agencies and restaurants throughout rural Arkansas and in various Arkansas cities. A growing number of Hispanic-owned businesses, such as Cooks Natural Foods in Rogers, are also catering to non-Hispanic customers.
"In our countries owning your own business is a struggle, here it's like a dream come true. Here they do not put so many obstacles or red tape in your way," said Peru native Susana Cook, who owns Cooks Natural Foods and Universal Medical Supply.
Over the past 15 years, Arkansas' Hispanic population has grown at the second-fastest rate in the nation, trailing only North Carolina, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
When Cook and her husband opened their combined stores 10 years ago, they rented a single space in a strip mall. They have since expanded into three adjoining spaces and are now building a stand-alone location.
Cook advises other Hispanics about starting their own businesses. She said the entrepreneurial bug is especially easy to catch in economically booming northwest Arkansas, which is home to the largest percentage of Arkansas Hispanics.
"This is such a good place to be. You can feel it, you can smell it, you can see it with all the new buildings going up," she said.
Hispanic-owned businesses are also on the rise in Little Rock, where Alejandro Dominguez recently opened the Taqueria Veracruzana restaurant. Dominguez, who worked in a restaurant in California, was encouraged by his brother to join him in Arkansas and open the family eatery.
After six months in business, Taqueria Veracruzana has a constant stream of new customers, both Hispanic and non-Hispanic, who enjoy the traditional Mexican menu, Dominguez said.
Rey Hernandez, northwest Arknasas district director of the Hispanic civil rights group League of United Latin American Citizens, said entrepreneurism and immigration are often linked.
Immigrants "are risk takers by nature or they wouldn't have uprooted their families and moved to a new environment in the first place," he said. "Often, a husband will work at a family business all day and the wife will work at the poultry plant."
Hernandez, who owns a business consulting firm, got his start by opening a Mexican restaurant in Siloam Springs. Many Arkansas Hispanics have succeeded by starting businesses catering to other Hispanics in growing communities, Hernandez said.
"When you move from another country and somebody is willing to import those products from your country and make you feel at home, for Hispanics it is a comfort zone," he said.
Overwhelmed with general business growth in the Springdale region, the Springdale Chamber of Commerce long overlooked Hispanic businesses, said Perry Webb, chamber president. Webb said he initially resisted the idea of starting a program in the chamber to recruit Hispanic businesses, but was convinced it was the right thing to do when many Hispanic business owners responded to the chamber's outreach effort.
The program has recruited 45 new Hispanic businesses as chamber members in its two years of operation. In all, Webb estimates Springdale has 300 minority-owned businesses, most of which are owned by Hispanics.
"The first day we had a (Spanish-speaking) person on the job, we had people walking in the door for help. After that first day, they literally flocked in. They wanted to know about building additions, Web page development, places to rent - a lot of what we've helped with were simple business procedures," he said.
The Rogers Chamber of Commerce began a similar program under the guidance of Nohemi Lopez, small business coordinator. Lopez said much of her focus has been encouraging existing Hispanic-owned businesses to expand by reaching out to non-Hispanic customers.
"I think business owners are open to that idea. They realize that if they are friendly to the general public it will increase their share of the pie. In the food industry, it is really a welcome concept," she said.
Lopez also encourages business owners with limited English ability to improve their language skills with classes.
Bruno Paulino, a native of the Dominican Republic, opened Automatic Auto Finance in 1997. The automobile financing business now has eight locations and 120 employees. The company largely serves the Hispanic market, providing car loans to people who have trouble qualifying for traditional financing.
Paulino credits much of his success on his northwest Arkansas location. He estimates 1,000 families, 300 of them Hispanic, move into the area each month.
"The construction business is going crazy here, the labor market is strong and you've got Wal-Mart and Tyson," he said.
In his 12 years as an Arkansan, Paulino said he has seen Hispanic business ownership grow steadily with a recent spike.
"It's been amazing," he said. "When I first came over here, there were not many Hispanic business. Now you drive downtown (Springdale) and everywhere you see Hispanic names. We've got a lot of restaurant owners, three or four real estate agencies, car dealers, supermarkets, they've got it all. All kinds of businesses."
Over the past 15 years, Arkansas' Hispanic population has grown at the second-fastest rate in the nation, trailing only North Carolina, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
I think it started when Clinton's buddies were flying in that funny stuff to Mena Airport.
People move in to this country all the time. Did the article say these immigrants were illegal? I must have missed that part. They are opening businesses, employing people and paying taxes. More power to them.
I think Arkansas should put up some billboards here in Los Angeles...
ping
I don't recall the article saying they were illegal
Just because someone is mexican doesn't make them illegal
were you of this attitude when the vietnamese came over
"Spanish-language signs hang outside hair salons, convenience stores"
In California, no signs are in English. Send them all HOME!!
Would you be just as happy if you had some common sense ??
Now, you know the FR rule: any and all Hispanics HAVE to be suspected of being illegal.
If they're starting businesses and contributing to the tax base, they are far superior to the housing project and trailer park crowd. Better an non-English speaking entrepreneur than a native born government cheese eating leach.
bttt
And you know this how?
I read somewhere that we grant 120,000 immigrant applications a year for immigration.
There are 10,000,000 to 13,000,000 illegals in the US.
I'd say there is a very good chance that the Mexican you see on the street is an illegal.
As if you'd know common sense if you saw it.
Try not to be such a SNOT.
For all we know, you're here illegally.
Amen!
But you have to remember that that crowd was really going to open all those businesses, but these "Hispanics" came right in here and "took those jobs that Americans really want."
Howlin, you are the quintessense of a overly educated idiot. You have been educated way beyond your ability to comprehend rational intellectual insight. Please spare me your puerile bromides.
July 27, 2005
119 ILLEGAL ALIENS IN ARKADELPHIA (ARKANSAS) ARRESTED BY ICE AGENTS
ARKADELPHIA, Ark. — U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) special agents yesterday arrested 119 illegal aliens here at Petit Jean Poultry Inc. following an audit of the company’s employee records, and in response to a February identity theft conviction.
Those arrested were employed at the facility using actual identities of United States citizens. Special agents from the local ICE Texarkana Office were joined by 30 agents from other ICE regional offices. The ICE New Orleans Office of Investigations conducted the employee audit pursuant to an administrative search warrant obtained from the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Arkansas. Special agents from the Little Rock Office of the Social Security Administration’s Inspector General office assisted in the operation.
Many aliens apprehended at Petit Jean were determined to have illegally purchased U.S. citizen birth certificates and Social Security Cards, and then used those documents to obtain identification cards bearing their photos from the State of Arkansas. The Arkansas identification cards were then used to obtain employment under the stolen identity.
Yesterday’s operation stemmed from an ICE investigation into the sale of U.S. citizen birth certificates and social security cards that culminated in the December 2004 arrest of a former Petit Jean employee. The employee, Maria Moreno of Arkadelphia, Ark., pleaded guilty Feb. 14 to multiple counts of a federal indictment charging that she unlawfully sold identity documents and social security cards. Approximately $60,000 in cash was seized from Moreno as suspected proceeds of her unlawful activities.
The arrested aliens were turned over to ICE Detention and Removal Operations. Information regarding fraudulently used Social Security numbers will be provided to the Social Security Administration and the Internal Revenue Service to unscramble the earning records of the affected U.S. citizen victims.
Of those arrested, two were from Honduras, one from El Salvador, one from Guatemala, and the remaining 115 aliens were from Mexico. There were a total of 50 males, 69 females, one of which was a 14-year-old juvenile. Wages paid to the illegal aliens ranged from $6 to $6.80 per hour.
“ICE is committed to enforcing laws relating to identity theft, false claims to U.S. citizenship, and fraud," said Craig Griffin, resident agent-in-charge for the ICE Texarkana office. "We will arrest those who violate immigration employment laws and continue to restore integrity to the U.S. immigration system."
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is continuing to investigate this case.
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