Latino Entrepreneurship identifies a “Greater-Good” for rural community building.
Though the majority of Minnesota’s growing Latino population resides in the Twin Cities area, many immigrants are choosing to live in small towns and rural areas. One of the main reasons for this draw has come from the farm and factory jobs available. However, as Latinos become more settled in their homes, entrepreneurship not only an appealing career shift for financial independence, but also for helping meet the needs of their communities.
Kathryn Styer Martinez’ article for UC Berkley’s Greater-Good Magazine: Science-Based Insights for a Meaningful Life, uncovers this phenomenon by visiting the town of Long Prairie, Minnesota. There, walking down Central Ave, mutual benefit shines when Latino immigrants are empowered to begin and grow small businesses. Spaces formerly in danger of becoming abandoned are revitalized and neighbors formerly isolated can come to gather comfortably.
Martinez elaborates, “One key connection between community well-being and local business is the presence of “third places,” which are community gathering points (other than a person’s home and workplace) that allow people to connect and engage with their neighbors.” Elevating these businesses in turn build community which is socially imperative as people undergo year three of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The University of Minnesota Extension and the Long Prairie Chamber of Commerce launched the Welcome Advocates Valuing Everyone or WAVE/Saludos Center in 2021 to support long term goals such as these. Long term goals are reached by short term efforts to acclimate new residents to small-town Minnesota life and further understand what locals universally need.
LEDC receives a shout-out in tandem with WAVE/Saludos as, “help(ing) Latinos start new businesses by getting them the information and support they need.” Though LEDC is located in the Twin Cities, the organization serves clients in towns located in Greater Minnesota, as is considered Long Prairie.
Todd County, in which Long Prairie is located, has just 26,192 residents, and about 7% are Latino. In Long Prairie, a third of the population is Latino and businesses ownership has grown from 1 to 20 for the demographic since the year 2000.
Martinez’s article cites findings from the Stanford Latino Entrepreneurship Initiative’s “State of Latino Entrepreneurship”. In this research, Latinos are reported to start businesses at almost twice the rate of white business owners, and they provide benefits for their employees at higher rates.
This forecasting makes it all the important that resources and support go towards centers and the entrepreneurs served, as they ultimately give back to the community at large. Martinez concludes with, “[reports like SEI’s,] help change the larger narrative of Latino existence in the United States by elevating overlooked stories…the focus on Latinos as undocumented immigrants—and false talking points about being a drain on the economy—are upended when reports like the SLEI’s are published.”
