Mexican Immigrant Family Shares Success Across Allen County
Flora Barrón had a comfortable childhood in Northern Mexico, attended college, and worked as an administrative assistant before marrying a successful rural veterinarian. But when an economic downturn pushed local farmers into bankruptcy, her husband’s business struggled. “That’s when we came to America,” she explains. “Our plan was to come… Read More
Burmese Immigant Helps Make Allen County Welcoming for All
So Min Oo remembers the day in January 1977 when the Burmese government bombed his family’s village. “It stays in my nightmares — the gunfire, the people screaming,” he recalls. He was 11. His parents and three siblings spent the next several months fleeing on foot to Thailand, where they… Read More
Mexican Immigrant Ignites Entrepreneurial Spirit in Allen County
In 1991, when Aaron Robles was just a few months old, his parents crossed the border from Juárez, Mexico, and headed north. They landed in Fort Wayne and found work in construction and manufacturing. Robles didn’t learn English until he entered kindergarten, but with the school system’s ESL instruction, he… Read More
Argentinian Immigrant Helps Make Kent County Welcoming for All
When Natalia Kovicak moved from Argentina to Spring Lake, Michigan, at age 25, she quickly realized the challenges of starting a new career as an immigrant. It didn’t matter that she had a resume that included a good job with Coca-Cola in Buenos Aires and her own event-planning company. Kovicak… Read More
Mexican Immigrant Brothers Launch Mechanical Services company in Grand Rapids, Hiring Dozens
Although Ruben Ramos was born in the United States, he moved with his family to their village in the Sierra Madre Mountains in Mexico when he was a baby. When the family moved to Grand Rapids in 1990, the Hispanic population was small. Ramos was 10 years old. “I consider… Read More
Filipino Immigrant Finds Grand Rapids as Best Home for His Atelier
Romel “RC” Caylan is an internationally celebrated fashion designer who has dressed more than 100 celebrities and has a showroom in Beverly Hills. Yet he proudly runs his business out of Grand Rapids, at a studio in the Breton Village Shopping Center alongside Lululemon, Anthropologie, and other big-name retailers. Read More
Burundian Immigrant Helps Create a Community Association in Pittsburgh to Support Others From Burundi in the Community
After resettling in the United States, David Hajayandi set out on his own to find employment without guidance or support for navigating the American job market. He showed up unannounced at a clothing store, but instead of giving him a job application, workers threatened to call the police. Years later,… Read More
Bhutanese Immigrant Co-Founds Community Association in Pittsburgh that Supports All Newcomers
When Timsina arrived in New York City at 39 years old, he’d never driven a car, let alone navigated a massive subway system. As a member of Bhutan’s ethnic Nepali minority, which has experienced persecution for decades, Khara Timsina’s family was prevented from receiving an education or working in the… Read More
American Moves to Pittsburgh from Peru, Finds Value in Supporting Immigrant Entrepreneurs
Although born in Fargo, North Dakota, Brent Rondon has experienced first-hand the obstacles of coming to the United States, learning a new language, and finding your place in a new community. Rondon and his twin brother spent most of their early lives in their parents’ native Peru where the family… Read More
Indian Immigrant Entrepreneurs Find Success in Kent County
When Sonal and Ramesh Patel built a house in the town of Cascade in 2011, they quickly noticed something missing: an Asian grocer on the southeast side of Grand Rapids. The Patels are from a small town in Gujarat, a state in western India. They moved to West Michigan in 2004, when… Read More
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