WDET News
- Hispanic Businesses Thrive In Detroit, Despite Poor Economy
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Nov 12, 2008Automotive & Business - Link to Audio
Michigan has the highest outbound migration of any state in the country, and at 8.5 percent claims the nation's highest average annual unemployment. Commerce overall has posted dramatic losses, yet business within the state’s Hispanic community is flourishing.
As part of our occasional series, Feet In Two Worlds, Martina Guzman reports on Michigan's thriving Latino businesses.
SOQ
(street sound)
Take a ride through many Motown neighborhoods and you’ll see buildings designed by world famous architects - now abandoned, a testament to the rise and fall of Detroit’s once powerful economy, built around the auto industry. There are tent cities, burnt out homes, graffiti and boarded up storefronts. But that doesn't describe every Detroit neighborhood.
In Mexicantown historic buildings have been renovated. There are ethnic grocery stores, bakeries, restaurants, shops and a bustling main street.
Like many Mexican immigrants, Norberto Garrita started out working in a restaurant kitchen. At first he made salads, then after a few years as an apprentice, he became sous chef. But Garrita dreamed of owning his own business and began looking for property.
After years of disappointing meetings with bank lenders, combing commercial real estate in the suburbs and frustration with his inability to fully understand English, Garrita finally opened El Barzon in 2006.
(sound in)
The restaurant is small, but cozy. One of the house specialties is Mole Poblano, chicken cooked in a spicy chocolate sauce. El Barzon is one of at least 19 new Mexican restaurants that have sprung up in Detroit in the last several years."SE ME HACIA MAS FACIL PARA COMENZAR UN NEGOCIO ACA. POR EL DINERO, LA ECONOMIA, NO SE ME HACIA LA IMBERSION TAN GRANDE COMO EN OTRA PARTE. PORQU SIMPLEMENTE LO QUE PODRIA PAGAR AQUI SON $1,500 LO CUAL TENDRIA QUE PAGAR $8,000 ALLA".
Garrita says he opened his restaurant in Detroit because it was be easier than in the suburbs. He was drawn by cheap rent and the option to buy his own building, an opportunity he says he wouldn't have had elsewhere.
Detroit’s Latino population has more than doubled in the last ten years. Mexicans, mostly from the state of Jalisco, came in droves during the economic boom of the 90's and made Detroit home. They found jobs in the agriculture, construction, and landscaping industries, and began buying storefronts to open their own business.
(Audio of chips running down an assembly line)
About half a mile from El Barzon is Hacienda Mexican Foods, where employees make tortilla chips…then rhythmically wrap them in colorful packaging. The tortillas are sold in stores and restaurant in 15 states and Canada. Hacienda started out with two employees in 1988 and now has over100 employees...operating out of three buildings.
Company president Lydia Gutierrez, is petite, elegant and has a disarming smile. She prides herself on running a business that has a family like atmosphere.
"FOOTSTEPS…WHAT’S ARE YOU UP TO? GOOD TO SEE YOU, YOU LOOK LIKE YOU’VE BEEN GETTING SOME SUN THERE BUDDY."
Two years ago Gutierrez purchased her company’s third and largest facility, a 33,000-square-foot building. As businesses large and small close or leave Michigan, Gutierrez continues to expand. She attributes her success to America's love of Mexican food.
"THE NEED FOR MEXICAN FOOD PRODUCTS CONTINUES TO GROW IN DEMAND. WHERE AT ONE TIME, 10 TO 15 YEARS AGO PRIMARILY, THE MEXICAN FOOD WERE PRIMARILY FOR MEXICANS. IT'S CONTINUED TO GROW BECAUSE OF THE EXODUS OF PEOPLE FROM MEXICO TO THE UNITED STATES. AND TEACHING THE AMERICANS HOW TO EAT THIS WONDERFUL PRODUCT, YOU KNOW, THESE WONDERFUL TORTILLAS."
But the popularity of Mexican cuisine only goes so far in explaining why Latino businesses in Detroit are thriving…while the rest of the city’s economy struggles.
"IMMIGRANTS ARE THE MOST ENTREPRENEURIAL SEGMENT OF OUR SOCIETY".
John Austin is executive director of the New Economy Initiative for South East Michigan and a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. He focuses on regional and economic development in response to the declining economy.
"IN FACT A THIRD OF OUR NEW HIGH TECHNOLOGY FIRMS, OVER THE LAST TEN YEARS IN MICHIGAN HAVE BEEN STARTED BY IMMIGRANTS - THOSE FOLKS WHO WEREN’T BORN HERE".
Austin believes that immigrants are a positive force and can help Michigan's economy move away from being so reliant on manufacturing.
"ON BALANCE IMMIGRANTS ARE A SOURCE OF NEW BUSINESS AND NEW BUSINESS GROWTH IN DETROIT, IN SOUTH EAST MICHIGAN".
There are now 400,000 Latinos living in Michigan…or about four percent of the state’s population. Austin says immigrants are filling the gap created by others who are leaving.
"WHILE WE HAVE BEEN CHALLENGED BY LOSING SOME OF OUR RETIRING POPULATION AND EVEN OUR YOUNG PEOPLE WHO GET EDUCATED HERE AND HAVE LEFT OUR STATE. DURING THE 90'S WHEN MANY CITIES AROUND THE COUNTRY BEGAN TO GROW AGAIN, MICHIGAN AS A STATE DID GROW IN POPULATION BUT IT WAS ALMOST EXCLUSIVELY BECAUSE WE BEGAN ATTRACT 270,000 NEW IMMIGRANTS".
Small businesses aren’t the only one’s benefiting from the growth in Michigan’s Latino population. The Mexican airline, AEROMEXICO, recently announced it will double its' service to Detroit, making it one of the few US airports to gain a new international airline this year. AeroMexico introduced service to Detroit to accommodate travelers with strong business and family ties in Mexico. The growth of Detroit’s Mexican community is part OF a national trend, according to economist Jim Johnson.
"THAT POPULATION IS GROWING VERY, VERY RAPIDLY, MOVING INTO BOTH IMMIGRANT GATEWAY COMMUNITIES, THE LOS ANGELESI’S, MIAMI’S, NEW YORK’S, CHICAGO’S OF THE WORLD BUT ALSO THERE IS THIS MASSIVE AND RAPID GROWTH IN POPULATION LIKE PLACES LIKE NORTH CAROLINA, LIKE IOWA AND MINNESOTA AND UTAH. PLACES YOU WOULD NOT HAVE ANTICIPATED THIS KIND OF GROWTH".
Jim Johnson teaches at the University of North Carolina. HE says even though there are thousands of Latino immigrants being deported FROM the U-S… a steady flow continues to trickle in.
"EVEN IN AREAS AND SECTORS OF THE ECONOMY WHERE YOU HAVE MASSIVE JOB LOSS, THE ONE POPULATION THAT TYPICALLY IS GROWING IS THE HISPANIC LABOR FORCE".
And Johnson says employers continue to hire Latinos because they are highly regarded for their work ethic.
"IN AMERICA THERE IS A PREFERENCE FOR IMMIGRANT LABOR OVER NATIVE WORKERS TO THE EXTENT THAT THERE IS A DEMAND FOR A PARTICULAR GROUP IN THE POPULATION, HISPANICS ARE AT THE TOP OF THE HIRING QUEUE".
He also says that Latinos are spenders.
"RESEARCH SHOW THAT ONLY ABOUT 20 PERCENT OF THE MONEY GOES HOME THROUGH REMITTANCES SO THE REMAINING 80 PERCENT IS SPENT IN OUR LOCAL ECONOMY".
The impact of Latinos on Michigan’s economy has not gone unnoticed by elected officials.
Last year, the state legislature passed a landmark consumer protection law for immigrants. A recently enacted Detroit city ordinance prohibits police from asking people about immigration status without criminal cause.
As the national economic crisis deepens and the state faces the loss of thousands more manufacturing jobs, Metro Detroit's Latino business community may be a ray of hope on Michigan's bleak economic landscape.