“Echele Ganas”, Say “Gracias” to a Latino Entrepreneur this Week

Posted by Reginaldo Haslett-Marroquin on April 23, 2007

“This week we celebrate Small Business Week. It would do us good to shake the hand of an American entrepreneur and say, “Gracias.” We could all learn something about the ganas that fuels our economy.”

That was a quote from an article linked by Hispanic Tips, one of our website links. The integration of the growing Latino population in Northfield has been identified as a key to the long term success in the comprehensive economic development plan. After desiging an long term (20 year) strategy to achieve this integration, we decided that we needed to concentrate on the Latino entrepreneur as the fuel for economic and leadership development.

Before deciding to start working on the structure of the Latino Enterprise Center, I had checked with many local leaders and experts about the conditions and resources available here. As in almost all of the cases I have worked with, entrepreneurs showed to be the logical path to growing leaders and capturing the amazing positive energy here in this city. What makes this strategy so valid is the fact that it creates an environment where others start to feel that they can take risk and come forward, weather it is on civic leadership or in business.

As an entrepreneur, I know that many more Latinos will start taking leadership roles as we create the conditions for them to feel confortable. The climate that generates participation is the result of a large network of institutions and leaders from accross the city. As I have said at many presentations, moving to Northfield is probably the best decision I have made in a long time, but this is only because of all of you out there who have made me feel welcome.

Paying it forward, I see the importance in investing time and resources so that others who are less “entrepreneurial” can take a first step toward leadership. As more people come forward, I se us Latinos increasing our participation in events, at our schools, learning English and teaching Spanish so that we can communicate better, and getting involved in other significant aspects of integration through leadership wherever it is that we are called to act. I was told once by Rigoberta Menchu, the 1993 Nobel Peace price winner (from Guatemala), that “our ability to be leaders come from the spirit of entrepreneurship within us, once we find it and feed it, it pulls us forward, it makes us look into adversity and challenges as an opportunity to grow, not a reason to retreat”.

Entrepreneurs have been revitailizing Lake Street in Minneapolis, Saint Paul, and other cities accross the country, this week, let’s take a hard look at who really holds the bread basket in this country, the small business and the entrepreneurs deserve the credit, and have shown that we can grow our own local success. Shake a hand this week, visit your locally owned store.

The linked article will help paint this picture better. Enjoy week dedicated to the Small Business and please thank one of those hardworking souls that sustain this country’s economy.