Plaza Morena Making a Latino Mark in Owatonna

Posted by Reginaldo Haslett-Marroquin on January 14, 2009

Last night, I had a meeting with Jose Herrera, the owner of Plaza Morena Mexican Restaurant in Owatonna. Jose is one of those “fully engaged” entrepreneurs, playing politics by hosting MN State Senator Patricia Torres Ray at a free public breakfast on Monday January 19 from 8:00 to 9:30 am, representing the region’s businesses interest throuh an annual trip to Washington as part of the MN Chamber of Commerce Delegation and heavily involved on local community issues as a member and past vice-chair of the Human Rights Commission. People like Jose Herrera are clear examples of how through the support of rural entrepreneurship, we can effectively support and increase Latino/a civic leadership in rural communities.

Without his thriving business, Jose would be as many others, unable to use his tremendous desire and energy to more fully participate in growing a healthier and diverse community. Engaging our resources and competencies to support his business success, will go a long way in elevating the energy levels of many others who now sit on the sidelines.

Jose is also someone who will go out of his way to support other Latino/a businesses get started. As we wrapped our meeting last night, we had agreed not only on how we are going to collaborate to bring Plaza Morena further into the public’s attention, but since he and two partners own three more restaurants (one in Faribault, another in Waseca and a fourth in Albert Lee) they are also connected with a larger network of restaurant owners and managers across the Southern MN region.

The natural next step is to network all of these restaurants, so we have mapped them out, and crafted a strategy and plan that will deliver tangible benefits to ensure that we go for the gold medal in building the competitive advantages for these businesses. The presence of Latino-owned businesses in our region is a reality and an irreversible trend, by working to establish solid partnerships we plan to effectively impact the bottom line of these entrepreneurs, and as shown in this case, significantly increase civic engagement and community participation of Latino families in growing diverse, while growing healthier and sustainable rural communities.

Here is a short slideshow of Plaza Morena.