Abraham Velazquez’ immigrant mother couldn’t afford to buy her teenage son the computer he coveted. So she offered some maternal advice: mow lawns and save up enough money for such a purchase. The result was one-too-many sweltering days in the summer heat of Chicago leading to the buying of a basic PC, with Velazquez’ adolescent…
Plenty was happening back in 1973. President Nixon’s Watergate scandal dominated the headlines. Troops came home from Vietnam. Bell-bottom jeans and long sideburns were in vogue. And in San Francisco, a nonprofit named the Mission Economic Development Agency (MEDA) was formed. The goal: asset-building for the low- and moderate-income Latino community of San Francisco. To…
With MEDA invited to be part of “San Francisco Small-Business Week 2016” starting May 21, last night was time to celebrate a big win for community-serving enterprises in the Mission. That’s because D’Maize Restaurant – an immigrant-owned establishment – held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for its brick-and-mortar location at 2778 24th Street (between York and Hampshire streets)….
Juana and Raul Ttito immigrated to the U.S. eight years ago, the doting parents looking to follow their grown daughter … and with the dream of a better life for themselves and their two other children. The industrious couple, who were always artisans, had a successful business for 15 years in the Andean city of…
Back in his native Peru, Yeral Caldas’ industrious mother was always running her own businesses in Lima, which varied based on market demand. Sometimes she would sell vegetables; other times she would bring items down from the Highlands and sell them in bulk. Then there was Yeral’s father, who ran a restaurant where he served…
Successfully running a two-decades old business is a definite labor of love. Imagine the horror of having that focus of your life seemingly disappear in a couple of hours. That’s the unfortunate story for Araceli and Fernando, owners of Thalia’s Jewelry, one of 31 businesses displaced by the conflagration at Mission and 22nd streets almost…
Turning onto interestingly named Hacker Way in Menlo Park, after a half-hour bus trip down the Peninsula from San Francisco’s Mission District, about 20 MEDA small-business clients were excited to go behind the curtain and be directly provided social media counseling from the innovators at Facebook. All knew they were being afforded an opportunity not…
The current situation “Living at Vida means you live in a richly diverse neighborhood with immediate access to . . . locally owned businesses. Living at Vida means you are part of a vibrant community.” These words jump off the pages of a brightly colored brochure touting sales for expensive residences at a 114-unit, gleaming…
“You can never quit. Winners never quit, and quitters never win.” –Ted Turner, Entrepreneur Last Thursday, Plaza Adelante’s main conference room was filled to the brim with 27 budding entrepreneurs—out of a group of 34 graduates of MEDA’s Business Development workshop—who each came to celebrate the achievement of taking a microbusiness dream on the path…
El Mercadito, located on the first level on the right-hand side of Plaza Adelante, serves as an incubator for microbusinesses started by MEDA clients. There are currently six small businesses in the Mission District El Mercadito, plus a cozy Peruvian food shop in Plaza Adelante’s paseo. There is even a new Tenderloin El Mercadito, which currently features…
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