Latino Enterprise Center (LEC)

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the AFL-CIO, according to an article on the Washington Post by Spenser S. Shu posted yesterday on their website addresses an issue that we need to pay close attention in our rural towns in Minnesota.

The article relates to the economic impact through disruption of business activities that a planned immigrant crackdown could have on many key business sectors around the country.  The housing market downturn and the related economic impact of the housing market (consumption of durable goods), has already added stress on an economy that has unarguably been in trouble for many years.

No matter on which side of the arguments on undocumented immigration one stands these days, there are measures that are just plainly counterproductive if we consider all of the other factors already affecting our social and economic conditions.  We have the right to demand that our leaders are held accountable for predictable impacts of their actions in this issue of immigration policies. Cracking down on a population that is already in an economic corner, in an economy that like it or nor not depends on them to a great degree, is not going to automatically create opportunities for others, has nothing to do with fixing the broken immigration system, but has significant consequences for our local economies.

There was an article on the Northfield News today by Stepanie Soucheraythat relates to this title.  It may be a good time to clarify that we don’t have credible population census data, there is concensus on this fact among professionals in the Latino community, but from interacting constantly with a community one gets a feeling of who is who, this is where my numbers come from.  I am currently looking into asking for help from St. Olaf and Carleton colleges to see if we can get a better handle on the Latino population data in Northfield, not only to have better information, but because it is important for our strategic planning as organizations and for the city’s own planning.  I will keep you posted.

You can read the article below, or directly by clicking on the link above.

As announced last August 16th on my blog entry, last Saturday a diverse group of people representing farmers, farmer organizations, and Father Dennis from St. Dominic’s Catholic Church met to look into the picture of diversity in food production that is growing around the Northfield area, not only the diversity of color in the faces involved but in backgrounds and sectors of the society working hard to see farmers succeed.  There was room for food, conversation and a great opportunity for everyone to interact, tell stories and learn how other people think and do things.

We later checked on our poultry experiment where we have 15 egg laying gens and 25 broilers, we checked on the status of the 2 acres planted with black turtle beans on land that I rent from my neighbor, our onion production experiment, blue corn seed patch, and the general garden area.  There was a lot of wind and water damage to report but we will still have an acceptable harvest if the weather does not play another trick on us.

A partial list of the people who came to the gathering include, Maria Sosa and Salvador Ruiz from Faribault, Jose Javier of Northfield, Father Dennis of St. Dominic Church, Amy Bacigalupo of the Land Stewardship Project’s (LSP) Willmar office, Karen Stettler of LSP in Lewinston,  Joci Tilsen, Program Director with the Minnesota Food Association, Collie Graddick, with the Pescitice Management Unit at the MN Department of Agriculture, all of these folks came with partners and kids, great food and a warm spirit to share.

Here is a picture with some of the kids after we partially succeeded in pulling them away from their games.

The Land Stewardship Project’s Farm Beginning Program will be visiting Northfield area Latino farmers and gardeners on August 25th. In partnership with LSP we are organizing a social gathering at my place on 315th. St. W. on August 25th. at 6 pm. The format is simple but as meaninful as a cross-cultural social gathering can be.

First of all there will be food, a pot-luck with food brought in by about 12 current Farm Beginning Program participants, a pot of our own black turtle beans grown behind my house will be cooked, corn tortillas (we are hoping to hand-make some), and of course fruits and vegetables from the variety of farms and gardens that will be represented.

We will also have visitors from Austin, MN, Maria Sosa, who works with Latinos in Austin was here yesterday with Salvador Ruiz, both of them, myself and other folks from Northfield and the Twin Cities are part of a regional Latino leaders network working to create a Latino/a farming and processing corporation and a brand name for some specialty products for the regional and national market.

Maria and Salvador came to learn more about the Latino Enterprise Center’s plans and to look into sharing experiences and strategies for accessing land and other resources necessary to launch Latino farmers in their area. Though we are only starting this process of outreach and business partnership building exploration, the interest is very high. A gathering of these regional leadership group has been scheduled for September 1st. we will be meeting right here in Northfield.

All in all, I hope this cross-cultural farmers and gardeners gathering on the 25th, will leave us with a full stomach, a contented soul, feed our energy to keep connecting folks to the land and to each other, and as always, make strides towards building Latino leadership through meaninful interactions with the wider community and by creating the business and organizational infrastructure to sustain and multiply our small achievements.

Services and products servicing the Latino population may just become more relevant in the coming years. As we continue to look into the opportunities for the Latino Enterprise Center, we are keeping an eye on the census beureu data and the population changes in the communities we serve, primarily in Northfield, our hometown. As our populations keep shifting, we are constantly looking at how we may adapt to these demographic changes as well as how we can prepare so that we may capitalize on the benefits that an increased population diversity may offer to the rural areas of MN.

Adapting to, and accomodating changes in population is better said than processed or done. Most small towns and cities are struggling to adapt to these changes, but those of us in some of the many frontlines are here to be part of the solution by taking leadership and giving what we can in our areas of expertise. For us this falls in the area of enterprise development and the leadership role that entrepreneurs can play in bringing about positive change, economic growth and better understanding through day to day interactions with our new home communities and in encouraging more people to integrate and move behond “majority-minority” labels.

Here is the link to the recently completed U.S. population census.