Maria Ramos, Karla Ruiz and Fernando Maldonado all came to Nashville from their native Mexico, looking for the American dream – owning their own businesses and creating a good future for their families.
Today, the three have realized that ambition, joining a growing number of immigrant entrepreneurs, not only from Mexico and other Latin American countries but from other nations as well, who have started their own businesses here.
Nashville is a good place for immigrants to go into business, according to Forbes magazine, which recently ranked the city as No. 3 among the nation’s best metropolitan areas for minority entrepreneurs.
The magazine noted that Nashville’s immigrant population “soared 83 percent, to 107,000, between 2000 and 2008, the fastest growth rate among the nation’s largest cities,” adding that many of them have gone into business for themselves. The city ranks fourth among the nation’s top 52 markets for Hispanic self-employment, Forbes said.
While there are a number of growing immigrant groups here, including Asian and African transplants, the biggest increase has been Hispanics, particularly from Mexico and Central America, said Yuri Cunza, president of the Nashville Area Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. READ MORE
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