Rob Casey/Getty Images IMMIGRANTentrepreneurs A Key to Boston’s Neighborhood Revitalization By Marcia Hohn Immigrant-owned businesses have been anecdotally and the economic and community development services linked to the revival of a number of depressed areas in available to small businesses. Massachusetts and across the country. Yet, few studies have • All of the businesses were self- or family-financed. examined the nature of immigrant businesses and the role Traditional sources of credit and financial support were they play in a community’s turnaround. In 2003, the typically not available to or utilized by the entrepreneurs in Immigrant Learning Center (ILC), Inc., a nonprofit organ- the study. ization located in Malden, Massachusetts, that provides • Most businesses are in the retail and service sectors, English language training for immigrant adults, launched a and many were started to provide goods and services to public education program to raise the visibility of immi- particular ethnic groups. grants as valuable contributors to America’s economic, social, • Today, these businesses do not solely serve their and cultural vibrancy. own ethnic groups but draw a range of customers from As part of this campaign, the ILC commissioned two both within and outside of the neighborhood. University of Massachusetts-Boston research teams to carry • Collectively, the businesses bestow a distinctive out a study investigating the impact of immigrant-owned character on the neighborhood business areas, attracting businesses on neighborhood revitalization.1 The study new customers and expanding economic activity in the focused on three Boston neighborhoods—Allston Village, neighborhood. East Boston, and Fields Corner—all home to large immi- • Over time, the three neighborhoods have become grant populations and immigrant-owned businesses. The cleaner, brighter, and safer in part because of the enhanced resulting report, “Immigrant Entrepreneurs and stability provided by the immigrant-owned businesses. Neighborhood Revitalization,” will be released this fall. This • In some cases, immigrant-owned businesses have article summarizes key findings of the study. created significant employment opportunities for neigh- borhood residents.2 Main Findings • Most immigrant-owned businesses do not exist only The study revealed several important findings about for family survival and employment. Rather, the immigrant immigrant-owned businesses in Boston: business owners in the study expressed ambitions for • There is a disconnect between immigrant entrepreneurs expansion and demonstrated entrepreneurial drive. Saul Parella Saul Perlera, Perlera Real Estate Saul Perlera never wanted to start his own business.The second son of restaurant owners, Perlera knew what it meant to be a small business owner—long hours and hard work. But he could not escape his entrepreneurial roots, and today, he owns the top real estate office in East Boston. At 16 years of age, Perlera left El Salvador for the United States, arriving at his uncle’s house in East Boston.Within a few weeks, he was working three jobs—a full time factory job and two part time clean- ing positions. “I didn’t know a word of English when I got here,” says Perlera. “But working with Italians at the factory and learning English along the way, I was soon able to speak Italian, English, and Spanish.” With East Boston’s predominantly Italian landlords and largely Latino tenants, the value of Perlera’s language skills was recognized by the real estate agent who rented him his first apartment. The agent offered him a job on the spot. Over the next ten years, Perlera worked in the agent’s office, learning the ropes of the real estate business, even- are young immigrants.“I like to hire young friends of mine,” says Perlera. tually getting his license, and becoming the top agent in the office.Two “I want to give young people the opportunity that I was once given.” years ago, Perlera decided to break out on his own. “I had a vision of In the past two years, Perlera’s business has become the top real creating a space where brokers would want to work,” says Perlera. “I estate firm in the East Boston area. Encouraged by this success, wanted an office that was equipped with the tools brokers need to Perlera is now taking his vision to the neighborhood at large. He is function well in this industry and one that showed a commitment to developing several mixed-use properties, employing a professional professionalism.” design team and high quality materials. He is promoting the East He started small, hiring three people, working out of in his living Boston Main Streets façade-improvement program, helping other room, and financing the operation with equity from his own personal small business owners to enhance the look of their storefronts, and investment properties. Soon, he found office space in the Meridian he is involved in several other organizations that are working to Street business district. He hired a designer and completely renovated improve the image of Meridian Street and East Boston’s other com- the office, creating an aesthetically appealing space. Perlera’s strategy mercial districts.“Someone has to raise the standards of housing, busi- worked. Brokers came knocking, wanting to work in the stylish atmos- ness façades, and signage in the neighborhood,” says Perlera. phere with its high-tech infrastructure. Today, Perlera Real Estate “Someone has to take the lead in creating a neighborhood that peo- employs 14 agents, as well as a full support staff. Many of the employees ple want to be in.” Methodology plans. The hour-long interviews were face to face, given The study focused on the perceptions that immigrant under the condition of anonymity, and often conducted in business owners have about their impact on their neighbor- the owner’s native language. hoods. Ten to fifteen interviews were conducted with a sam- In East Boston, the process was slightly different. ple of immigrant entrepreneurs in each of the three neigh- Interviews were conducted with 12 immigrant entrepreneurs borhoods. There were three criteria for a business’ participa- and 16 key observers. The business owners were all Latino, tion in the study: the owner must be foreign born; the busi- selected from referrals from various sources: the Main Streets ness must be a storefront enterprise that has been in opera- Program of East Boston, local leaders, and members of the tion for at least three years; and the business cannot be a Latino business community. As in the other two neighbor- franchise or a branch of a parent company located outside of hoods, interviews were one hour, anonymous, and often con- the neighborhood. The interviews were augmented by dis- ducted in the native language. A similar questionnaire was cussions with key neighborhood observers, including staff used, covering business history, business relations, customers from community-based organizations, police officers, and and community, problems and barriers, and future plans. local officials. In Allston Village and Fields Corner, businesses were The Neighborhoods selected randomly and were administered a questionnaire Allston Village that covered four areas: business operation, neighborhood Allston Village is a triangular-shaped commercial area relations, use of public services and policies, and future in the Allston-Brighton neighborhood of Boston. At mid- 22 Summer 2005 century, the area was a middle class shopping district featur- East Boston ing butcher shops and family restaurants. However, in the East Boston is a unique neighborhood. It has large areas following decades, the area fell into decline. As property val- of waterfront but is hemmed in by three major transportation ues dropped, three neighboring universities—Boston elements: Logan International Airport; the Sumner and College, Boston University, and Harvard University—began Callahan Tunnels; and the inner Boston Harbor Maritime to buy up land, and a large student population moved into infrastructure. All three have generated negative side effects the neighborhood. Bars and nightclubs replaced traditional on the quality of life in East Boston, and over time, the neigh- businesses to cater to this younger population, and the borhood has been one of the more depressed areas of the city. neighborhood became increasingly transient. In recent decades, East Boston has come to have the The area’s low rents also began attracting a sizable largest concentration of Latinos in Boston, with Latinos immigrant population as early as the 1960s, and today, of the making up close to 50 percent of the neighborhood’s popu- neighborhood’s 21,000 residents, 35 percent are foreign lation. Most are young, and the majority are from Central born, compared with 26 percent citywide. The immigrant America, with large populations from El Salvador and population is diverse. Asian immigrants compose 41 percent Colombia. Originally settling around Maverick and Central of the foreign-born population. Latinos make up another 40 Squares, the Latino population is steadily spreading to East percent, while Russians, Middle Easterners, and Eastern Boston’s other neighborhoods, as older Italian and Irish res- Europeans also have significant numbers in the community. idents move out. The growing Latino population has sparked Allston’s mix of businesses has tracked these demographic a Latino-owned business community, which largely supplies shifts. Of the 276 businesses in Allston Village, at least 104 are Latino-oriented goods and services in a range of indus- immigrant-owned, and the ethnic diversity of these storefronts tries—food, real estate, insurance, tax service, laundry serv- has become one of the neighborhood’s unique features. Nearly ice, beauty salons, and sporting goods. half of these businesses are in the food services sector, prompt- ing the Boston Globe to call the area the city’s “premier bazaar of Common Characteristics cheap and ethnic eats.” Other businesses include hair salons, Across all three neighborhoods, immigrant entrepreneurs gift shops, a grocery store, a video-rental store, an herbal shop, experienced similar paths to business ownership.