The U.S. Census Bureau reports that 6.5 percent of businesses are Asian-owned and 15.4 percent are Hispanic-owned in Ventura County, where transnational entrepreneurs Asma and Juan live and work. In California, those percentages are 12.8 percent and 14.7 percent, respectively.

By DENISE VASTOLA
EL NUEVO SOL

A mixture of spicy aromas waft out the door, greeting visitors with a hint of what to expect when they step inside the store that is brimming with products as colorful as its proprietor’s personality and buzzing with the sounds of electrical equipment.

Apna Spiceland and Kitchen in Thousand Oaks is part to-go restaurant, part grocery store, part convenience store and even part clothing store. The bazaar-like marketplace is packed into six aisles, four coolers, several freezers, and a large stainless steel food-warmer that holds freshly prepared vegetarian and non-vegetarian Indian specialties, like chicken tandoori, kabob, bindi masala, basmati rice, and samosa. Yet another display case houses Indian sweet treats that range in color from white and tan to purple and pink.

Asma Ali and husband Mir, owners of Apna Spice Land, stand among shelves and aisles overflowing with specialty products. Asma says that in India, unless a shopkeeper's products spill out onto the sidewalk, it is considered to be less than fully stocked. Conversely, American shoppers prefer less abundance. It can be a difficult balance when shopkeepers cater to more than one culture.

Purchased in 2003 by Mr. and Mrs. Mir and Asma Ali, the tiny, once-unorganized spice shop has morphed into a business energized with the bright colors of turmeric and chilies. Asma, who not only prepares the fragrant Indian dishes on the daily menu but also runs the whole operation, says many of the changes made since she and Mir bought the store were influenced by her father, Mohammad Raza.

“I used to cook our traditional hyderabadi biryanis [meat and rice] dishes from home on Saturdays and Sundays and bring them here for my customers because I had orders from them,” said Asma, who emigrated from India and worked as a computer programmer before becoming an entrepreneur. “My dad said we really need a place where we can be cooking and God willing, this place came up right next to us, so we convinced our landlord to [rent it to us] and then we started doing the construction for the restaurant. That was four years ago.”
Valley Economic Development Center estimates that 80 percent of new entrepreneurs in Los Angeles are immigrants. So, it comes as no surprise that one of its neighboring communities to the north, Thousand Oaks, also has a fair share of transnational entrepreneurs.
Across town it’s not bright colors or spicy aromas that greet customers; it’s the beat of Latin music floating from patio speakers that serenade the Mexican restaurant’s clientele as they enter.

Three Amigos Mexican Restaurant, opened in 2002, has nine tables inside and nine on the patio – all appear perfectly aligned. Its uniformed employees wear clothes that are identical to what the boss wears – white shirt, black pants and black ball cap. Each wears a name badge.

Every item on the menu is printed and evenly spaced on three blackboards that hang from the ceiling. And, every item on the menu tastes like what three brothers ate at their mother’s kitchen table in Mexico. Chicken tortilla soup. Soft tacos. Burritos. Enchiladas. Mom’s flan.
Leonardo Rodriguez, Juan Rodriguez, and Federico Rodriguez, born three years apart, each immigrated to the United States at the age of 22.
“We always knew we wanted to open a restaurant,” said Juan Rodriguez. “We got jobs in restaurants as soon as we arrived. We went to school for ESL and got our high school diplomas and then went to Moorpark College.”

Juan Rodriguez, one of three brothers who co-own 3 Amigos Mexican Restaurant in Thousand Oaks, takes a minute out of his busy day to visit with wife Leticia and 8-month-old son Eduardo. Leticia worked in the restauant before the birth of the couple's first son. While Leticia's parents live in Los Angeles and can see grandson Eduardo regularly, Juan's parents live in Mexico and check-up on their grandson via Web cam.

Although the brothers had restaurant experience, Juan said they had difficulty convincing a landlord that they were a good risk. “The landlords won’t rent you a place unless you can prove that you’ve been a restaurateur before. It was tough for us. We really didn’t do any market research. We just found an owner who would rent to us.”

Luckily, the restaurant thrived and in 2007, the siblings opened store No. 2, and “we believe that five locations in 10 years is doable,” said Juan.

The U.S. Census Bureau reports that 6.5 percent of businesses are Asian-owned and 15.4 percent are Hispanic-owned in Ventura County, where transnational entrepreneurs Asma and Juan live and work. In California, those percentages are 12.8 percent and 14.7 percent, respectively.

In a report co-authored by Luis Eduardo Guarnizo of University of California, Davis, transnational enterprise can offer first-generation immigrants a more desirable path than low-paid menial occupations, including the economic means to support the successful adaptation of their children.

Although professor Guarnizo and his co-authors define a transnational entrepreneur as an individual who says his company’s success depends on regular contact with foreign countries, another expert doesn’t make this distinction.

Alvaro Lima, author of “Living Here and There: How Immigrants are Creating Transnational Social Spaces that Transform Communities and Nations,” says the benefits of transnational entrepreneurship are many for both the immigrant and the host country – the immigrants are more successful, have stable businesses, pay taxes, grow and employ people.

A closer look at the two Ventura County transnational entrepreneurs confirms this. Both have established businesses. Both secured traditional loans to finance their ventures. While Asma’s business employs three, Juan and his brothers employ 20.

Asma and Juan differ from many immigrants of past generations, in that they keep in close contact with family and friends still living in their birth countries. This is because it’s easier and cheaper to stay in touch, said Alvaro.

“In the old days, it took 30 days for a letter to reach home,” said Alvaro, who is also research director for the City of Boston and a transnational. “Today, you have a page on Facebook and you e-mail photos.”

For Juan, keeping in touch with family still living in Mexico is particularly important. He communicates weekly with his mother by Web cam, so she is able to see and speak with her 8-month old grandson, Eduardo.

As for keeping up with the news back home, Juan finds it easiest just to Google “mex” and he gets the latest information almost as fast as it’s happening in Mexico.

Asma and husband Mir, on the other hand, get their news about India through Dish TV and “India West,” a weekly newspaper. Immediate families of both Asma and Mir, who is an engineer with the state of California, also immigrated to the U.S., so keeping in touch is easy.
Although Asma and Juan are from different parts of the world, family is central in both their lives – this includes sharing of wealth for the greater good of the family.

“Transnationalism has always existed, but not on the scale it is today,” said Alvaro. “As an example, people have sent money home in the past, but not nearly the $200 billion of remittances from immigrants worldwide today. In the last century, remittances were sent home by post office. Today they are sent through the bank.”

For Juan and his brothers, sending remittances to Mexico keeps the family ties strong. The three helped pay for their youngest brother’s education. Today, he is a doctor in Mexico. They also fund the college education of their youngest sister and continue to help support their parents.

Their mother’s influence is great and although she lives in another country, Juan says she is thought of daily.
“I love cooking and I’ve been cooking mom’s recipes as long as I can remember,” said Juan. “Flan is my favorite dessert. When I make it, it brings me memories of when I was watching how she made it.”

Asma’s family ties are equally as strong. Buying the store was a way to entice her father to emigrate from India after he retired from the air conditioning manufacturing company he owned. She wanted to give him something to do here. She experienced the joy of working with him for six years, before he passed away in 2009.

“It was more his place than mine,” said Asma. “Mine was only the money, but all the love and passion that went into making this place is just because of my dad.”

Facts about minority-owned businesses

Source: The Center for an Urban Future, “A World of Opportunity” (February 2007)

• Los Angeles County leads the nation in the number of Hispanic- and Asian-owned firms
• At least 22 of LA’s 100-fastest growing companies were founded by first-generation immigrants, as reported by the Los Angeles Business Journal in 2005
• In 2006, 36 of the 500 largest Hispanic-owned businesses in the U.S. were based in Los Angeles County, as reported in “Hispanic Business 500.”
• The average Asian-owned firm had higher receipts in L.A. than in nine of the 10 other cities with the most Asian-owned businesses, as reported in the 2002 Economic Census, survey of Business Owners, U.S. Census Bureau
• While it’s still common for immigrants in Los Angeles to open small specialty food, retail and restaurants, foreign-born entrepreneurs also have a significant presence in food processing, fashion, toy wholesaling, technology and other sectors that have more potential for growth.

Source:  Kauffman Index of Entrepreneurial Activity (1996-2008), published 4/2009

• A study by the Kauffman Foundation reported in 2005 that 350 of 100,000 immigrants started a business each month, as compared to 280 of 100,000 native-born Americans.