HELPING IMMIGRANTS EXPAND BUSINESS IN RURAL AMERICA

Bubai Foods
Walnut Grove, Minn.

Situation:

The rural community of Walnut Grove, Minn., a town of 599 residents, is home to a growing number of minorities. Thirty percent of its school-age population is listed as having Asian ethnicity—a reflection of the changing face of rural America.

Laotian-Americans Harris and Terry Yang immigrated to the United States and eventually settled in Walnut Grove. It was important to them to quickly make a positive impact on the local community by applying their entrepreneurial skills, so they opened the WG Oriental Store — specializing in Asian products — in 2003 with seed money from their extended family.

Later that year, the partners had an opportunity to expand their business by purchasing a neighboring grocery store. While they had some family funds, they needed additional financing to remodel the commercial space. Integrity Bank provided a first mortgage of $80,000, but the Yangs needed an additional $120,000 to complete the project.

Solution:

Prairieland Economic Development Corp. (PEDC) and CRF provided a New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) Business Loan for $80,000, which helped bring in the remaining financing from the Southwest Initiative Fund, generating a total of $200,000 to finance their business expansion. Harris and Terry Yang merged the two stores, and now offer seafood, produce, meat and dairy products through the new Bubai Foods Store.

Benefits:

Receiving the financing to expand their
business enabled the Yangs to strengthen their ties
to their rural community, provide a needed service
and create five new jobs.