Welcome to Season 2 Episode 7 of the People First Economy Podcast, a podcast where we talk to business leaders and movement builders who are leading the charge in building a people first economy.
This edition of the PFE Podcast is part of Nourish Our Community, an initiative we started in 2021 to highlight the importance of our food system. Joining Emmanuel Ibarra on the podcast is Javier Olvera from Supermercado Mexico and Elissa Sangalli from Northern Initiatives.
In this episode you hear Javier’s story behind Supermercado Mexico, how he stepped away from a career in engineering to establish and grow a series of successful Mexican grocery stores with a few of his family members. Together they acquired their first store, La Tapatia, back in 2006 which evolved into the three stores that are now known as Supermercado Mexico. About three years ago, Supermercado Mexico began working with Northern Initiatives (NI), a Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI), to complete a number of projects. Elissa Sangalli, President of NI, shared insight into how support is provided by Northern Initiatives to businesses engaged in their programming.
Supermercado Mexico is a mexican grocery store with three locations in Grand Rapids and Wyoming founded in 2006 and locally co-owned by Javier Olvera and a few family members.
Northern Initiatives is a Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) serving businesses in communities around Michigan and northern Wisconsin.
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