GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — When Ruben Ramos moved to Grand Rapids with his family in the early 1990s, he said the city’s Latino community looked much different.
“I remember my parents going back to Chicago and buying tortillas by the case, because there wasn’t really a lot of options where to buy tortillas here in Grand Rapids at the time,” Ramos said.
More than three decades later, Ramos can see the community’s growth through the company he operates with his twin brother.
Ramos is president of R&R Heating and Cooling, a business that initially built much of its customer base by serving Latino families in their language and establishing trust.
“The Latino community is at the very core of our foundation — really the foundation for R&R,” Ramos said.
As the company expanded, so did its workforce and the size of the projects it could pursue.
Ramos said about 60% of R&R’s employees were hired from within the community. The company provides workers with skilled-trade training and a path toward long-term careers.
“When you support small businesses and Latino businesses like ours, you’re supporting the community directly because the dollars stay right here,” Ramos said.
The Grand Rapids Chamber estimates about one in six people living in the city is Latino.
Omar Cuevas, senior vice president of investor relations for the Chamber, said Latino residents contribute to the regional economy across industries including construction, agriculture, manufacturing and professional services.
“We have job creators that are Latinos,” Cuevas said. “We have individuals who are building homes, who are part of the agriculture, construction industry, service industry.”
The Chamber’s broader research into the region’s immigrant community found immigrants have about $1 billion in annual spending power and pay more than $500 million each year in local, state and federal taxes.
Cuevas said the population also includes a significant number of working-age residents who help local employers fill open positions. In manufacturing alone, he said Latino and other immigrant workers have helped retain close to 2,600 jobs in the region.
“When it comes to economic vibrancy, this is a segment of our community who is increasing our GDP, increasing the spend that we have here locally,” Cuevas said.
He encouraged residents and companies to consider Latino-owned businesses when choosing restaurants, caterers, contractors and other vendors.
“You could support a Latino-owned business when you’re looking at maybe ordering some catering, or where you’re going to go for lunch, or how do I include different representation in the vendors that I’m using,” Cuevas said.
The growth of Latino-owned businesses is not limited to storefronts or the skilled trades.
Ana Ramirez-Saenz started La Fuente Consulting in 2000 following a career in banking and private industry. Her consulting work focuses on inclusion and diversity in the workplace.
About six months after she started the business, a client preparing to host a team from Latin America asked whether she could translate company materials into Spanish.
“That division started with one translation project,” Ramirez-Saenz said. “Then it grew to two, to three, and then the division began growing and growing and growing.”
The division eventually expanded beyond translation to include interpretation and multimedia services. It became a separate company, La Fuente Communications, in 2017.
Ramirez-Saenz said the work is personal. She was born in Mexico and came to West Michigan as a child. Like many bilingual children in immigrant families, she often interpreted for her mother, including during medical appointments.
She said those experiences showed her the importance of language access.
“When people make connections, they understand, and then they get empowered,” Ramirez-Saenz said. “Because now they can really be part of a community.”
This story was initially reported by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
