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Esnoval is appreciative of Garcia\u2019s mentorship. Nick Hagen.<\/p>\nEsnoval is appreciative of Garcia\u2019s mentorship. Nick Hagen.<\/p>\n
On a recent April morning in an office in Pontiac, where her pop-up normally operates, Marian Esnoval measures the grounds of Chiapas coffee beans, which have a vibrant, cherry-red color.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Esnoval, who founded pop-up coffee retailer Cafetal Coffee<\/a> exactly one year ago, began her journey as an entrepreneur at home among the trees and people of the Mexican highlands. The coffee beans Esnoval sells are often grown by Indigenous, rural communities<\/a> in parts of the country\u2019s Chiapas region<\/a> where the soil is rich.<\/p>\n Esnoval had a vision that turned red coffee beans into a lifeline for her family and the community that raised her.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWhen I started, all I had was an idea, and my main purpose was to help people,\u201d Esnoval says. \u201cBut I didn\u2019t know anything about planning a business, or even setting up your price points correctly for retail.\u201d<\/p>\n When Esnoval immigrated to the United States, she settled in Florida. She left the sunshine state for the unfamiliar winters of Michigan, arriving in 2020 just as the COVID-19 pandemic began to reshape the world.\u00a0<\/p>\n Immigrants like Esnoval are determined to grow their businesses but often need access to resources.\u00a0<\/p>\n Then Esnoval joined the Global Resource Program<\/a> at Oakland Thrive, a nonprofit organization based in Pontiac, Michigan. The program aims to help new immigrants, refugees and asylum seekers start their own businesses.<\/p>\n Since 2023, Oakland Thrive has been ensuring that the next generation of Michigan\u2019s business leaders, who come from countries across Latin America, the Middle East, Asia and Africa, can turn their ideas into something meaningful to the community.\u00a0<\/p>\n To date, hundreds of participants have successfully completed the program, says Sairy Garcia, the manager of the Global Resource Program who helps immigrants navigate the complexities of Michigan\u2019s business landscape.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a beautifully diverse community, and each business brings its own story, culture and resilience into the ecosystem.\u201d<\/p>\n Providing blueprints for immigrant business growth<\/p>\n In 2022, immigrants made up roughly 11% of the state\u2019s business owners, even though immigrants represented about 7% of the state\u2019s population overall, according to a report from the American Immigration Council<\/a>. Immigrants in Michigan were about 36% more likely to become entrepreneurs compared to their U.S.-born counterparts.\u00a0<\/p>\n Many immigrant entrepreneurs came to the state from Mexico, Iraq, India, Albania, and China, the report finds. About 46,200 immigrant entrepreneurs in Michigan generated $1.4 billion in business income.\u00a0<\/p>\n These contributions help places like Oakland County.<\/p>\n \u201cThe county faces unique economic challenges, including a need for diversified small businesses that can withstand global market shifts,\u201d Garcia says. \u201cImmigrant-led businesses bring a level of creativity and resilience that naturally fills gaps in our local economy.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAfter 2022, as many communities continue to rebuild and adapt, we\u2019ve seen immigrant entrepreneurs step into spaces where there may have been limited investment or attention. They are opening businesses in areas that need revitalization, bringing life back to commercial corridors,\u201d Garcia adds.<\/p>\n But the transition from start-up to running a legitimate business is often filled with predatory \u201cbig corporation\u201d practices and daunting bureaucratic hurdles.<\/p>\n The Global Resource Program was designed specifically to address these challenges, offering mentorship to those unfamiliar with American marketing strategies or the legal requirements for trademarks and business plans.<\/p>\n The program also provides newcomer entrepreneurs with specialized training tailored for those with professional qualifications acquired outside the U.S. These resources include personalized one-on-one business consultations.<\/p>\n This support is matched by partnerships with organizations like the Michigan Hispanic Chamber of Commerce<\/a> and the Asian Pacific American Chamber of Commerce<\/a>. Garcia says these collaborations allow Oakland Thrive to co-create programming that is more relevant and accessible, ensuring that the Blueprint Cohort, a specialized business training track, reflects real community needs.<\/p>\n The program currently supports a wide variety of businesses. Garcia notes she is inspired by the business growth she has seen.<\/p>\n \u201cHospitality and retail continue to be some of the most popular sectors,\u201d Garcia explains.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re also seeing growth in service-based businesses, construction, beauty and wellness and professional services.\u201d<\/p>\n Garcia emphasizes that the program aims to help participants overcome barriers to building viable and sustainable businesses.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cOn the financial side, many entrepreneurs are navigating systems that are completely new to them, understanding credit, accessing capital, managing taxes or even opening the right type of business bank account,\u201d Garcia says.<\/p>\n \u201cLanguage can also be a barrier. That\u2019s why offering consultations in multiple languages is so important. I\u2019m able to support the Hispanic community in Spanish as Spanish is my first language, creating a space where clients feel comfortable and confident.\u201d<\/p>\n For Garcia, an immigrant from Mexico, the mission is personal.<\/p>\n \u201cThis program truly lives in my heart. Building trust is paramount; we [immigrants] don\u2019t trust easily,\u201d Garcia says.\u00a0<\/p>\n Program participants \u201cfeel confident talking about their business and their story.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI love what I do. I feel really passionate about working with these types of small businesses because sometimes we think that those resources are not available for us,\u201d Garcia says.<\/p>\n Community collaboration across borders<\/p>\n What started as a personal search for a \u201cpiece of home,\u201d the specific flavor of coffee from her father\u2019s hometown in Mexico, eventually drove Esnoval to create Cafetal Coffee.\u00a0<\/p>\n In addition to organizing pop-up events in Pontiac, Esnoval sells bags of fresh beans online, interacting with customers through direct messages on Instagram. Her beans are also featured at cafes like Alba in Detroit\u2019s Corktown neighborhood<\/a>.<\/p>\n Bags of coffee beans range in price. A 100-gram bag costs $10.00, and a 340-gram bag costs $21.99. A 250-gram bag of specialty coffee sells for $24.99. Each coffee package highlights a different Mexican state. For instance, the Nayarit Single Origin beans offer a blend of honey, almond, and yellow plum. Nayarit<\/a> is a state on Mexico\u2019s western coast, bordered by the Sierra Madre Occidental mountains and the Pacific Ocean.\u00a0<\/p>\n Esnoval made her coffee business official in 2023, with support from mentors at Oakland Thrive. The mentorship helped accelerate Cafetal Coffee\u2019s growth, instrumental in shifting her mindset.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cRight now we are at the point that I\u2019m in the process of getting my trademark, and that was something that I didn\u2019t even think about,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n \u201cI was thinking more along the lines of a mom and pop shop, ignoring the impact my coffee can create in the community.\u201d<\/p>\n Immigrant-owned businesses often serve as cultural bridges, and Esnoval is bringing international trade connections to metro Detroit with Cafetal Coffee. Economic benefits are felt on both sides of the border. The mission became clear after Esnoval discovered her own cousin, a coffee farmer in Chiapas, was struggling against large corporations that lock small farms into long-term contracts at minimum pay.<\/p>\n \u201cI realized that they don\u2019t have those resources to go and try to sell it for better,\u201d Esnoval explains.<\/p>\n By bypassing these third-party \u201cbig corporation\u201d loopholes and working directly with farmers from more than a dozen<\/a> coffee-producing states across Mexico, Esnoval ensures a percentage of every sale is reinvested directly into these communities.\u00a0<\/p>\n This \u201cradical transparency\u201d funds essential needs like electricity and water, and most recently, allowed her to deliver laundry machines to a group of woman-owned coffee farmers this past January.<\/p>\n As Cafetal Coffee celebrates its first anniversary, its goals have shifted from survival to scaling. Esnoval\u2019s vision of \u201cconscious consumption,\u201d which is rooted in ethical and environmentally-conscious labor practices<\/a>, is exactly the kind of gap-filling Garcia sees as vital for the county\u2019s future. And Esnoval plans to visit the very farms in Chiapas that fueled her journey.<\/p>\n Esnoval is grateful for Garcia\u2019s mentorship, and the two women share a special bond.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI always tell her that she has been my angel,\u201d Esnoval says.<\/p>\n Point of Entry is a series exploring the lived realities and vital contributions of immigrant communities across Southeast Michigan. This is a collaboration with New Michigan Media, supported by the Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan. See more stories from this series here<\/a>.<\/p>\n
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Sairy Garcia, a manager for the Global Resource Program, says she\u2019s inspired by the beauty, diversity and resilience of immigrant entrepreneurs. Nick Hagen.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Marian-Esnoval-is-the-founder-of-Cafetal-Coffee_-a-retailer-that-sells-coffee-beans-from-Mexicos-Chi.jpeg\")
Marian Esnoval is the founder of Cafetal Coffee, a retailer that sells coffee beans from Mexico\u2019s Chiapas region. Nick Hagen.<\/p>\n
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