“Le Llaman Puebladelphia”: A discussion of Immigrant Entrepreneurship and Community Organization in Philadelphia’s Italian Market

Abstract

Over the past 20 years, Mexican immigrants have revitalized the 9th Street Italian Market, a result of entrepreneurship and mutual aid within this community. This project builds on Alejandro Portes’s concept of the ethnic enclave and the literature that follows, to show how mutual aid is key to spreading knowledge about government programs in an immigrant community. Using the lens of social networks in the ethnic enclave, this research aims to improve the effectiveness of City grants in reaching immigrant businesses, by uncovering why Mexican business-owners in Philadelphia’s Italian Market choose not to utilize City grants. The first part of this report provides an overview of the Italian Market’s history to analyze the context that facilitated entrepreneurship and the creation of social networks in the new Mexican community. The Italian Market was formed in the 1900s as a result of Italian immigrant entrepreneurship and mutual aid systems. As the descendants of these immigrants moved out in the 1970s, East Asian and Mexican small-businesses were able to revive the neighborhood. The second part of this report provides data detailing entrepreneurial challenges from the perspective of business-owners, and how community organizations address these issues. Mexican business-owners face a variety of challenges in entrepreneurship, including access to financing, a language barrier, and a lack of business know-how. The Mexican businesses association, Asociación de Empresarios Mexicanos (AEM), was created during the COVID-19 pandemic to address these obstacles, and since has become a resource for a certain group of entrepreneurs. Participation in the AEM overlaps with the core social networks in the Mexican community, leaving out those who are not part of community organization. Finally, this report describes the available government programs and provides recommendations of how they can be more effective. My findings show that government programs align with the needs of entrepreneurs, but business-owners face barriers in accessing these programs Since community organizations are the most willing recipients of government aid, government programs should focus on reducing barriers to participation in the AEM, and providing community-oriented support instead of grants to individuals.