This edition of the People First Economy Podcast is part of Nourish Our Community, an initiative PFE 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.