AEO gives Entrepreneur of the Year Award for Best Community Business!

At the 2007 AEO Annual Conference, Saul and Carmen Manriquez, owners of Carniceria La Especial in Albuquerque, NM, were given the AEO Entrepreneur of the Year Award for Best Community Business. Using $200 of their savings, the couple started Carniceria La Especial as a small business selling specialty Mexican goods at a flea market in 1996. Since receiving five microloans from AEO member, ACCION New Mexico, the Manriquez’ business has grown into a grocery and meat market and is an important fixture in Albuquerque’s Mexican and Mexican-American communities. The couple came to the United States from Mexico in 1996 looking for a better life for their two daughters. The interviewer is Welthy Soni-Myers of AEO, and the comments and questions are translated by Marisa Barrera of ACCION New Mexico, a member of AEO’s board of directors.

To learn more about Saul and Carmen's story and the AEO Entrepreneur of the Year awards, go to http://www.microenterpriseworks.org/index.asp?bid=2169

To listen to the podcast interview with Saul and Carmen, click here.