Angie Reyes began selling her homemade burritos out of an insulated cooler in 1994. Her original goal was to sell 20 of the Mexican-style wraps a day to her neighbors on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, located in Kyle, South Dakota.
"I couldn’t find a job and my family needed the extra income,” Reyes says. “I knew that people on the reservation wanted different types of food and my family always liked my burritos. So I decided to start my own business.”
As word of her culinary expertise spread, Reyes’ sales grew. In 1997, with the help of a micro-enterprise loan from the Kyle-based Lakota Funds, she opened La India Bonita Burritos.
Today, the restaurant -- now known as Angie’s Burritos -- employs four full-time staff and serves between 100 and 150 customers each day. And Reyes’ family is enjoying financial stability.
Dr. Dowell Caselli-Smith, executive director of the Fund, says that stories such as Reyes highlight how micro-enterprise opportunities are helping families escape poverty.
A micro-enterprise is a small business -- owned either by an individual, family or through a formal partnership -- that has fewer than five employees and is started with less than $35,000 in capital.
Often the owners lack the formal business experience, collateral and credit history required to access traditional sources of financing. Micro-enterprise programs help many launch their new ventures by providing some combination of training, one-on-one business counseling and access to credit.
Mott has invested more than $44.1 million in micro-enterprise activities since 1984, including $50,000 to the Lakota Fund. That grantmaking has supported efforts by the Fund and others to help micro-entrepreneurs launch new businesses. In addition, it has strengthened the field via the development, replication and formal evaluation of effective models.
The Fund is a private, non-profit community development institution helping create economic opportunities among the Lakota People of the Oglala Lakota Nation. It was launched in 1986 and has since made more than $3.5 million in micro-enterprise loans to over 600 individuals. The organization also provides entrepreneurs with business-related training and technical assistance.
The Fund also created the 12,000 square foot Lakota Trade Center, which houses a small business incubator program and business information center. In addition, the organization helped launch a local chamber of commerce, as well as the country’s first Native American-owned, tax credit-financed housing development.
The Fund’s ultimate goal, says Caselli-Smith, is to help local families build long-term stability.
"An unexpected change in health or loss of a job can trigger a financial catastrophe," he said. “Owning a business is one of many tools that help families build the assets and financial strength to weather those crises."
The micro-enterprise strategy has been key to economic development in the Pine Ridge community, creating over 800 jobs for area workers, and helping lift many families out of poverty. And new businesses mean that residents can do more shopping close to home, which further strengthens the local economy.
Reyes notes that her own venture has changed prospects for her family’s future. And she attributes much of her success to the Fund.
“I was afraid when I first opened the restaurant, it seemed like such a big step,” she says. “But the Lakota Fund helped us through and now we’re really doing well.”