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V O L . X X I V N O. X I I A t Cafe Whoopies in South Portland, Rwanda Bean Co. co-founder Mike Mwenedata is all smiles, welcoming custom- ers breakfasting on made-in-Maine whoopie pies and coff ee brewed from African beans. Rwanda Bean sources its beans from Mwenedata's East African homeland and returns half of what it earns to farmers, and has a roasting agreement with Arabica, which was its fi rst wholesale customer. Mwenedata, 32, spent years in refugee camps before immigrating to the United States in 2009. He came up with the idea for the mission-driven start-up while studying business at the University of Southern Maine. Inspiration struck at a Congress Street coff ee shop, where he observed people spending $5 to caff ein- ate, knowing that same amount would feed a family for a day back home. " at's when I thought, why don't I create something that would build a bridge from the farmer to the con- sumer?" says Mwenedata, who teamed up with Nick Mazuroski to launch a coff ee wholesale business in 2014. ey share the South Portland retail space with Cape Whoopies, founded by Marcia Wiggins in her Cape Elizabeth home in early 2013. "It's been a journey, and really great to see it coming together," says Mwenedata, a survivor of the 1994 genocide that killed his parents and fi ve siblings. Like many immigrants who leave everything behind for a better life, he embodies the passion that drives so many to start a business on American soil. First-generation immigrants create about 25% of new U.S. fi rms, according to the National Bureau of Economic Research in Cambridge, Mass. In Maine, where immigrants make up only 3% of the popula- tion, they own small businesses that generate $48 million in annual rev- enue, according to a 2017 report by the American Immigration Council. Other studies show that immigrants are also more likely to become entre- preneurs than native-born citizens. Getting to the right Portland When Quang Nguyen left Vietnam for America in 2007, he mistakenly fl ew to the Portland in Oregon rather than the one in Maine. He eventually got here and earned a degree from Southern Maine Community College. Today, at 28, he owns nail salons in Windham and Cape Elizabeth, Le Variety convenience store in South Portland, a fi nancial advisory fi rm and P H O T O / J I M N E U G E R New Mainers make their mark Immigrant entrepreneurs overcome obstacles to launch small businesses B Y R E N E E C O R D E S F O C U S In South Portland, Rwanda Bean Co. co-founder Mike Mwenedata sources beans from his East African homeland. The start-up returns half of what it earns to farmers. J U N E 1 1 , 2 0 1 8 28

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