Eight years ago, when Noelia Garcia Urzua and her husband, Enrique, started La Loma Cafeteria, they made 40 tamales a day, sometimes working 16-hour days for $100. That hard work paid off. Today La Loma makes 8,000 tamales a week, and the Garcias have added a second restaurant, a tamale factory, and a café to their business holdings.
The Garcias, who moved to Minnesota from Quebrantadero, Mexico, worked in food service for about five years before getting the entrepreneurial itch. A friend, who knew that Noelia made tamales for Christmas and other celebrations, suggested that she try and sell them. When they learned that Mercado Central market was about to open in Minneapolis, the Garcias agreed to open a coffee shop there and La Loma was born. It is now the most-visited place in the Mercado.
She credits much of her success to her 50 employees, many of whom have been with the company since its beginnings. To thank the community for patronizing her businesses, the Garcias donate tamales to Minneapolis Public Schools and contributes to many organizations, including scholarship programs.
Recently, Noelia completed her high school diploma, and plans to attend college to study business management and administration.
She offers this advice to others who dream of starting their own businesses: “Just do it. Even if you fail, you learn and you get up and try again.”
Noelia spends her free time with her two children, ages 13 and 4, loves to garden and work with her husband on their home.
