With a smile of triumph, tempered by a great deal of faith, the brothers Gregorio and Martín Quechol saw one of their greatest dreams come at last realized – to become the owners of their own business, a supermarket in which organic food products are the specialty.

At the ceremony attended by Mexican Ambassador and Consul in New York, Rubén Beltrán, Joel Magallán, the director of the Tepeyac Association of New York and its director of financial education programs, Teresa García, and Commissioner for Immigrant Affairs Guillermo Linares, representing Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, the Quechol family finally cut the ribbon to inaugurate their business, located in Brooklyn.

At the event, Ambassador Beltrán pointed out that on days such as this, one can see the contributions of the Mexican community to the North American economy: “I am doubly happy because we are seeing how Mexicans are investing their money and their labor in the country they immigrated to; they are betting on success and creating job opportunities at a time when we need more of this kind of initiative.”

To the New York City Mayor's representative, Commissioner Linares, the efforts of this family, originally from Chipila in Puebla State, is an example of the great importance of immigrant families to this city. “I am particularly happy because this is a very hard-working family who is helping the economy with this business and improving the quality of life of their neighborhood. It is a team effort which will benefit many people.”

And even though the U.S. economy is in a free fall and that their potential clientele are among those in New York who are most affected by the economic crisis, Gregorio and his family did not hesitate to take what they consider their greatest risk.

“I have learned and made my own the noble values of the United States: a lot of hard work and confidence in oneself,” said Gregorio, who has lived in New York since 1995.

The Quechols honed their entrepreneurial and survival skills by doing all kinds of work, including: cleaning services; construction; restaurant jobs; factory employment; and work at supermarkets.

But it was by working in organic food stores that they learned about organic products, and where they found a niche with the most passionate of consumers: middle class, Anglo-Saxon, educated city-dwellers.

Small businesses generate 75 percent of new jobs. Quechol Products, Inc., the name the brothers have given their new company, has hired nine employees. Their goal is to open five stores in the next few years.