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Arkansas small business owner works to bring Latinx community together

Tino Guevara hopes the flavors in his neveria remind customers of their roots— and one small business advocate says he does more than that.

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — If you've found yourself with a craving for dessert, there's no shortage of sweet, salty, and spicy treats at Tino’s in Southwest Little Rock.

Tino Guevara, the owner of Tino's, has a wide variety of treats in his shop. 

"Some flavors are water-based some are cream-based, but everything is homemade," explained Guevara.

Guevara has been sharing his family recipes with Arkansans for the past seven years, and he added that they are all recipes that originate from "home."

“From Puebla Mexico, one little town next to Oaxaca and Guerrero," shared Guevara.

Guevara came to the United States with a dream to one day open his own business. Now that he has done that, he hopes that he and his sons can grow the business beyond the Natural State.

"Que hay en different caudates," said Guevara.

“To have locations in different cities.” 

Guevara’s son, Eduardo, expressed that he could not be more proud of his dad.

"He's been through a lot in his childhood and just seeing him expand this place. We started off at a restaurant, a small corner and for him to own his own store is really good,” said Eduardo.

Guevara hopes the familiar flavors in his shop serve as a reminder to his customers of their roots, and where they came from. 

"Les venga un recuerdo de donde nosotros salimos,” said Guevara. “Son sabores que bastantes de nosotros como hispanos los conocemos.”

“That a memory comes from where we came from. These are flavors that a lot of us Hispanics know.” 

Itzel Velazquez with Conexion De Negocios Latinos explained that Guevara does much more than that for the Latinx community in Little Rock.

“He's someone that's always been willing to help the community, whenever, you know, whenever the census was going on the library systems, they had tables here," said Velazquez.

Velazquez and the organization she works for, both help Latinx small businesses thrive.

“A lot of them do have the interesting entrepreneurial spirit, they just haven't had access to the resources because of language barriers, or access," said Velazquez.

She has seen the number of Latinx businesses growing firsthand. 

"This year alone, we've had a lot of workshops, and at our workshops, we have at least between 20 to 25, people come. And all these business workshops are in Spanish," said Velasquez.

Velazquez explained that leaders in the Latinx community like Tino are vital in being able to help more people turn their dreams into reality.

“We need more people like him and we need more people that not only care about the business but the community," said Velazquez.

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