Have you ever wanted to travel the world to learn about other cultures but you did not have the time or resources to do it? Now you can because of Cesar A. Sandoval.
Cesar A. Sandoval, founder of EthnicQuest, is originally from Mexico, he immigrated to Cleveland, back in 2001 to pursue his MBA at Case Western Reserve University. While living in Cleveland, he realized that there were no places in the internet where he could find local ethnic products and services of his interest, although he found a few ethnic sites, all of them were targeting only one ethnic group and the majority of the information presented had little or nothing to do with the ethnicity targeted.
Now you can explore the world. From your home using EthnicQuest (www.ethnicquest.com) is an Ohio based website that offers listings related to ethnic local products, services, events, and places of interest right in your own neiborhood. People can search for listings based on location, ethnic background, business category, nationality, and languages spoken among other search criteria options. Anyone can create their personal profile, add their own listings to the site, post reviews on any listing of their interest, and interact with other members of the site. People can search for listing reviews based on the ethnicity or nationality of the person who wrote the review, so they can have a better idea of the authenticity of the business reviewed.
“While ethnic businesses exist in virtually every city of the United States, often times it is very difficult to find them other than through word of mouth.” said Sandoval. A website that consolidated and presented all these local ethnic businesses was needed; Sandoval recognized this great opportunity and decided to create the first multi-ethnic local search to fulfill this market need, concentrating in the Cleveland Metropolitan Area first.
According to the Immigration Policy Center, from 2006 to 2010, immigrants founded 20,768 businesses in Ohio. The foreign born population was 456,422 and a total of 241,606 work visas and 43,808 students and exchange visitor visas were granted in the state of Ohio according to the 2011 US Census Bureau; the foreign born population of the Cleveland-Elyria-Mentor region was 150,531 immigrants, represented by the following nationalities: Indian, Chinese, Mexican, Ukrainian, German, and Russian, among others.
The Cleveland Metropolitan Area is home to the largest Slovak, Slovene, and Hungarian community in the world, outside of Slovakia, Slovenia, and Hungary, with a Slavic population of 17.2%, far higher than the nation’s rate of 6%. The area also has one of the nation’s largest Italian populations and it counts with significant Hispanic/Latino, Asian, and Jewish communities.
Educational institutions like Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland State University, The University of Akron, and Kent State University count with a combined number of more than 5,000 international students. Multinational companies like Eaton Corporation, Parker-Hannifin, and Sherwin-Williams constantly bring international people to the region through their expat and exchange programs.
There is no doubt that Greater Cleveland is a region that has a lot to offer, especially when it comes to cultural diversity, unfortunately, sometimes people’s perception of this area is not a positive one. “Greater Cleveland is a region that has so much potential, it is very multicultural, there are big ethnic communities like the Jewish one that play a very important role in building the region’s economy.” said Sandoval “We just need to promote this region and give it the credit and the exposure that it deserves; I am convinced that with the right promotion and the right investors, Greater Cleveland will be able to be at the same level of other very productive regions, like the Chicago Metropolitan Area.”
EthnicQuest is doing a very good job raising awareness of the cultural diversity of the Cleveland Metropolitan Area; the site offers listings related to seven different ethnicities and up to twenty different types of business categories per ethnicity. People can also find all types of local ethnic events and search for listings based on the ethnic enclave where they are located, enclaves like AsiaTown, Little Italy, Polish Village, Ukrainian Village, and Slavic Village.
“We want everyone from any type of background to be able to find what they miss the most related to their culture, so people feel like at home.” said Sandoval.
EthnicQuest is committed to making a positive contribution to their local ethnic communities and to be a good corporate citizen in all their actions. Currently, the company employs students from diverse ethnic backgrounds; from India, Peru, China, and Russia.
The company had a very good start and so far people’s response has been a very positive one, there is no doubt that if they keep building momentum, they will be able to achieve their ultimate goal of being the place to go when it comes to find information about local ethnic businesses and events.
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