Late yesterday morning I walked down to the UML Inn & Conference Center to visit the exhibitors at “Made in Lowell”, a celebration of immigrant entrepreneurs and their businesses in the city. Although I didn’t stay for the luncheon and the speeches, I roamed the exhibit space and spoke with many of these small business owners. In many respects, their story is one that has been repeated in Lowell since the city’s founding in the early nineteenth century: industrious immigrants, seeking the independence of running their own business while willing to devote the enormous amount of time, attention and resources needed to succeed, create a commercial infrastructure that ties the city together. Here’s the list of the businesses that participated yesterday:

Babylon Restaurant (Iraq) Merrimack Street
Alpha Insurance Agency (Brazil)
FOB Lifestyle & Apparel (Cambodia)
Silva’s Mini Market (Portugal) 40 Perry Street
New Century Auto Collision & Service Center (Vietnam) 182 Middlesex Street
Angela Westen Insurance Agency (Brazil) 557 Central Street
Bollywood Fashions (India)
Gomes Travel & Today’s Insurance (Portugal)
Kallidus Technologies Inc (India)
Trendy Decals (Argentina)
Unique You Salon (Nigeria)
Torpi Travel (Cambodia)
Emanuel Boutique (Dominican Republic)
Ahy Bar & Restaurant (Domincan Republic)
HB Software Solutions (India) 1075 Westford Street
Kumon (India) 1075 Westford Street – Academic enrichment program for kids
Lowell Sewing Co (Cambodia)
Mill City Environmental – Boott Mills