Jeanette Nigro on building community through business. How mission-driven strategy serves overlooked neighborhoods and why durability matters more than growth.

Mike Quinn started at Acorn Products Corporation sweeping floors as a teenager. Now he's preparing to lead his family's Mohawk Valley manufacturing company into its next generation. He joins Zahra Amanpour, founder and CEO of Main Street Assembly, to talk about AI on the shop floor, succession in an industry where most owners have no plan, and what taxes and supply chains really mean for the small manufacturers holding American communities together.

Founded by Meadow Propsom while still in college, Silvia Sol is a vintage-inspired womenswear brand handcrafted in small batches at a family-run factory in Colombia and shipped to customers around the world — rooted in sustainability, individuality, and pieces built to live in your closet for years, not seasons. Meadow shares what it's really like to build a global brand as a young woman founder in the U.S. — navigating political and economic volatility, leaning on community, and figuring out where AI fits (and where it doesn't).

Coach Alex started his journey in Morocco as a young professional soccer player and turned that passion into a business in America that’s been going strong for 24 years and counting.

Being a small business owner in America takes a level of work ethic, sacrifice, and resilience most people never see up close. Being an immigrant business owner is even harder, bringing additional challenges and obstacles at every stage of the journey.

And yet, more than 3 million businesses in this country are owned by immigrants, playing a disproportionately large role in American entrepreneurship. More than half of Fortune 500 companies were founded by immigrants or their children. Immigrant entrepreneurs help drive innovation, create jobs, strengthen communities, and contribute enormously to the economic fabric of this country.

So why don’t we hear more about that story?

That’s why Main Street Assembly is excited to introduce our first Pulse Check guest: Coach Alex Lalaoui, founder of The Soccer Learning Center.

When you hear him talk about his mission and his unwavering commitment to the kids and families he serves it’s a powerful reminder of what’s possible when passion meets perseverance.

Some things are worth striving for.

#SmallBusinessMonth #Entrepreneurship #ImmigrantEntrepreneurs #SmallBusiness #MainStreet #PulseCheck

https://youtu.be/IZdt3Qa1tWY

Women own nearly 40% of all businesses in the United States — and they're growing faster, reinvesting more, and building more inclusive workplaces than ever before. But the gaps in revenue, capital access, and opportunity remain stubbornly wide. This International Women’s Day, we're celebrating the progress and recommitting to the work.

When small businesses adopt AI intentionally, they don’t just streamline tasks—they create more jobs, better jobs, and stronger communities.

At Main Street Assembly, we’ve seen this momentum firsthand, from rural manufacturers to NYC retailers. With the right tools and support, AI becomes a growth engine for small businesses—and for the economy at large.

Working in both the small business and workforce development sectors I often find myself trying to reconcile the conflicting agendas people have on both sides. The assumption often is that what the business considers a good business decision will not be good for the workers and worker-centric practices are not good for business. But nothing could be further from the truth.