CEDA helps new Hispanic market get off the ground in Auburn

AUBURN, N.Y. — When Robert and Elizabeth Quezada, immigrants from Ecuador, were looking to start their own family business, a new Hispanic market, in Auburn last year, they turned to the Cayuga Economic Development Agency (CEDA) for help.

CEDA translated for the Quezadas and guided them through the Auburn city-codes process to obtain a certificate of occupancy for their business, called Casa Latina’s. The agency also helped with getting a permit for their sign, registering to pay New York State (NYS) sales tax, getting an NYS grocery store license, and applying to accept SNAP and WIC benefits.

Casa Latina’s, which is located at 55 Market St. in Auburn, formally opened last October. The grocery store sells Hispanic hot sauce, spices, pork skins, spicy peanuts, aloe vera juice, bottled water, and many more grocery items.

CEDA spotlighted Casa Latina’s in its 2020 annual report. The report highlights businesses that the agency has worked with over the past year and provides statistics on the aid. CEDA said it helped 193 businesses specifically with responding to the COVID crisis. 

“While the pandemic was wreaking havoc on the local economy, there was still everyday economic development work to be done,” Devon Roblee, marketing coordinator at CEDA, writes in an article on the agency’s website. “In addition to the nearly 200 Cayuga County businesses in need of COVID-19 related assistance, our staff assisted 120 existing businesses and 52 entrepreneurs with regular development needs.”

One of those businesses was the Hispanic market.

Casa Latina’s is an example of a different kind of business that adds to the diversity of the Auburn community, according to CEDA Executive Director Tracy Verrier. 

“We are really happy to have them in Auburn,” Verrier says in an interview with CNYBJ. “They are a great example of something that is different.”

Hispanics make up just over 3 percent of Cayuga County’s total population of more than 76,500, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures, but this segment has been growing while the overall population has been shrinking in recent years.

Verrier says Casa Latina’s has received a strong response from the community in its first few months of being open. She says the market offers products that are not available at a typical large grocery store. She adds that in the future, Casa Latina’s is looking to add more products such as clothing and personal items, as well as money-transfer services. 

Editor’s note: CNYBJ made several attempts to interview the Casa Latina’s owners for this article but they were not available by press time.