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JEFF HOROWITZ: Mario Abraira is a little puzzled why local reporters are so interested in him. As a boy in Mexico City or in Southern California, where he lived until last year, Mexican business owners are hardly unusual. Abraira has dreamed for years of being his own boss, doing work he loves.

MARIO ABRAIRA: Back in California, I used to have three jobs. But I keep on my mind that it's not going to be forever. I mean, you have goals in life. You have dreams to come true. And you have-- I mean, you're working hard to make it.

JEFF HOROWITZ: People are curious about Abraira because this is rural Minnesota, where the vast majority of Hispanics still come for jobs as migrant workers or in places like the Jennie-O Turkey plant in Willmar. Work on the Jennie-O killing floor helped Abraira pay the bills when he first moved to the area last July. He had sold his house in California. He bought a Willmar duplex and began renting out the other side. With the rest of the money, he went seeking his venture.

The pastor of his church told him about Dean Williams. Williams bought the Renville Locker almost 40 years ago. Over the past 20, he's watched his customers change. His business changed as well. In the early '80s, he hired his first Hispanic worker. He put up signs in Spanish. He started dabbling in Mexican groceries and prepared meats and stocking up for holidays like Cinco de Mayo. But Williams, whose motto is bend as far as you can to keep a customer, had bent about as far as he could.

DEAN WILLIAMS: These Mexican gals are very good cooks. And there was no way that Dean Williams was going to be able to fix a fajitas or a menudo soup as well as they can or taste as good as they can. I did not have the knowledge to provide for my growing customer. Williams was looking toward retirement, but wanted to leave his family business in good hands.

[SPEAKING SPANISH]

JEFF HOROWITZ: Abraira began dropping by to learn about the business, helping out for free. He had learned to butcher as a boy in Mexico City and had worked long hours in Mexican markets in California. He took his proposal to six different banks. Abraira was combining his skills, his time, and his money to realize his goal, the basic entrepreneurial path. Not everyone thought it was so basic.

MARIO ABRAIRA: It's like one banker told me, what makes you think that customers want to keep doing business with you when you are Hispanic and the former or the owner now is a White people?

JEFF HOROWITZ: Abraira was confident he could take over from a White owner and make it work. He found a distributor for Mexican groceries. His wife helped install a Western Union franchise as a side business. And he continued Williams' changes to the meat case. The Renville Locker sells a lot more tripe and pig's feet than it used to. And Abraira stocks much thinner cuts of meat. Hispanic customers prefer them because of Mexican tradition and because they are easy for people working long hours to cook in a hurry. At the same time, there are customers and ranchers who've been coming here for decades.

MARIO ABRAIRA: Good morning, sir.

SPEAKER 2: Good morning.

MARIO ABRAIRA: How may I help you today?

JEFF HOROWITZ: Abraira will continue stocking the hamburger and 3/4-inch steaks they like. Former owner Williams knows the adjustment may not be an instant one for some of his longtime customers.

DEAN WILLIAMS: People, I think, right now are a little hesitant. I see a little bit of it. But that's going to wear off. Everybody's just got to work together, accept one another.

JEFF HOROWITZ: Abraira's food may already be changing this community all on its own. Mexicans at the nearby sugar beet co-op sometimes share their lunches with non-Mexican co-workers. It turns out items like tamales have a certain universal appeal. These new converts to Mexican cooking have been looking for the right ingredients for their own lunchbox tamales. Mario Abraira has been more than happy to help them out. Jeff Horowitz, Minnesota Public Radio, Renville.