Born to Dominican immigrants and educated in New York and Santo Domingo, Romano, 28, is emblematic of the often-transplanted, frequently transnationalist entrepreneurs from the Dominican Republic whose corner markets, hair salons and other enterprises are an increasingly important presence in the region's growing Latino business community.
"I think Dominicans don't like to work for someone else. They like to be their own bosses," Romano said, explaining his countrymen's motivation.
The soaring number of Dominican bodega owners would seem to bear him out. Begun in 1998 with a handful of founders, Philadelphia's Dominican Grocers' Association today numbers about 300 active members and estimates that 1,000 bodegas across the city are Dominican-owned.
"We are in the places where supermarkets don't want to be or fear to be," said Jose Joaquin Mota, 42, who owned two stores in Philadelphia and now edits El Comercial, a two-year-old, 10,000-circulation monthly that caters to the grocers who have been buying up stores once held by Puerto Ricans and Koreans.
Born in the Dominican countryside, Mota came to America in 1995 seeking "a better life." He entered through New York, lived briefly in Camden, and settled in Philadelphia for its low cost of living. In many ways he is typical of the Dominicans here who consider themselves "economic exiles" from a cherished but impoverished home.
While their numbers are relatively small - 4,300 to 20,000 in greater Philadelphia based on estimates - their influence is outsized.
From the Greater Philadelphia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, led by Dominicana Varsovia Fernandez, to the grocers' group headed by American-born Danilo Burgos, and across such industries as hotel housekeeping, home health care, and hairdressing, entrepreneurial Dominicans are making a mark in South Jersey and eastern Pennsylvania.
