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Detroit Salsa Company gets off the ground with the help of a local pizzeria

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Here's a story for people who dream of a family business.

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

About six years ago, a teenager in Detroit brought samples of his grandmother's salsa recipe to school for a class project.

FINN GOMEZ: It blew everyone's expectations out of the water.

INSKEEP: And that gave Finn Gomez an idea.

GOMEZ: I asked my grandma, is it okay if we do this? Let's share this with the world 'cause this is great salsa.

INSKEEP: Grandma's blessing was secured, so Mr. Gomez went looking for a commercial kitchen.

GOMEZ: They wanted hundreds of dollars a month, and it was like, I don't think we can do that. You know, we wanted to play it safe.

FADEL: So his mom turned to social media, asking for a commercial kitchen they could rent once a week. Local pizza shop owner Jim Danosky read the post.

JIM DANOSKY: I just replied and said, you can use mine. I mean, it didn't bother me at all. I don't open till later on in the afternoon.

FADEL: He let the Gomez family use his kitchen rent-free for six years.

DANOSKY: Anytime you start a small business - I've been in business 30 years. It's not easy. So anytime I can give somebody local help like that, I'm all for it. It's just the thing to do.

INSKEEP: This favor let the Gomez family - the whole family - start a business.

GOMEZ: Without Jim, I don't know where we'd be today. That's how impactful he's been to us. He even had to go through a second health inspection just to allow us to come in, which is kind of a hassle. Taking the time out of his day to do that is beyond amazing.

INSKEEP: The Detroit Salsa Company now serves more than 20 stores around Metro Detroit, thanks to the generous owner of the pizza shop.

DANOSKY: They are an awesome family, so I gained good, good friends that'll probably last a lifetime.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

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SOMOS CONNECTICUT es una iniciativa de Connecticut Public, la emisora local de NPR y PBS del estado, que busca elevar nuestras historias latinas y expandir programación que alza y informa nuestras comunidades latinas locales. Visita CTPublic.org/latino para más reportajes y recursos. Para noticias, suscríbase a nuestro boletín informativo en ctpublic.org/newsletters.

Federal funding is gone.

Congress has eliminated all funding for public media.

That means $2.1 million per year that Connecticut Public relied on to deliver you news, information, and entertainment programs you enjoyed is gone.

The future of public media is in your hands.

All donations are appreciated, but we ask in this moment you consider starting a monthly gift as a Sustainer to help replace what’s been lost.