Surprises abounded this fall when the 1,300-member Puerto Rico Manufacturers Association sponsored its first official mission to Cuba to learn about potential business opportunities there.
Distributor B. Fernández y Hermanos Inc. is marking 125 years of doing business in Puerto Rico, a history that dates to 1888 when three brothers — Bernardo, José and Constantino Fernández — acquired a “mom-and-pop” store in Old San Juan’s La Marina district and over the years turned it into the island’s seventh oldest business.
The economic challenges Puerto Rico has been facing for over a decade now (and the fact that during that time Latin America has experienced an historic growth in which many of us did not participate) remain the thorn in the side of local enterprises, which titanically still hold together much of our economy.