Posts in economics & enterprise
Chaldean Hoteliers Capture Michigan’s Tourism Trend

In many ways, Northern Hotels Group’s story is a typical Chaldean business success tale: Work hard at a business, gain professional skills and education, bring those attributes back, and grow the business. George Jappaya, who was a hotel proprietor in Iraq, took a job as a janitor upon arriving in the United States because it was one of few jobs available to a non-English-speaking immigrant. Soon he bought a liquor store and then a hotel.

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Community Spark

The fine jewelry industry has long been dominated by men—from those who mine and cut the stones to those who own the factories and showrooms. Even on the retail side, men have historically steered the buying decisions. Delaina Yatoma is working to rewrite that story, one customer at a time.

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Las Vegas Stone Carves Its Legacy

Rob Kaoud’s craft has taken him across the country and around the world, but he is rooted in the fertile soil of three generations of stone craftsmen. Kaoud’s grandfather was a hand sculptor in Jerusalem, where he sculpted stone into place on walls and other surfaces. His father took up stonework as well and moved the Palestinian Christian family from the Middle East to the United States in 1969, when the now-56-year-old Rob was a few months old.

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