Making Trash Business our Business

While the recycling of transparent plastics on Roatan begins with mixed results, other scrap-purchase opportunities remain untapped
The trash on the island deflates property values, creates unsatisfied tour and dive experiences, to a loss of millions of dollars a year..... /June 2007/

Helping Poor Help Themselves

Micro-credit companies offer lending programs to Roatanians with hopes of better lives
About a dozen women sat on a sidewalk, some in plastic chairs, some standing and one swinging in a hammock. Foundation Adelante, a micro-credit company working in Roatan since 2003, was having its bi-weekly assembly in Barrio La Punta.... /May 2007/

Renting Movies Everywhere

A small boom in Bay Islands video rental
Just two years ago, there were only two video stores on the island: Los Fuertes' Video Picks and Coxen Hole's Island Video Store.... /January 2007/

Sales by the Foots

You see them selling car accessories, DVDs, underwear and plastic brooms. They do it with an ant like determination, carrying their goods not in a store, but on their backs. They move from place to place, approaching their customers directly at gas stations, sidewalks, anywhere. Being this footsoldier of trade, or "ambulante" isn't an easy feat, and inevitably you either sink, or float, fast..... /October 2005/

Lotto Ladies

Elicia Bodden of Coxen Hole has been in the lotto business for eight years. It is her first business and she is often found talking to customers on the city's Main Street
Magda Garcia has been in the lotto business for 20 years. She is one of the many men and women around the islands who sell numbers for a living. These lotteries operate on a local level and are not sanctioned by the government as per Honduran law..... /August 2005/

The Five Kings

King Squad debuted on Stereo Mar's "Chulo Show" in 2003. Soon after, Big Chulo became the band's DJ and this year Adam Santos, rapper and song writer from Bronx, New York, joined the group..... /July 2005/

The Money Train

Small Businesses in Utila & Guanaja Receive over $300,000 in Grants
Utila and Guanaja residents seem to be teeming with energy. The sound of electric saws and hammers lasts well into the evening. Over the last six months the two Bay Islands municipalities received a healthy injection of cash ($310,000) through a CHF grant, part of a small business development project of International Development Bank (IDB)..... /March 2005/

Mosquito Wars

With little government help, the private sector is stepping up to provide a viable and safe method of tackling the mosquito problem on the Bay Islands
Felix Romero Sevilla, 75, was born in Olanchito and has spent the last 40 years on Roatan. He never learned how to speak English. He never learned how to read or write. Still, he was savvy enough to see an open wide business opportunity on Roatan: mosquito control .... /December 2004/

They Call Me "La Juguera"

Sometimes a monopoly can taste sweet, and, as far as Bay Islands go, there is no sweeter tasting monopoly than the sugar cane juice stand in Dixon Cove
Daisy Gonzales, 30, and her husband Ramon Rodas are the owners of the landmark roadside juice stand in Dixon Cove, Roatan. Gonzales was born in Petoa and moved to Roatan nine years ago. She has been at her Dixon Cove street side location for almost a year; before that, she sold sugar cane juice further up the highway for three years..... /November 2004/

Island Style McDonalds Combines Business Savvy and Ideals

Some people say that there are no dogs around here because a dog was once grilled here. Others don't believe the story, but most people agree that the best grilled meat business on the island of Roatan can be found in Los Fuertes
If it's 4am on a Saturday morning and you are on your way back to Oak Ridge from a night out in West End there is only one place to stop: a grilled meat stand by the side of the road..... /August 2004/