BOZEMAN - As the Hispanic community in Bozeman continues to grow some open their own local business they face some language hurdles here in the valley.
Jazmin Guerrero moved to Montana at the beginning of this year, now in a new state and new city she helps to manage Mr. Burritos, a family-owned business that started as a food truck near Belgrade and has grown to a new restaurant in Four Corners.
“When I meet new people they always ask me where I work and I say 'oh Mr. Burritos, the famous Mr. Burritos here in Bozeman,'” says Guerrero.
Having moved to Bozeman from San Diego, Guerrero adjusting to life here in Montana, she is often speaking Spanish.
“I feel like my fluent Spanish is not that good anymore,” says Guerrero.
That isn't to say she forgot, being bilingual and being fluent in both English and Spanish has helped the back-of-house staff be able to learn some English.
“We all communicate in Spanish, it's better because you know I try to teach them English,” says Guerrero.
Guererro says having grown up so close to the U.S-Mexico border where Spanish was more common and moving to Montana where you don't frequently hear Spanish.
I go to different places around here and not a lot of people understand or speak Spanish”
Though resources here are a little harder to come Guerrero says Mr. Burritos is able to get help from Montana Language Services. They are able to bridge that gap between English and Spanish to help their business connect to the Bozeman community.
“It's grown a lot, you know, especially in social media. It helped a lot to bring in more people, more customers to try our food,” says Guerrero.
With a restaurant in Four Corners, there is no doubt tourists ask questions about the Hispanic community in Bozeman.
“I've met a lot of people here from California, people from Texas and Arizona and you know they all ask how you guys aren't that big here in Bozeman and you know that's how we are,” says Guerrero.
Finding the community even though small but supportive has made the move worthwhile.
“ It's totally different from the city, it's just the best, I feel like it's the best decision I ever made,” says Guererro.
