Nicolas Morales will cut the ribbon at his State Farm Agency at 142 Central Avenue on Friday, May 2, 2014 from 3pm-5pm, and officially open the business he’s been dreaming of since immigrating to the United States from San Jose, Costa Rica in 1993.
The insurance agency will be a one-stop business, offering car, home, and life insurance, and banking services like credit cards, loans, mutual funds, certificates of deposit, money market funds, bonds, and mortgages. The agency will also allow him to continue his longtime commitment to the Latino community of the Capital Region, helping fulfill the biggest needs he has identified for Latinos and minorities in this community, including protecting and investing their assets.
Morales own story is a testament to these principles. Morales came to the United States in 1993 to visit his sister and learn English. When he fell in love with Jolanta, a fellow immigrant from Poland that he met in his English classes, he overstayed his visa, and joined the ranks of the millions undocumented workers in the U.S. He married Jolanta, but his immigration status limited his prospects, and for six years he worked long hours at odd jobs.
When he became a father, he enrolled in Hudson Valley Community College, determined to make a better life for his new family. Upon graduation, he took a job with Centro Civico in Amsterdam, a not-for-profit agency that provides health and education programs, employment services, on-the-job-training for non-college bound students, and small business development for the Latino community. It was there that he became passionate about economic development. He was promoted to Deputy Director of the growing Centro Civico organization, and became a familiar face at Latin events in Albany, Amsterdam, and Saratoga Springs.
In 2011, he decided to strike out on his own, opening his first insurance agency on South Pearl Street. For Morales, building his own business is a natural extension of the work he started at Centro Civico, and while his hours are similar to the ones he worked when he first arrived in this country--9am-8pm seven days a week--the distance he’s come since those early days is marked. “I tell kids that if I started my education at the age of 25 and became what I did, then they have no excuse,” says Morales. “Normally, parents work hard to ensure that their children have a better life. I’m working hard to do even better.”
“I believe that my story demonstrates that when you give the right opportunities to an immigrant, some kind of success will follow. Immigrants in general are looking for a chance to grow and go after the dream that brought them here in the first place,” says Morales. “I hope that my story will remind Americans of the many opportunities this country has to offer shouldn’t be wasted; those are opportunities others wish they had.”
The Nicolas Morales State Farm Agency is located at 142 Central Avenue in Albany, (518) 427-2886. The Ribbon-Cutting and Open House will take place on May 2, 2014 from 3pm-5pm.
