In Paris a Local Plan for Success
巴黎近郊移民積極創業
By Liz Alderman

PARIS – Mourad Benamer remembers the day his parents first visited the sleek new sushi restaurant he opened near the Champs-Élysées. Mr. Benamer had broken out of the rough suburb, or banlieue, where he grew up in a family of poor immigrants just northeast of Paris.
貝納梅爾還記得父母親來到他新開在香榭麗舍大道附近那家時髦壽司店那一天。他在巴黎東北貧窮郊區的窮苦移民家庭長大，最後掙脫了郊區。

“We came from a place where there was injustice and a lack of opportunity,” Mr. Benamer, 36, recalled. But there he was in 2007, with his mother pointing to truffle-and-foie-gras maki being rolled out to patrons at Eat Sushi, which has since expanded to a chain of 38 restaurants.
36歲的貝納梅爾回憶道：「我們出身的地區沒有公義，也沒什麼機會。」然而2007年，他的母親指著「吃壽司」店為客人推出的松露鵝肝醬捲壽司。這家店此後擴展為有38家分店的連鎖。

For decades, the disadvantaged suburbs that ring large French cities have been plagued by discrimination and poverty. France has long vowed to improve the plight of the banlieue populations, primarily people with family roots in the colonial past. But critics say little has changed.
數十年來，處於劣勢的法國各大城周圍貧窮郊區一直被歧視與窮困糾纏。這些郊區居民多為前殖民地人民及其後代，政府一再矢言改善其生活條件，批評者卻謂幾乎未見改變。

That is why a new generation of people like Mr. Benamer is trying to turn the suburbs into incubators for entrepreneurs.
因此，貝納梅爾這樣的新世代正致力把這些郊區改造成創業家的搖籃。

They have been founding “angel” investment funds, persuading big French companies to contribute seed money that fuels start-ups. “If we wait for the government to do something, people will just remain stuck,” Mr. Benamer said. “If we want things to improve, we have to do it ourselves.”
他們不斷設立「天使」投資基金，說服法國大企業提供種子基金扶持新辦事業。貝納梅爾說：「枯等政府採取行動，我們只會原地踏步。要讓情況改善，必須自己來。」

As part of the self-help effort, banlieue-based organizations have been placing minorities into mentoring and jobs programs at French companies that as little as a decade ago routinely rejected applicants with non-French names.
在這種自助努力之下，總部設在郊區的組織開始把少數族裔安排進法國企業內部的新人養成與就業計畫。而就在10年前，這些企業還總把將擁有非法國姓名的申請人拒於門外。

Majid El Jarroudi, a 36-year-old consultant of Moroccan origin who grew up in the Paris banlieue of Montreuil, founded an organization, Adive, to assist banlieue entrepreneurs. Attitudes have shifted slowly in France, he said, but “there is a growing recognition that the banlieues should not be seen as a place to fear, but as a source of dynamism, full of people who are eager to work and to succeed.”
36歲的摩洛哥裔顧問艾爾賈洛迪在巴黎郊區的蒙特勒伊區長大，幾年前創設專門協助郊區創業家的組織Adive。他說，法國人的態度改變得很慢，不過「越來越多的人認為，貧窮郊區不該視為令人害怕的地方，而應看作活力的泉源，滿是渴望工作與追求成功的人」。

Mr. Benamer is a case in point. One in a family of 10 children, with illiterate parents, he grew up in the gritty Bondy suburb. After getting a vocational degree at 18, he started a sandwich business with his younger brother, Yahia. Working 13-hour days, they were quickly selling more than 2,000 sandwiches a day. In 2006, the brothers co-founded Eat Sushi. Last year, an angel investment fund, Citizen Capital, took a 30 percent stake, with plans to double by 2015 the number of stores and sales that last year topped 20 million euros (about $26 million). Today, Eat Sushi employs 550 people.
貝納梅爾就是最好的例子。不識字的父母生了他們十個孩子，他在粗野的邦迪社區長大。18歲取得職業學校學位後，和弟弟亞希達做起賣三明治的生意。兩人每天工作13小時，很快平均每天就可賣出2000多份三明治。2006年，兄弟倆合創「吃壽司」。去年，天使投資基金「公民資本」買下「吃壽司」30%股權，計畫在2015年時使分店數和營業額都增加一倍。「吃壽司」去年營業額達2000萬歐元（約2600萬美元），目前有550名員工。

“Look at us – we’re Moroccans selling Japanese sushi to the French,” said Mr. Benamer. “If we had allowed ourselves to be stigmatized, France would lose out.”
貝納梅爾說：「瞧瞧我們。我們是把日本壽司賣給法國人的摩洛哥人。如果我們任由自己遭到汙名化，法國一定失敗。」

François Hollande, elected president a year ago, has vowed to create jobs and improve education in banlieues, where unemployment averages 22 percent (compared with 10.5 percent nationally). But as he struggles to extract France from the economic malaise, a state solution to the economic problems of the banlieues may remain elusive.
法國貧窮郊區失業率平均高達22%（全國失業率約10.5%）。一年前當選的法國總統歐蘭德曾矢言為郊區居民創造就業機會，並提升教育品質。然而在他帶領法國擺脫經濟困境舉步維艱之際，很難指望政府來解決郊區各種經濟問題。

For those seeking a path out, the road is difficult. In France, one in two businesses folds after five years. But in the banlieues, half of all new businesses close within three years.
想要尋求出路以脫困，障礙重重。法國半數企業經營五年後就關門大吉。貧窮郊區的半數新企業則平均三年就會結束營業。

Raoul Sodjinou, a 41-year-old native of the West African country of Benin, pursued his dream of setting up a cosmetics boutique for dark-skinned women in Saint-Denis, another banlieue.
41歲的索德吉諾來自西非的貝南共和國，努力追求在郊區聖丹尼斯開一家鎖定深膚色婦女的精品化妝品店的夢想。

Mr. Sodjinou in 2008 obtained a loan of 300,000 euros from Business Angels des Cites, a banlieue-based investment fund, to open what he hoped would be the first of 30 stores.
2008年他向郊區的「城市商業天使」投資基金貸得30萬歐元，開設第一家化妝品店，同時希望最後能擴展成30家。

But he lacked access to French business culture and his inexperience hurt him. He situated his shop at the wrong end of a Métro exit, and the boutique attracted little foot traffic. And in a neighborhood with limited spending power, the 16 euro eyeliners and other premium products he had were simply too expensive.
然而他對法國企業文化完全陌生，經驗不足更讓他吃足了虧。他把店面開在非常不理想的地鐵站出口盡頭，導致店面門可羅雀。此外，在消費能力有限的社區，一支售價16歐元的眼線筆與其他高價商品實在太貴。

With sales slow, he said Business Angels was now wary of lending him additional money to relocate.
他說，銷售業績差的情況下，「企業天使」不太願意再借他錢讓他換個地方開店。

Mr. Sodjinou refuses to give up. “Coming from the banlieue and from a modest background gave me a huge energy,” he said. “Those who say stop – that’s not me.”
索德吉諾不輕言放棄。他說：「來自貧窮社區及出身寒微反而使我擁有無窮的精力。有人可能會說，算了吧。這不是我的作風。」

Mr. Benamer said he thought the government had a responsibility. But, he added, “it’s up to us to make the change. If we don’t send that message to others, then who will?”
貝納梅爾表示，他認為，法國政府應該負責。不過他又說：「促成改變要靠我們。如果我們不向別人傳達這個訊息，又有誰會呢？

原文參照：
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/15/business/global/in-pariss-banlieues-new-recipe-for-success-is-local.html

Video：French Entrepreneurs Strive for Success: As immigrant enclaves in the Parisian suburbs struggle with 30 percent youth unemployment, some entrepreneurs are trying to build businesses that will create jobs for their communities.
http://nyti.ms/18IxwyZ

2013-05-28聯合報/G9版/UNITEDDAILYNEWS 陳世欽譯 原文參見紐時週報八版左