West Coast of Florida clients: Cesar Dorante and Marcia Marulanda
Cesar Dorante from Venezuela and Marcia Marulanda from Colombia are the owners of Leños Food Truck and The Food Truck Empire in the West Coast of Florida since 2019. Leños Food Truck offers Colombian and Venezuelan street food to the Tampa Bay community, while The Food Truck Empire builds and sells food trucks to entrepreneurs in the area.
In late 2021, Cesar sought Prospera’s guidance and support to better understand his businesses’ accounting best practices and obligations. That same year, Prospera awarded Cesar with business advancement services for an enhanced business plan to improve the businesses’ operations. Moreover, Prospera connected him with the U.S. Small Business Administration to help him obtain a COVID-19 relief loan. In addition, Cesar participated in several of Prospera’s business seminars to expand his entrepreneurial knowledge and skills, as well as shared his expertise of the food industry as a panelist in some of Prospera’s business workshops. Cesar continues to work closely with his Prospera business development consultant to continue propelling his business forward.
In 2022, following the devastating aftermath of hurricane Ian, Cesar and Marcia were subcontracted by Operation BBQ Relief to bring food trucks together to serve affected communities in Port Charlotte, Fort Myers, and Pine Island. Funded by FEMA, Operation BBQ Relief is dedicated to delivering comfort food in times of need and feeding first responders and communities affected by natural disasters. Immediately after being asked, Cesar put himself to work and along with three others food truck owners and more than 20 volunteers, he helped serve over 20,000 meals to the communities in need.
Today, the couple manages a street food plaza where, along with five other food trucks, they serve a variety of meals to the community and promote the collaboration and growth of local small businesses. At Prospera, we are honored and committed to serving Hispanic entrepreneurs of all walks of life every day. We feel especially proud of those who choose to give back to our communities like Cesar and Marcia, who proudly sacrifice their time and treasure to help people in need.
Learn more about these family-operated businesses on social media @lenosfoodtruck and @empirefoodtruck
