ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on Portuguese of New Bedford, Massachusetts, and present specific findings regarding Portuguese female immigrant entrepreneurs. Early Portuguese settlers began arriving in the US from the Azores during the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. In 2000, 9 percent of Massachusetts' immigrant population were Portuguese. Since the 1980s, Portuguese immigration to New Bedford has been declining steadily. Although Portuguese immigrants in New Bedford have often encountered difficulties with regards to educational and occupational mobility, as well as with political integration. The incomes of Portuguese families are higher than the New Bedford average, which may offer an explanation for their high rates of home ownership and savings. The chapter deals with the Significant Factors in the Life Cycle of the Business. The study also investigated the life cycle of the businesses of these 12 entrepreneurs from the early stage to maturity, attempting to ascertain which factors were relevant at each of the stages.
