Which Somali‑owned businesses in Minnesota report more than 50 employees and where are they registered?
Executive summary
Reporting assembled for this brief shows a vibrant Somali-owned business ecosystem across Minnesota — hundreds of small enterprises, food brands and service firms — but none of the provided sources publish a vetted list of Somali‑owned companies that explicitly report more than 50 employees or where those firms are registered with state authorities [1] [2] [3]. The available material identifies prominent Somali entrepreneurs and businesses (for example, Afro Deli and Hoyo) and documents the scale of Somali entrepreneurship generally, but it does not include employer-size or official registration records that would answer the question directly [2] [3] [1].
1. What the reporting documents about Somali business scale and notable firms
Multiple sources establish that Somali Minnesotans run a large number of enterprises and some notable regional brands: Wikipedia notes hundreds of Somali-owned commercial ventures and an estimate of 600 businesses in 2006 [1], Twin Cities Business profiles Afro Deli as one of the state’s most successful immigrant-owned businesses with multiple locations and sizable catering contracts [2], and Twin Cities Business and Grow North coverage show Hoyo as a Somali-founded food brand that expanded retail distribution and employed Somali women in production [3] [2]. These pieces prove economic presence and entrepreneurial success in specific cases but stop short of payroll disclosures or formal employer-size statistics [1] [2] [3].
2. What the sources do not provide — the critical data gap
None of the supplied sources include a list of Somali‑owned businesses that report more than 50 employees, nor do they provide filings or database extracts showing employer headcounts correlated with owner ethnicity and registration addresses — the precise data points required to answer the question [1] [4]. Academic and nonprofit accounts describe patterns, challenges and anecdotal successes [5] [6] [4], and media coverage highlights fraud allegations and investigations focused on some Somali-run providers [7] [8], but those stories likewise do not function as reliable employer‑size registries or as comprehensive business‑registration indices.
3. Firms most plausibly near or above the 50‑employee threshold based on reporting
Based on profile depth and multi-location activity in the sources, Afro Deli is the most plausible candidate for approaching or exceeding 50 employees because reporting describes two Twin Cities locations, a growing catering business and institutional clients [2]; Hoyo, by contrast, is repeatedly described as a small, growing packaged‑foods startup that expanded store distribution but scaled from a relatively small production base [3]. Other named businesses and mall clusters (e.g., Karmel Mall and numerous restaurants listed on Yelp) demonstrate community density but are presented as small businesses rather than multi‑dozen‑employee employers in the sourced reporting [1] [9].
4. How to obtain definitive answers — public records and next investigative steps
A conclusive list requires consulting primary records not included in the packet: Secretary of State business registrations, Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) employer size data, state tax filings or Form W‑2 aggregates, county business licenses, and corporate filings that show registered addresses and payroll sizes; the academic work cited signals that such filing‑level research has been used historically to enumerate Somali businesses in Minneapolis–Saint Paul [4] [5]. Trade and business profiles (Twin Cities Business, Sahan Journal) and direct outreach to named companies could confirm headcounts and registration locations once those public records and interviews are compiled [2] [10].
5. Conclusion — what can be asserted and what remains unknown
The reporting confirms a robust Somali entrepreneurial presence in Minnesota and profiles firms likely larger than typical storefronts (Afro Deli, Hoyo) but does not supply the employer‑size statistics or registration details to definitively name all Somali‑owned businesses with more than 50 employees or state where they are registered; answering that question with authority will require targeted public‑records searches and direct verification beyond the current sources [1] [2] [3] [4].