entrepreneurship

CAMPAIGNING IN MICHIGAN AND NEW YORK THIS WEEK. 20 YEARS AGO, THIS MONTH, THE LIBERTY BRIDGE IN GREENVILLE OPENED FOREVER CHANGING DOWNTOWNS LANDSCAPE. AND AS WE CELEBRATE HISPANIC HERITAGE MONTH, MIGUEL ROSALES, THE BRIDGES ARCHITECT, IS REFLECTING ON ITS IMPACT HERE IN THE UPSTATE AND HIS JOURNEY IN THE UNITED STATES. REY LLERENA SPOKE WITH HIM EARLIER TODAY. HE JOINS US LIVE AT FALLS PARK WITH MORE. RAY. NIGEL. HUNDREDS OF PEOPLE TAKE SELFIES AND CROSS THE LIBERTY BRIDGE EVERY DAY. BUT IT WAS THE VISION OF A GUATEMALAN IMMIGRANT THAT HELPED TRANSFORM GREENVILLES DOWNTOWN. FOR THE LONGEST TIME, THERE HAD BEEN A HIGHWAY COVERING THE FALLS. MIGUEL ROSALES, REFLECTING ON 20 YEARS SINCE THE LIBERTY BRIDGE OPENED AT FALLS PARK. HE WAS RECENTLY IN GREENVILLE TO MARK THE ANNIVERSARY. THE AFTERNOON OF THE DAY I ARRIVED, I COULD SEE SO MANY HUNDREDS AND HUNDREDS OF PEOPLE CROSSING THE STRUCTURE THAT AFTERNOON AND IT WAS A VERY REWARDING EXPERIENCE TO SEE HOW ITS BEING USED. ROSALES IMMIGRATED TO THE U.S. FROM GUATEMALA IN THE 1980S BEFORE STARTING HIS OWN COMPANY. AFTER GRADUATING FROM MIT. HE SAYS THE MAIN FOCUS OF THE LIBERTY BRIDGE IS THE WATERFALL. WE DECIDED TO MOVE IT AWAY AND CURB IT AND BASICALLY CREATE LIKE AN AMPHITHEATER EFFECT, WHERE YOU ARE STANDING ON THE BRIDGE, YOU HAVE CABLES IN THE BACK, AND THEN YOU HAVE A COMPLETELY OPEN VIEW OF THE WATERFALL. ROSALES AND HIS FIRM HAVE GONE ON TO DESIGN DOZENS OF BRIDGES ACROSS THE U.S. I THINK BRIDGES ARE VERY IMPORTANT. STRUCTURES ARE THINGS THAT PEOPLE RELATE TO THEM VERY CLOSELY BECAUSE, YOU KNOW, BRIDGES ARE OPEN TO THE PUBLIC. HE SAYS ITS HIS WAY OF SHARING A GIFT TO A COUNTRY THAT HAS PROVIDED HIM WITH SO MUCH OPPORTUNITY. IM VERY GRATEFUL, YOU KNOW, TO HAVE BECOME A CITIZEN HERE IN THE US. AND ALSO HAVING BEEN ABLE TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE, I THINK EVERY TIME THAT WE BUILD A NEW STRUCTURE OR A NEW BRIDGE AND A NEW BRIDGE OPENS, IT CREATES A NEW MARK. RIGHT. I MEAN, THIS BRIDGE MEANS SO MUCH TO OUR COMMUNITY, SUCH A BEAUTIFUL LANDMARK. WHAT ELSE DID ROSALES HAVE TO SAY TO OUR COMMUNITY, TO THE COMMUNITY THAT HE HAS CHANGED SO MUCH? WELL, SYDNEY, HE HOPES THAT HIS STORY CAN SERVE AS AN INSPIRATION TO OTHERS IN OUR COMMUNITY, SAYING THAT IF HE HADNT MOVED TO THE UNITED STATES AND INSTEAD MOVED TO A DIFFERENT COUNTRY, THEN HIS CAREER WOULD HAVE MOST LIKELY NEVER HAVE HAPPENED. REPO