announcer: right now on "matter of fact," in this small midwestern town you can't help but notice that the latinx population is booming. carol: 15 years ago i don't know if anybody knew what a burrito was, or a taco and now you get your choice of lots of places. announcer: what the remarkable transformation of arcadia, wisconsin says about the changing face of america. plus, los angeles is producing some of the next big ideas. shaun: i push these entrepreneurs to grow very, very quickly. announcer: soledad explores the inner workings of a tech hardware accelerator. shaun: we are not looking for

replicas of today's successes, we're looking for tomorrow's great successes. announcer: and too many people living in small towns and on farms don't have a digital connection. >> if you don't invest in broadband, you're signing somewhat of a death certificate for the area. announcer: how do we get rural america online? ♪ soledad: i'm soledad o'brien. welcome to "matter of fact." immigration is changing the face of rural america. the 2020 census shows a big demographic shift. 24% of rural americans are people of color. much of that growth is from an influx of immigrants, particularly latino populations. that trend is evident in arcadia, a west central wisconsin town home to nearly 4000 people. over the past two decades, the latino and immigrant population there has swelled, filling an increasing demand for workers in manufacturing, meat processing and dairy.

well, now, they outnumber u.s.-born residents. our correspondent jessica gomez shows us how the changes are affecting the community. carol: i always say, you don't know where you are going until you know where you came from. jessica: in an old german church turned museum, carol berklund is tasked with documenting the history of arcadia, wisconsin. carol: it was native americans here, nothing was here, then the english came, then polish and germans. jessica: the small town settled in the mid-1800s by grain farmers. today, the face of arcadia is changing once again. carol: 15 years ago, i don't know if anyone knew what a burrito was, or a taco and now you get your choice of lots of places. jessica: the number of latino immigrants skyrocketing here over the past two decades. they now make up more than 60% of arcadia's population. 36-year-old fredy rebolledo came

here when he was 15, one of only a handful of mexicans in his high school. fredy: there were no mexican stores in arcadia, the sports were different. now they have soccer, i love soccer, back then there was football. jessica: he's following in his father's footsteps, a supervisor at a chicken processing plant. others drawn to arcadia for jobs in furniture manufacturing, or often on dairy farms. cole: the growth has been absolutely phenomenal. jessica: cole bawek, president of arcadia's chamber of commerce. he says the change has revitalized a once struggling downtown. cole: one of the statistics is, one manufacturing job creates 3.4 additional jobs. and we wouldn't have the restaurants in town, the retailers in town, would it not be for these large companies here. if we are unable to fill those

open positions, companies look at relocating to different error -- different areas. jessica: but the rapidly-changing demographic hasn't come without its growing pains. 75% of students in the arcadia school district are latino. but only about 10% of teachers are bilingual. lance: it boils down to trying to attract more teachers that are bilingual and more support staff that are bilingual so that not only are we able to help students access content in their native language, while learning english, but having the ability to communicate with families. jessica: dear, the -- next year, the district will offer dual language classes. about 15 miles out of town, farmworkers taking a break to learn english. john: they feel it's an honorable profession, not just a stepping stone to something else.

jessica: dairy farmer john rosenow says he hasn't had an american-born job applicant in more than a decade. would you have a farm if you could not hire immigrants? john: no, the reality is if these 12 people left, if there was nothing, the only thing we could do is quit, sell our cows. jessica: so rosenow, like many other employers across the region, relying on workers whose immigration status is often murky. john: what we as employers are required to do is get documentation within 3 days of employment, which we do. whether they are real or not, we don't know. and so, if i had to guess, 95% are undocumented. jessica: that's why some, back in arcadia, say it could take another generation for the city to truly adapt. there are still no latinos on the school board, or in elected office. cole: sometimes you'll see

resistance come in areas, some people don't like change. a lot of times you will see in rural america and small towns that if you're not changing, you're not adapting, you're dying. jessica: it's change that fredy and his family say make arcadia feel like home. fredy: they treat you good, now there's no difference. it doesn't matter what your skin color is. we are one community. carol: i feel arcadia is well on the way to be a blended community, which means everyone is going to be accepted just like it was in the 1850's. jessica: it's history, carol berklund says, in the making. in arcadia, wisconsin, for "matter of fact," i'm jessica gomez. announcer: next on "matter of fact," many people living in small towns and on farms are desperate for a digital connection. nancy: they just kind of look at me like, "what? where am i? is this prehistoric?" announcer: how do we get rural

america online, all over again? plus, an update from the woman who's leading the next wave of manufacturing for entrepreneurs in los angeles. and later, this jacket combines style and function. find out who inspired this auto-assisted hoodie. you're watching "matter of auto-assisted hoodie. you're watching "matter of fact," america's whenen cold sympmptoms keep youou up, try vicks s nyquil sevevere. just o one dose ststarts to rerelieve 9 ofof your worst cold a and flu symymptoms, to helelp take youou fromom 9 to nonene. for max-ststrength nighttttime reliefef, nyquil sevevere. ththere's s nothing lilike hitting ththe waves. ththere's noththing like vololunteering.g. but mymy moderate-e-to-severe eczemama can make e it hard. now i'm staying g ahead of . dupixexent helps h heal your skikin from witithin. so you canan have cleaearer n anand noticeabably less i itch. seriouous allergicic reacts cacan occur ththat can be e se. tell your r doctor about t new or wororsening eye prproblems sucuch as eye e pain or vivision chas

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♪ soledad: most of us take our broadband access for granted. we can work remotely, schedule food deliveries, use video visits to check in with our doctors, we can help our kids with their homework online -- at least, that's the story and most urban areas. but in rural america, digital deserts are a widespread reality. places where high speed internet is either unavailable, unreliable, or just too slow. the fcc estimates around 15 million rural residents don't have access.

our correspondent dina demetrius visited phillips county, one of the poorest in arkansas, where neighbors are working to join the digital age. dina: in the heart of the mississippi delta, the small agricultural town of elaine, arkansas is a picture of historic divides -- racial, economic, and now digital. lisa: this is the north side of town, where it's predominately black, and this is the south side that's predominately white. dina: lisa hicks gilbert is trying to bridge those divides with fiber optics. lisa: so nothing works without the internet. dino: right. lisa: and definitely nothing works without internet that's reliable. dina: last year, gilbert returned to her hometown from little rock and now is program manager of a local non-profit addressing rural disparities. she says when the pandemic hit, the slow service from the town's only provider practically brought it to a stands lisa: you had some people who had lost their jobs. they're trying to maybe sell jewelry. you don't get online business. the children are trying to do

homework. you realize how inadequate the service is. dina: installing fiber lines in rural areas is costly. the smaller customer base means a smaller return on investment. that leaves rural communities in the dust. lisa: elaine has just been getting crumbs. and now we can no longer allow that to continue to happen. dina: feeling the pain of her community's stagnation, gilbert found a benefactor who pays for free internet on one block of main street. it's beamed from right across river in mississippi to these devices on buildings and elaine's water tower. so, how much has this free wi-fi helped people and changed their lives? lisa: well, we even have some of our students that come when their internet service goes out. they can come up here and finish their work they need to have done. our vendors will be able to access the internet and be able to make those cash app, paypal, venmo, whatever sales. dina: for candace williams, an executive director at rural community alliance, and her

9-year-old son caleb, lack of internet service during the pandemic forced them to drive a half-hour each way daily to helena for caleb's virtual school. candace: i would have to go to mcdonald's to use their free wi-fi. i would just sit in the parking lot. dina: now williams' family switched to a hotspot -- but it eats up data quickly, costing her up to $200 a month to buy more gigs. candace: why can't we connect people to the outside world with the service that they need, that's not a significant amount of their income? dina: heading up to helena, its residents don't fare much better. at least 40% can't get online reliably. nancy: we have got a divide in everywhere in rural america. when you add access, quality internet access, you take that divide and you fill it up this much. dina: nancy mckee tries to lure

new businesses and life to phillips county. would you say broadband and the lack of it is pretty much the nail in the coffin with every conversation you have? nancy: they say, "which of these buildings has pretty good fiber in?" and i'm like "none. zero." they just kind of look at me like, "what? where am i? is t this prehistoric?" dina: : it would c cost $550 m n to fininish covering arkansas wh fibeber. i and d many ruralal officials't have time e to pursue e federald state broadband grants. mckee says it's time for a federally-funded work program to lay that fiber. nancy: there is a job for 10 years. on top of that because all of a sudden you're growing, right? what happens when you grow? oh, we get a new neighborhood. oh, you get a whole new development area. dina: development that would mean higher paying jobs so people can grow in small towns. lisa: as we reimagine our lives and our futures here in elaine, it's going to have to start with broadband.

that's what we have to fight for. dina: in phillips county, arkansas, i'm dina demetrius for "matter of fact." announcer: next on "matter of fact," meet the los angeles-based investor behind some of the next big ideas for tech devices. soledad: what is success for you? announcer: a candid conversation about creating opportunity for inventors who others often overlook. and later, these rodents are not your average rats. how they're being trained to rescue people trapped in rubble. ♪ rescue people trapped in rubble. ♪

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♪ soledad: welcome back to "matter of fact." what gets made in l.a. is way more than just movies. in fact, if you are talking about jobs, the los angeles area is the largest manufacturing hub in the country. five years ago, we paid a visit to a los angeles business accelerator helping tech hardware creators get their ideas into production. back then, make in l.a. was investing in 15 companies. eventually, they were able to back 23 founders in the tech hardware space. here's a look at one of those startups -- rufus, a company making wearable warehouse technology. gabe: the purpose of this is for workers in construction or third party logistics warehousing to wear this device. and in the background, what we're doing is understanding the behavior of the worker. soledad: why did you go to make in l.a.? how did that happen?: you know't of los angeles and it was really to find an accelerator that's focused on hardware because that's pretty rare. they have the mentors, the resources and all these things that can kind of help us get there.

it was really important as a hardware company to get that stuff right. soledad: rufus currently has 50 enterprise customers in their pipeline with 2000 units preordered. but for that to happen, he and his team had to get past shaun arora and the extremely intense training at make in l.a. shaun: i am making them question everything that they thought they knew about the product, when i look at entrepreneurs, i overlook the stuff that generally biases investors. are they a minority? are they a woman? do they have a stutter? whatever it is that causes an investor to pass, we are able to look beyond that. we're not looking for a replica of today's great successes, we're looking for tomorrow's great successes. soledad: carmen palafox is general partner at mila capital, which invested in the companies mentored by make in l.a. she is also the founding partner of the venture capital firm 2045 ventures. i caught up with her on a recent trip to l.a. carmen. it's so nice to see you. it's been a really long time. how are you? carmen: i'm doing great.

and it's great to see you, too. soledad: so in the five years since we did that interview, give us an update. what's been happening with rufus? carmen: considering the fact that we've gone through a pandemic supply chain issues, our companies have survived and done well. rufus in particular creates wearable technology for the warehouse worker, and they're in three different countries, u.s., canada and europe. soledad: wow. fantastic. how about other success stories? what is success for you? carmen: success is seeing these companies, you know, grow in scale. and many of them are scaling rapidly now and solving critical issues in mental health and climate and across all different sectors. soledad: connect the investment in this. you know, the hardware tech start-ups to actual employment. carmen: vc-backed companies create eight times more jobs than non-vc-backed companies.

so that's a critical stat because when you are employed in a tech startup that's vc-backed. you have skills that you can then transfer on to other positions or start your own your own venture. soledad: you have started your own venture firm and we know how few venture dollars go to people of color across the board and specifically women of color. carmen : you know, that's where you see the biggest opportunity, right? you know, we are our country is -- our country is changing. and so the name of the firm is 2045 ventures because 2045 is the year there won't be a racial majority in the united states. that's already true. in five states. in los angeles, 50% of the population are people of color, 30% are foreign-born. yet there is very little capital that is going to founders that are female, that are underrepresented.

and what the simple solution is, is more capital to investors of color like myself that can then go out into the community and greenlight these opportunities. soledad: carmen palafox, nice to see you. announcer: coming up on "matter of fact," rats with backpacks? how these tiny creatures are being trained to save lives. and still ahead, a robot hoodie making an important fashion statement. soledad: it's a jacket that can raise and lower its own hood at the push of a button. soledad: to stay up -- announce

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non-stop trying to locate survivors, but that's not always enough. now, future efforts could be aided by new technology that enlists the unlikely help of rats. a belgian non-profit called ah-popo is equipping rodents with tiny, high-tech backpacks that can record video, images and sound from under the rubble. but these aren't just typical rats -- they are african giant pouched rats. they weigh around three pounds and are about two to three feet long. the rodents are being trained in tanzania. that training involves the rats finding the victim and pulling a switch on their vests. the technology in their backpacks then triggers a beeper, sending information to pinpoint the location of the victim. then, the rats return to the base. it's estimated it will take at least nine to 12 months to train each rat before they are ready to help. announcer: next on "matter of fact," a hands-free hoodie made to last. soledad: it held up after 20

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soledad: and finally, a hoodie designed to help people whose movements are impaired by a disability. it's a jacket that can raise and lower the hood at the push of a button, without the help of elelectronics or batteriries. dan prpreston, a rice univerersy memechanical e engineer, l led e team that created the jacket to function as a soft robot. here's how it works. small, inflatable pouchehes are connecteted to soft t tubes inse the e jacket. when you press the button onon e jackcket, air flflows from a a caninister of cacarbon dioxixide througugh the poucuches. the pouches fold and unfold to form kinks that can inflate or deflate an airbag in the hood, making it go up and down. the jacket is made of flexible materials, chosen for durability. it is washing machine friendly, having held up through 20 wash

cycles. and it survived being run over by a truck, which hopefully would never happen outside of testing. the next phase is to test the jacket in clinical trials, to see how it could be used in medical settings. mass production could take five to 10 years. the team says this is a first step in creating clothing that reacts to a person's needs. a fashion trend they hope will "blow up." that's it for this edition of "matter of fact." i'm soledad o'brien. we'll see you next week. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org]

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today on "asian pacific america," fresh off the thank you tour of the legendary group hiroshima, the co-founder joins us to talk music, and what comes next. then it's open restaurant week now through march 26th. the founder of joe's modern thai restaurant will tell us more about cooking, dining, and supporting the community. and we wrap up with an encore performance by one of our favorites. hello, i'm robert handa host of the show here on nbc bay area. welcome to "asian pacific america." ♪ ♪