BUSINESS NEWS : Pasadena Firm Honored by Transportation Department

The Pasadena-based firm of Valencia, Maldonado & Echeveste has been awarded the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Minority Business Award for its work in promoting the Metro Blue Line.

The two-year-old public relations and marketing firm developed a safety program for children who live along the Blue Line route in central Los Angeles, including 80,000 place mats with a board game and a list of do’s-and-don’ts, which were distributed by local fast-food restaurants.

It also developed a program to cut down on graffiti on RTD buses and a curriculum to teach public schoolchildren about the environmental benefits of using mass transit rather than cars.

RTD submitted the firm for the award without informing its principals, said Manuel Valencia, co-owner of the firm. “We are particularly proud of this award, because our client submitted our nomination,” he said.

Valencia, Maldonado & Echeveste was formed in 1989 by Valencia, a vice president for communications for Lockheed; John Echeveste, a former vice president for communications at The East Los Angeles Community Union (Telacu), a development firm, and Dan Maldonado, former chief of staff for Rep. Edward Roybal (D-East Los Angeles).

Maldonado runs the firm’s Washington, D.C., office.