Minority Business Owners Get Advice

Nearly 100 women and minority business owners in Ventura County listened Friday as James Sandoval recounted a story of humble beginnings, hard work and financial success.

Speaking in Oxnard before a group learning how to get contracts with public utility companies, the Latino concrete supplier talked of racial discrimination that threatened to stunt his firm’s growth. But persistence and hard work eventually helped him overcome the obstacles, he said.

“I was told by my boss that I would never get anywhere because of my ethnic background,” said Sandoval, who now owns Blue Star Ready Mix Inc. of Moorpark, a company that grosses as much as $22 million annually.

“But I had the confidence to compete in the world and I made it.”

Sandoval’s pep talk kicked off a recruitment day for five utility companies seeking to do business with firms owned by women and minorities.

The state recently mandated that all public utilities must make at least 20% of their purchases from minority firms.

To get a contract, a minority company applies through the Public Utilities Commission and its name is put on a list that goes to 16 utilities throughout the state.

“But we feel we should be proactive in encouraging these firms to do business with us,” said Mario J. de los Cobos, district manager for Southern California Gas Co., who has organized two of the meetings since 1989.

When Sandoval started his business in the early 1970s, there were no mandated programs. But he has since become a certified vendor for at least one company.

“I get 5% of my total volume from utilities contracts,” Sandoval said.

Another Latino entrepreneur, George M. Baldonado of Oxnard, said his computer software business has skyrocketed in the past year since he nailed down a $250,000 contract with the gas company.

Baldonado’s Oasis Technology Inc. began as a one-man operation that he ran out of his apartment. It is now a $15-million-a-year business.

The computer specialist said starting out was difficult because major companies don’t take minority-owned firms seriously and are often reluctant to do business with them.

“Discrimination is very subtle these days, but it can be deadly for business,” Baldonado said.