SMALL BUSINESS : Latinas to Be Honored for Successes : Survey: The Southland firms are found to be optimistic about the future but lagging in providing benefits and in Web technology.
Four Latina entrepreneurs will be honored for their achievements at a breakfast Thursday held by the Latin Business Assn. at its annual expo.
The entrepreneurs to be honored are Teresa Romero of Lancaster-based Romero Management Associates, an energy management consulting firm that designs and implements energy conservation projects; Ana Bertha Ayad of South El Monte’s Guard Vision Private Security; Sharon Martinez of SMART Temporary Personnel Services in Monterey Park; and Roxanne M. Zavala of Gardena-based Anoroc Precision Sheet Metal, which serves the aerospace industry.
The women were selected for their record of business success, as well as to honor their contributions to the community and the hard road they have followed. Latinas have relatively low rates of entrepreneurship but are forming businesses at a faster rate than any other group.
Zavala and partner Peter Corona, who owns 49% of Anoroc, formed their company in 1978 to manufacture precision sheet metal assemblies and components for aerospace. Today, the company accounts for more than 75% of the landing gear bracketry on Boeing’s 757s. The company also builds bracketry for Boeing’s 747s and 767-400s and has branched into military aircraft.
But revenue growth, from $600,000 in 1996 to $1.7 million last year, has come with sacrifice.
Zavala has built the company by recruiting highly skilled workers with decades of aerospace experience. In exchange, she and Corona have removed themselves from the payroll to make ends meet. In addition, the company has never managed to secure bank financing, prompting Zavala to use her home as collateral.
“In between 1985 and 1990, there were probably five notices of default I incurred on my home,” she said. “It’s been a very large struggle.”
Other honorees will also share their stories. Romero, who encouraged her husband to start Romero Management Associates in 1991 and now serves as its president and head of marketing, is being honored in part for work outside the office. She is involved in children’s organizations and adopted four children from orphanages in Tijuana.
Ayad founded Guard Vision Private Security in 1994 after she became concerned for her daughter’s welfare in the face of rising crime. She started the business with one employee after quitting her nursing job and borrowing $10,000. Today, the multimillion-dollar company employs 300.
Sharon Martinez founded SMART Temporary Personnel Services with partner (and mother) Sally V. Martinez in 1993. About 90% of their applicants are Latina. The company acts not only as an employment service but also as a counseling center, referring applicants who might not qualify for jobs to other resources.
The company grew 400% between 1997 and 1998, posting $1.5 million in revenue last year. It places about 100 people a day.
“We are running this business because it’s for-profit and my bread and butter, but what makes us happy is that not one week goes by when someone doesn’t say, ‘Thank you. You put food on our table and helped me feed my kids,’ ” said Sharon Martinez.
This year’s LBA expo is expected to attract 3,000 entrepreneurs to participate in workshops and procurement appointments with corporate sponsors, including Tenet Health Care, Aetna, Wells Fargo Bank and the U.S. Postal Service.
Last year’s expo resulted in $10 million in contracts for participating Latino companies, said LBA spokeswoman Patricia Perez. This year the organization is aiming to generate $50 million in contracts.
For more information on the event, call (323) 721-4000.
