events
Trinity Place Bar & Restaurant
New York, NY
Entrepreneurial Excellence Awards October 8, 2014 The Bank Vault Presented by:
with the support from:
Honoring New York’s biggest leaders and brightest stars On October 8, 2014, at a converted bank in Manhattan’s Financial District, more than 40 Latino leaders – from local small business owners to corporate vice presidents – walked beyond the crush of happyhour patrons, parted a pair of red velvet curtains and stepped through the circular threshold of what was once a high-security vault. Inside: conversation and cocktails to inaugurate a sophisticated celebration of their success – with the wine, whiskey and filet mignon fitting the locale and honorees.
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his was how New York celebrates its Latino leaders. In partnership with global insurance juggernaut New York Life, a company who has dedicated some $20 million to focus on preserving the wealth of the Latino community, Latino Leaders Magazine fêted some of the city’s top entrepreneurial talent, recognizing the successful careers of insurance agents and advisors, as well as, in the words of one of New York Life’s corporate vice presidents, Carlos Garcia, “highlighting successful Latinos of all fields.” “We used this as an opportunity to recognize our top producers,” Garcia said that evening, “and in turn, have them invite and recognize their top Latino clients.” And so entrepreneurs in disciplines as diverse as imported flowers (Luis Guillen of Dutch Petals in the Hamptons), cosmetics (Helena Crispin, a higher-up at Mary Kay), construction (Livaniel Zafra from Coloma Construction) and law (Janette Cortes-Gomez, who represented her self-titled firm) were present to receive a plaque and a toast. Even the wine was a celebration of Latino leadership; ‘Mi Sueno’ is the personal offering of Rolando Herrera, a Napa Valley winemaker and businessman who begun his career in high school, as a laborer building a stone wall for the owner of a Northern California vineyard. The story goes his employer took note of Herrera’s work ethic and offered him a fulltime job, which Herrera later leveraged into winemaking, and in 2007, winery operating and full-fledged entrepreneurship. The star honorees of the evening, however, were the agents working to make New York Life, in the words of Corporate Vice President of Latino Affairs Hector Vilchis, not only the “oldest, largest mutual life For more of the discussion, visit: 72 • October / November 2014
www.latinoleaders.com