Latinos in Real Estate edition

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Who’s Who Gala Special Awards

A DREAM TURNED INTO $460 MILLION

Alos 5 años emigró a México de la mano de sus padres. A los 22 años adquirió su primera vivienda. Le costó 33.000 dólares. No la compró para vivir en ella. Su plan era repararla y venderla. Un tío lo ayudó. Entonces aprendió a pintar, a instalar gabinetes de cocina, a cortar cerámica y a despegar pisos. Seis meses después logró venderla y con ese dinero adquirió dos casas. Luego tres. Luego cuatro. Hoy Eduardo García es el CEO de Realty of Chicago, una empresa de bienes raíces al sur de Chicago con 400 agentes bajo su mando y 460 millones en ventas en 2022, una de las inmobiliarias de más rápido crecimiento en el Medio Oeste. Negocios Now les trae en exclusiva la historia de ‘Eddie’, toda una inspiración en medio de la encrucijada que vive la industria.

At age 5 he immigrated from Mexico with his parents. At age 22, he acquired his first home. It cost him $33,000. He didn’t buy it to live in it. His plan was to fix it up and sell it. An uncle helped him. He learned how to paint, install kitchen cabinets, cut ceramic tiles, and remove flooring. Six months later, he managed to sell it and used that money to acquire two houses. Then he owned three, then four. Today Eduardo García is the CEO of Realty of Chicago, a South Side real estate company with 400 agents under his command and $460 million in sales in 2022, one of the fastest growing real estate companies in the Midwest. Negocios Now brings you the exclusive story of “Eddie,” a true inspiration in the midst of the crossroads facing the industry.

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Read the story in English at NegociosNow.com

Martin Cabrera Business of the Year

Cristina Berán Latinas in Business Award

Eduardo Rodríguez Lifetime Achievement Award

Under one roof

Real estate entrepreneurs are facing a challenge not seen in recent times, a challenge as tall as the Willis Tower. As the demand for housing skyrockets, the supply of properties remains limited, driving up prices and reducing accessibility for buyers.

New constructions does not seem a way out, as the cost of new properties has significantly increased due to a shortage of labor and a rise in material prices.

Mr. COVID-19 is also a villain in this story. After the pandemic, many clients are now looking for more outdoor space, home offices, and larger homes. Investments in the industry fell during the pandemic, which has affected the ability of buyers to obtain financing.

In an uncertain real estate market, hit by high interest rates and inflation that is receding but still high, it is worth remembering that great ideas also arise in times of crisis. Current circumstances demand that the small army of Latino realtors be more creative in their search for solutions for their clients. Technology has changed the way clients search for

properties and communicate with real estate agents, who must stay up-to-date with the latest tools and digital platforms to remain competitive.

Maintaining a strong online presence to reach a wider audience is more than an option; it is a matter of survival. It is also important to be aware of the latest trends and news in the real estate market in order to make the best decisions, to be more flexible, and to be open to changes in marketing and sales strategies.

In its unwavering 16-year mission to help our entrepreneurs, Negocios Now once again opens its pages for a Hispanic real estate sector that needs more than ever to strengthen its relationships with clients and colleagues in the industry in order to help them generate trust and promote collaboration in times of need. That is why we worked on this new edition of Latinos in Real Estate and designed “Bajo Techo,” a digital magazine that aims to be a space for information, analysis, and connection in a segment full of talented entrepreneurs with an incredible ability to overcome difficulties.

Bajo un mismo techo

Como no se recuerda en tiempos cercanos, los empresarios de bienes raíces enfrentan un desafío tan alto como la torre Willis.

Mientras la demanda de viviendas sube a las nubes, la oferta de inmuebles sigue siendo limitada, disparándose el precio de las propiedades y disminuyendo la accesibilidad de compradores.

Las nuevas construcciones tampoco parecen ser una salida fácil, pues el costo de propiedades nuevas ha aumentado significativamente debido a la escasez de mano de obra y el alza en los precios de materiales de construcción.

Mr. Covid-19 también es un villano en esta historia. Luego de la pandemia, muchos clientes buscan más espacio al aire libre, oficinas en casa y viviendas más grandes. Con la epidemia se cayeron las inversiones en la industria, lo cual ha afectado la capacidad de los compradores para obtener financiamiento.

Ante un mercado inmobiliario incierto, golpeado por las altas tasas de interés y una inflación que cede pero sigue siendo alta, vale recordar que en tiempos de crisis también nacen grandes ideas.

Las actuales circunstancias demandan de este pequeño ‘ejército de realtors’ latinos, ser más creativos en su búsqueda de soluciones para sus clientes con necesidades de viviendas o inmueble comercial.

Es clave estar a tono con los adelantos tecnológicos. La tecnología ha cambiado la forma en que los clientes buscan propiedades y se comunican con los agentes inmobiliarios, quienes deben estar al día con las últimas herramientas y plataformas digitales para mantenerse competitivos. Mantener una fuerte presencia en línea para llegar a un público más amplio, es mucho más que una opción para convertirse en una cuestión de sobrevivencia. Asimismo, es importante estar al tanto de las últimas tendencias y noticias del mercado de bienes raíces para poder tomar las mejores decisiones, ser más flexibles y estar abiertos a cambios en sus estrategias de marketing y ventas. En su irrenunciable misión de ayudar a nuestros empresarios desde hace 16 años, Negocios Now abre una vez más sus páginas para un sector empresas hispanas que necesita más que nunca fortalecer sus relaciones con los clientes y colegas en la industria, para de esta forma ayudarlos a generar confianza, y fomentar la colaboración en momentos de necesidad. Es por eso que trabajamos en esta nueva edición de Latinos en Real Estate y diseñamos ‘Bajo Techo”, una revista digital que pretende ser un espacio para la información, el análisis y la conexión en un segmento lleno de emprendedores talentosos, con una capacidad increíble de sobreponerse a las dificultades.

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La Agencia de Desarrollo de Empresas Minoritarias (MBDA) del Departamento de Comercio de EE. UU. anunció el nombramiento de Jessica G. Cavazos, como Subsecretaria Adjunta de Desarrollo de Empresas Minoritarias. Cavazos se desempeñaba como la Directora

Ejecutiva de la Cámara Latina de Comercio de Wisconsin.

El subsecretario de MBDA, Donald R. Cravins, Jr. calificó el nombramiento de un hito para la agencia y dijo que Cavazos aporta una experiencia invaluable a la agencia, y su pasión por servir al pueblo estadounidense.

701 Main Street Suite 200A, Evanston, IL 60202 Tel: 773-942-7410 editor@negociosnow.com

Negocios Now en español Todos los derechos reservados R

Jessica G. Cavazos: Subsecretaria Adjunta de Comercio para el Desarrollo de Empresas

Negocios Now anuncia premios especiales para la Gala Who’s Who

MARTIN CABRERA, RECIBIRÁ EL PREMIO DE BUSINESS OF THE YEAR; CRISTINA BERÁN, LATINAS IN BUSINESS

AWARD Y EDUARDO RODRÍGUEZ, LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD, DURANTE LA GALA DE NEGOCIOS NOW

QUE TENDRÁ LUGAR EL 21 DE JULIO EN EL HOTEL FAIRMONT CHICAGO - MILLENNIUM PARK

Chicago.- Negocios Now anunció recientemente los primeros tres premios que otorgará en la Gala de Negocios Now Who ‘s Who in Hispanic Business, que tendrá lugar en el hotel Fairmont Chicago - Millennium Park, el 21 de Julio próximo.

Martin Cabrera, fundador de Cabrera Capital Markets (CCM), recibirá el premio de Business of the Year Award durante la Gala que se celebra con una edición especial de Negocios Now con los perfiles de docenas de líderes en diferentes categorías.

Cabrera Capital brinda servi-

cios de corretaje institucional y banca de inversión global a instituciones financieras, estados, municipios, corporaciones, sindicatos y fundaciones. La compañía ha emitido más de $330 mil millones en deuda para municipios y más de $400 mil millones en deuda y acciones para corporaciones a nivel nacional e internacional.

A su vez, Cristina Berán, CEO de Chicago Voice & Data Authority, una empresa que ofrece servicios de cableado eléctrico para diversos contratistas y que la hizo crecer a 10 millones en ventas. La empresaria emigró de niña de su natal México y aprendió el ofi-

PRESENTING SPONSOR:

cio de electricista con su padre. Asimismo, Eduardo Rodríguez, fundador de Dulcelandia y San Jose Imports será este año el recipiente del premio Lifetime Achievement Award, otorgado a un empresario con una larga y exitosa trayectoria de vida en los negocios.

Wintrust Bank es el patrocinador principal de la Gala de Negocios Now “Who’s Who in Hispanic Business’ que ha llegado a reunir a más de 400 personas

“No podemos estar más entusiasmados por los premios especiales de este año. Para Negocios Now es un privilegio

premiar a una persona como Martin Cabrera, un inversionist mundial, empresario con logros tangibles y muy involucrado en ayudar a su comunidad; a Cristina Berán, una mujer humilde que ha encontrado el éxito trabajando duro; y Eduardo Rodríguez y su Dulcelandia, toda una institución cuando se hable de los negocios en Chicago.

Próximamente daremos a conocer el premio de “Community Champion Award” otorgados a aquellos individuos o instituciones que han ofrecido un servicio sobresaliente a su comunidad.

NOMINACIONES

CIERRA EL 5 DE JUNIO

Las nominaciones para la edición especial Negocios Now

Who’s Who están abiertas en nuestra página negociosnow. com/whoiswho. Para preguntas o patrocinios, puede comunicarse mediante el email: whoiswho@negociosnow.com

Deadline: 5 de Junio

EL EVENTO

Fairmont Chicago - Millennium Park JULY 21 from 6-9:30 pm

Recepción, Dinner, Award Ceremony Tickets disponibles at NegociosNow.com

Un constructor de sueños EDUARDO GARCÍA

CONSTRUYÓ SU SUEÑO CON SUS PROPIAS MANOS

PRIMERO, PARA PODER CONSTRUIR

LOS SUEÑOS DE MILES DE PERSONAS

DESPUÉS. ES

PROPIETARIO DE LA INMOBILIARIA LATINA

MÁS GRANDE DE LA REGIÓN CENTRAL DE EE. UU., CON VENTAS SUPERIORES

A LOS 460 MILLONES DE DÓLARES

EL AÑO PASADO.

Por Iris Amador, Negocios Now

Eduardo “Eddie” García tenía 22 años cuando adquirió su primera vivienda. No la compró para vivir en ella. Su plan desde el principio fue repararla para después revenderla. Había obtenido su licencia de bienes raíces meses antes y había decidido forjarse un camino en la industria inmobiliaria.

La casa le costó casi 33.000 dólares. Y como no le sobró mucho dinero después de pagar por ella, él mismo se dobló las mangas para restaurarla, con la ayuda de un tío que se le unía los domingos y no le cobraba para apoyarlo en sus esfuerzos.

“Aprendí a pintar, aprendí a instalar gabinetes de cocina, aprendí a cortar cerámica y a despegar pisos de vinilo”, cuenta Eddie, quien ahora tiene 38 años y es un prominente empresario. Seis meses le tomó encontrar a su primer comprador, pero “no me rendí hasta cerrar mi primer trato”, dice.

Con las ganancias adquirió dos casas más. Luego tres. Luego cuatro. No se imaginaba entonces lo mucho que crecería, pero en la medida que abría espacios físicos con sus manos, hacía campo también para que se ampliara su visión.

El crecimiento solo se aceleró. Hoy en día Eduardo es el director ejecutivo de “Realty of Chicago” (ROC por sus siglas en inglés) — la empresa latina más grande en el rubro de bienes raíces, no solo de Illinois, sino de toda la región central del país.

“Contamos con cerca de 400 agentes inmobiliarios; tenemos cinco sucursales; y hemos vendido más de 2000 millones de dólares hasta la fecha”, dice Eddie sobre la compañía de corretaje que fundó en 2012. Más aún, al ritmo de crecimiento que lleva, ROC está en posición de convertirse en la inmobiliaria latina más grande de todo Estados Unidos. “El año pasado incorporamos 150 agentes. Este año sumaremos entre 150 y 200 más”.

Otra meta es inaugurar este

verano un complejo de 20.000 pies cuadrados que albergará las oficinas centrales en Berwyn, porque a pesar de contar con sucursales en el Southside, en el Northside, en Pilsen y en Romeoville, el espacio se volvió insuficiente. Eduardo está totalmente involucrado en el diseño de cada detalle de la nueve sede, cuyas representaciones arquitectónicas derrochan elegancia y buen gusto, y muestran el cuidado que ha tenido para garantizar la comodidad de sus empleados y clientes.

MARCADORES DE BONDAD

Nacido en la Ciudad de México, Eddie llegó a Chicago cuando tenía cinco años, de la mano de sus padres, Aristeo García y Florencia Rosas, quienes se armaron de valor para emigrar en busca de un mejor futuro para sus dos hijos varones, más la niña que nacería después en territorio estadounidense.

Cuando se le pregunta a Eddie a qué atribuye su éxito arrollador, el emprendedor responde que ver

a su papá trabajar 15 y 16 horas diarias forjó en él una ética laboral que lo mantuvo enfocado, especialmente esos primeros años cuando en ocasiones salía de la oficina en la madrugada, al mismo tiempo que sus amigos quizás salían de un centro nocturno.

“Sacrifiqué algunos aspectos de mi vida personal al inicio, para cambiar la trayectoria de mi futuro; para construir algo más grande que mí mismo”, comparte Eddie, cuyo agradecimiento hacia su papá es enorme, por haberles traído y por cada esfuerzo que hizo para mejorar sus vidas.

“Mi mamá es una guerrera” también, dice. De ella admira su persistencia. Cuenta que doña Florencia trabajó en una fábrica de chocolates para poder sacar a la familia adelante. “Me enseñó a amar y a cuidar a las personas”, escribió sobre ella en sus redes sociales.

Aunque más adelante don Aristeo tuvo éxito en sus propios negocios, Eddie recuerda con humildad los modestos comienzos de su vida en EE. UU. Las vici-

situdes de su niñez lo volvieron un hombre con mucha empatía, que también es un componente esencial en su trabajo.

El dinero no es un marcador de bondad, sino la amabilidad y la generosidad. Y Eddie tiene ambas en grandes cantidades.

“Cada año —y así ha sido por los últimos 10 años— hemos entregado a 2000 niños mochilas repletas de útiles escolares; con crayones de marca Crayola, de los que yo no tenía de niño”, dice. Desea ahorrarles el malestar que pudiera generar cualquier comparación. En una década ROC ha beneficiado a aproximadamente 20.000 niños que reciben sus artículos escolares en cada una de las cinco oficinas donde se reparten simultáneamente.

“El segundo evento cercano a mi corazón es la entrega de pavos”, añade. El primer año beneficiaron a mil personas; luego pudieron alimentar a 5000; después a diez mil, y el año pasado a 34.000 antes del día de Acción de Gracias, cuando reparten desde horchata y chocolate caliente, hasta tarjetas de supermercado y aparatos eléctricos. Estos números son igualmente importantes para Eddie. “La comunidad nos conoce por eso”, dice.

EL ELEVADOR

No solo es generoso con sus ganancias, también lo es con sus conocimientos. Ahora que ha delegado muchas funciones a un excelente equipo que mantiene la empresa marchando sobre ruedas, Eddie se está enfocando en abrir la puerta para que más jóvenes latinos entren en la industria.

“Los latinos serán los mayores compradores de viviendas en Estados Unidos y no tenemos aún suficientes latinos cerrando estos tratos”, explica. A fin de enseñarles a otros jóvenes cómo él se abrió paso, ROC extiende una invitación cada trimestre a lo que llaman “Career Night” para que puedan conocerlo y saber cómo comenzar su propio camino a la prosperidad.

Ayudar es parte de su esencia. Su compañía ayuda a cientos de personas cuyo primer idioma es el español, y quienes necesitan acompañamiento para navegar asuntos de crédito y el pago de primas, entre otros. “Apoyamos a muchas familias que quizás nunca se animarían a comprar su primera casa y que permanecerían pagando alquileres”. Eddie es de los que les encuentra financiamiento cuando muchos les han dicho que es imposible. Como Eddie se ha mantenido sembrado en su comunidad, las relaciones que ha forjado duran años. “Una de las ocasiones más memorables para mí es cuando ayudamos a familias en su camino de vender su primera casa y a comprar la de sus sueños. Es una experiencia increíblemente

satisfactoria ser parte del proceso, puesto que sentimos que les ayudamos a alcanzar su sueño tras años de trabajo y perseverancia”. Se siente extremadamente agradecido con sus clientes por escoger hacer negocios con Realty of Chicago. Por eso está invirtiendo cinco millones de dólares en las nuevas instalaciones; para que al margen del tamaño y valor de propiedad que adquieran, ellos sean bien recibidos, “sientan que es un honor hacer tratos con ellos” y no se sientan como clientes de segunda categoría, como los tratan en otros lugares.

Sorprenderá saber que el hombre que le ha construido casas a tantas personas tiene aún un sueño por cumplir: procurarse una linda casa para él

mismo. Eddie, aficionado a viajar, a la fotografía y a la naturaleza, desea comprarse una casa en medio de las montañas de Wyoming, en donde ha encontrado un refugio para rodearse de paz y serenidad.

Mientras tanto, se emociona con planos y paletas de colores del nuevo edificio, donde por fin podrá tener algo que tampoco ha tenido en años. Una oficina privada. Le entusiasman aspectos pequeños y grandes, como que por primera vez está construyendo un elevador.

Espera, así mismo, compartir un traguito, quizás de tequila, con el señor Aristeo cuando se concluya la obra, después de todo, el sueño del hijo no se hubiera cumplido sin la visión del padre hace más de 30 años, lo cual sin duda amerita un brindis y también aplausos.

El 2023 ha comenzado más que bien, con ventas de 18 millones de dólares en los primeros días. En 2022 ROC rompió récords y todo apunta a que este año lo volverá a hacer. Una cosa es cierta, si el elevador es símbolo de lo que está por venir, Eddie piensa llevarse al mayor número de gente posible para arriba con él.

“Los latinos serán los mayores compradores de viviendas en Estados Unidos y no tenemos aún suficientes latinos cerrando estos tratos”

EDUARDO GARCÍA

Director ejecutivo de “Realty of Chicago

Huge challenge for commercial real estate industry

By Angela Azmitia, from Related Midwest

Reconciling increased urbanization with the growing unaffordability of city living is one of the biggest challenges the commercial real estate industry faces. Not providing enough quality, widespread affordable housing and community resources in economically diverse locations will mean unattainable housing for many, an increase in homelessness, gentrificationrelated displacement, and limited upward mobility.

As the affordable leasing director for related management, I see firsthand the repercussions of our city’s limited options. Individuals and families wait as long as 20 years for subsidized housing and tax credit options with narrow bands of afforda-

bility that make it difficult for individuals to qualify.

According to the National Low Income Housing Coalition, in the US alone there is a current shortage of more than 7 million homes for our nation’s over 11 million extremely low-income families. Assuming the move towards cities will continue due to economic, climate, and conflict motivations, 80–90% of the world’s population will be living in, or in direct proximity to, urban centers by 2100.

A consequence of increased urbanization and sustained income inequality means there will be more demand for diverse housing and household needs — demands that the CRE industry may not be ready to meet. The development of residential real estate as a mainstream investment sector has had a direct

Angela Azmitia

impact on the global housing market causing inflated house prices, affordable housing shortages, inflexible housing stock, and underserved communities

in need of economic investment.

Who is responsible for providing the diverse array of housing options needed — our public or private sectors? What should we, as an industry, be lobbying for? How can we build better investments to serve our communities? How does CRE, as an industry, further its efforts to create positive change? Below are examples of what it would look like to build community needs into our future development strategies.

Integrate principles of good density into future developments, and establish mixed-use, well-connected environments with high-quality placemaking.

Revitalize existing urban centers to offer supportive services (financial literacy training, access to healthy food, gyms, etc.) with input from locals and

community leaders.

Incorporate rent-controlled and privately funded subsidies into mixed-income property metrics that can target low-income households relative to the federal poverty threshold.

Attract impact investors looking for measurable economic returns by investing in social impact methodology.

Lobby to incentivize construction of affordable housing and rezoning for multi-family properties in areas where AMI is over 100%.

Increase development of SRO housing in areas that can provide economic mobility to residents.

Set goals as an industry to bridge cross-functional gaps between public and private sectors to make sure housing needs are being met.

Siguen Pa’lante como un Toro

No hay palabra más exacta que Toro Construction para definir el empuje de esta empresa latina fundada hace 18 años por Luis y Socorro Vázquez.

Premiada con múltiples contratos en la última década, la empresa de esta pareja celebra lo que consideran un hito en su larga lista de logros al iniciar una obra como contratista principal.

Toro Construction es el “General Contractor” del proyecto de Churchview Supportive Living, un complejo habitacional en el sur de Chicago iniciado recientemente para el cuidado de personas de 65 años de edad o mayores.

“Estamos muy emocio-

nados, porque es un proyecto que tiene una gran carga humana, y porque hay muchas empresas latinas que pueden ser el contratista general de las obras pero sólo unas pocas les llega esta oportunidad. Espero que este logro sirva de estímulo a otras empresas de minoría”, afirmó Luis Vázquez. Con una inversión total de 26 millones de dólares, el proyecto consiste en la renovación de 86 viviendas para personas de la tercera edad que necesitan un lugar asequible y seguro para vivir, así como servicios de apoyo para una vida independiente.

El otorgamiento a Toro Construction de la condición de General Contractor

es aún más significativo por el hecho de que la compañía hispana fue escogida por encima de grandes contratistas. “Trabajamos duro en el proyecto e hicimos una buena presentación”, afirma Vazquez.

El proyecto es asimismo un logro gigante para Greater Southwest Development Corporation (GSDC), una organización comunitaria dirigida por Adrian Soto y que invirtió 8.2 millones de dólares como parte de un continuo proceso de inversión en su comunidad.

“Durante los últimos 49 años, Greater Southwest ha invertido más de 600 millones de dólares en proyectos de desarrollo inmobiliario.

Hemos trabajado mano a mano con residentes y dueños de negocios para adquirir propiedades que antes estaban desocupadas o quemadas, incluso bloques enteros, y convertirlos en activos que benefician a toda la comunidad”, dijo Soto a Negocios Now.

Socorro y Luis Vázquez (derecha), durante el arranque o groundbreaking del proyecto de Churchview Supportive Living en 2626 W. 63rd St, Chicago.

La concejal Stephanie D. Coleman (D-16) se pone el caso de Toro Construction.

Quieren ‘subirse’ a un rascacielo de LaSalle

JOSÉ DUARTE Y RAFAEL HERNÁNDEZ MIRAN CON OPTIMISMO LA PROPUESTA DE SU COMPAÑÍA, BLACKWOOD GROUP, ENTRE LAS FINALISTAS EN EL PROYECTO LASALLE STREET REIMAGINED, QUE BUSCA CONVERTIR OFICINAS EN VIVIENDAS EN EL CORAZÓN FINANCIERO DE LA CIUDAD DE CHICAGO.

Redacción Negocios Now

Duarte y Hernández no esconden su emoción de ver hoy a Blackwood Group entre las constructoras finalistas del ambicioso proyecto bautizado como “LaSalle Street Reimagined”, con una inversión de más de mil millones de dólares.

“Es para nosotros un tremendo orgullo ver a una empresa Latina como Blackwood Group que haya sido escogida como finalista y Promotor Imobiliario principal para este megaproyecto”, dijo Hernández a Negocios Now.

Pero ambos empresarios saben que, más allá de la emoción, su propuesta tiene suficiente fuerza para ganar la licitación de uno de seis edificios que serán objeto de una conversión en el distrito financiero de Chicago.

Con un espectacular diseño de DesignBridge, la firma de Gabriel Ignacio Dziekiewicz, el proyecto de Blackwood Group busca convertir más de 250 mil pies cuadrados a 247 estudios y apartamentos de uno, dos y tres cuartos en la torre ubicada en el 105 West, Adam Street.

Blackwood Group, que presentó la propuesta junto con la empresa The Reimagine Adams Limited

Partnership, una filial de Celadon Partners, asegura que su propuesta es atractiva por el número de viviendas asequibles que presentaron.

Según los requerimientos de una ordenanza del Concilio Municipal y aprobada bajo la administración de Lori Lightfoot, todas las propuestas deben contemplar un mínimo de 30% de viviendas asequibles (affordable houses), la iniciativa de Blackwood Group propone el 75%.

“Esta es una diferencia muy importante en comparación con otras propuestas sobre la mesa. Nuestros apartamentos están enfocados en las necesidades de la gente que trabaja en la industria de servicios en el centro de la ciudad”, estimó Hernández.

Rodeado de rascacielos entre Wacker Drive y Jackson Boulevard, el corredor de LaSalle Street ha sido un centro de actividad económica comercial durante décadas, especialmente para instituciones financieras, empresas de corretaje, firmas legales y otras entidades.

Pero debido al impacto de la pandemia Covid-19 y las tendencias actuales del mercado que han trasladado la mayoría de las nuevas inversiones en oficinas al West Loop, LaSa-

lle Street tiene millones de pies cuadrados de espacio subutilizados o vacíos.

Además de hacerlo con viviendas costeables, el proyecto busca mejorar la accesibilidad, la seguridad y la comodidad de los peatones, al tiempo que se reducen los niveles de contaminación y se aumenta la eficiencia del transporte. Esto implica un diseño cuidadoso de las calles y aceras, así como la incorporación de características como jardines y árboles que pueden ayudar a reducir la contaminación del aire y del agua.

Jose Duarte y su gente de Blackwood Group apuesta por el desarrollo de vivienda en LaSalle Street como un paso imprescindible ante la tendencia de empresas y corporativos que se van del distrito financiero.

“Hay una gran necesidad de viviendas más asequibles, y ¿por qué no debería haber esa accesibilidad a viviendas asequibles en el centro de la ciudad?, dijo.

Además, en este entorno y en el futuro previsible, si los espacios de oficinas van a cambiar, y están cambiando, y su demanda se reducirá debido a la forma en que trabaja la gente, tienes que encontrar ese otro mercado para llenar ese espacio vacío que ves en el centro”, comentó.NN

José Duarte

Rafael Hernández

Gabriel Ignacio Dziekiewicz

Latino ReaLtoRs taLk about the ReaL estate maRket

Are high interest rates the big problem? Would the construction of more affordable houses be the solution to the housing crisis? Negocios Now asked several real estate agents for a diagnosis and here we leave you with some answers.

RAFAEL LEON EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR CHICAGO METROPOLITAN HOUSING DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION

In an environment with high interest rates, it doesn’t hurt to ask sellers for some sort of seller financing in the form of a second mortgage. Of course the bank would have to agree to it, but a motivated seller may be able to bridge the gap by providing a recordable second mortgage. A caveat though, in this instance there is not a lot of room for negotiating a lower price and the buyer may end up paying an asking price or higher. Having said that, my advice is to never fall in love with a property because you may end up

ERICA TREJO ESSEX REALTY GROUP

HERIBERTO (ED) RUIZ DESIGNATED MANAGING BROKER R4 COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE SOLUTIONS, INC

I do not see a shortage of affordable housing. I work on a Brokerage Team that is hyper focused on Chicago’s south side. The amount of affordable product is extensive and there are a multitude of agencies to assist both tenants and building owners.

making a financial mistake. If you can’t afford it, look for something more affordable that you can make it your home.

In Bronzeville alone, there are over 3000 affordable housing units. With the city’s backing, the community continues to grow and small businesses are able to thrive. Keeping residents in the neighborhood is vital for a healthy community.

It is a challenging time to be a real estate broker, especially in Cook County. It doesn’t matter whether you’re in commercial or residential, supply is low, prices are high, interest rates and property tax increases are killing deals. That said, there are always opportunities as a broker to grow your business. R4 Commercial hired a social media intern to assist us getting our name out via social media. We’ve always had a social media presence, but now more than ever we need to get our name in front of as

many businesses and investors as possible and social media is one way of doing just that.

The Illinois Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, the SBA Community Navigator Pilot Program, and Northwest Community Credit Union invite you to receive business technical assistance at no-cost to you! The SBA Community Navigator Pilot Program assists pre-venture entrepreneurs with launching their new business ventures and provides guidance to existing businesses to help them grow and expand.

We draw on the expertise of the SBA Community Navigator Pilot Program, business professionals, and others who have agreed to consult with our clients. Meet with a professional business advisor in our office at your convenience. For more information, please call Joe Gura at 847-657-1030.

Joel

Government service leader Veterans problem solver Workforce innovator

Age: 33

Title: Committee Director and Legislative Counsel, Committee on Economic, Capital and Technology Development

Organization: City of Chicago

Dedicated to purpose-driven collaboration, Ashley Álvarez centers her life’s work on strengthening the relationship between community and government through advocacy that advances equity, opportunity, and accountability to create sustainable change.

Álvarez is a first-generation Cuban and Puerto Rican daughter and granddaughter of immigrants. Born in Maywood, she was raised in many Chicago neighborhoods but was shaped by Sunday dinners at El Prado (her abuelos’ Cuban restaurant), and summers in Are-

cibo eating tembleque made by her abuelita and sitting with her abuelo en el balcón.

At age 11, Álvarez knew she wanted to be an attorney after witnessing her father’s long battle for custody. Within her first month at California Western School of Law, Álvarez applied to work with the California Innocence Project. There she united with a team that successfully reversed a wrongful conviction. Later she moved to the Public Defender’s Office where she realized the power of legislation.

Currently Álvarez is the committee director and legislative counsel for the city of Chicago Committee on Economic, Capital, and Technology Development. She oversees operations, legislation, team management, external affairs, and communications.

Edgar Candelas

Age: 36

Title: Founder

Organization: Chicago Veterans

Kevin Barszcz is a nonprofit executive with over a decade of experience in the social services sector helping scale nonprofits for growth. He is a U.S. Navy veteran and the founder of Chicago Veterans, a nonprofit organization helping veterans build their social support network to increase access to services and earned benefits.

Barszcz is the current president of the Veterans Assistance Commission of Cook County and a recovery project manager focused on homelessness support services in the Chicago mayor’s

office. Prior to working in the mayor’s office, he launched Habitat for Humanity’s veterans program creating, partnerships at federal and state levels to help veterans move from homelessness to homeownership.

Barszcz is a Chicago native and proud alumnus of Chicago Public Schools where he graduated from Carl Schurz High School. He holds a bachelor’s degree from DePaul University and an electrical journeyman’s degree from the United Services Military Apprenticeship Program.

Barszcz is of Mexican, Puerto Rican, and Polish descent and is the greatgrandson of Enrique Ugartechea, el primer luchador Mexicano.

Dedicated to growing Hispanic businesses

Age: 27

Title: President

Organization: Northwest Hispanic Chamber of Commerce

Edgar Candelas is the current president of the Northwest Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, a chamber dedicated to supporting Hispanic small businesses in suburban Chicago -

land. Candelas has been involved with NWHCC for several years and served on its board before becoming president in 2022. Under his leadership, the organization has experienced significant growth by helping small businesses through programming, advocacy, collaboration and by

offering other business resources.

Candelas’ passion for financial literacy stems from his personal experience as a small business owner. Alongside his uncle, he operated a logistics business in Chicagoland that ultimately failed due to a lack of resources and coaching.

Given access to the resources available today, their business might still be operating. This experience inspired Candelas to study finance and make a difference in the community by ensuring that all Hispanic businesses have access to the resources they need to succeed.

Age: 29

Title: Founder & CEO

Organization: MFGWorx Inc.

Joel Calderon’s parents came to the United States as immigrants, and their first jobs were working for minimum wage in factories in Chicago. He grew up on the South Side of Chicago, then moved to Somonauk, a small town an hour to the southwest.

Financially his family always struggled, and they left the city due to dangerous experiences, but his parents always taught him to put his head down and create his own path.

Calderon spent more than six years doing talent

acquisition and human resources in manufacturing, and he found himself in a position to offer opportunities to people. It was a full circle because he was helping people in the same position his parents were in when they arrived in the United States.

To expand those opportunities, he founded MFGWorx, a live chat hiring platform that connects hiring managers to talent in the manufacturing space in real time. MFGWorx is a portfolio company of Techstars, a business-accelerator program, and it was accepted into a workforce development program that has a 1% acceptance.

Ashley Alvarez Kevin Barszcz

Calderon

Erika Casillas Increasing diversity in finance

Age: 31

Title: Finance Lead

Organization: AbbVie

Erika Casillas grew up in the Chicagoland suburbs along with her two younger sisters. Her parents migrated from the Mexican states of Michoacan and Guerrero in their early teens. Casillas was the first in her family to attend a four-year university. After her graduation from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2014 with a bachelor’s degree in accountancy and in 2015 with a master’s degree in accountancy, she began her career at Ernst & Young within the financial service office providing assurance, and then moved to AbbVie.

Casillas currently works within corporate finance at AbbVie, doing financial planning and analysis and helping her team accomplish key goals. Additionally, Casillas works to make an impact within AbbVie’s diversity and inclusion

Antonio Corona III Building healthcare IT

Age: 38

Title: Lead IT Engineer, Enterprise Technology Service Organization: VillageMD

Antonio Corona III is a driven and people-oriented information technology leader offering 15 years of information technology, consulting, and management experience in healthcare and financial services.

efforts by serving on the Latinx employee resource group and with campus recruiting efforts.

Casillas is passionate about giving back to her community. She currently serves as president for the Chicago chapter of the Association of Latino Professionals for America. In this role she has focused on empowering the Latinx community in Chicago and empowering small business owners.

At VillageMD, Corona oversees a team of engineers working on maintaining and streamlining national IT projects to help transform the way primary healthcare is delivered and how patients are served.

Throughout the pandemic, Corona served as an IT essential worker in Chicagoland. As senior consultant for Spence Consulting, he ensured proper operation of the medical systems that help physicians and healthcare professionals supply acute care. As a senior IT technician at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine, he focused on technologies that

protected employee health and helped healthcare workers stay connected and engaged.

Corona received a bachelor’s degree from Lewis University and a cyber security training and project management certificate from Northwestern Illinois University. Corona is proud to have been born and raised on the South Side of Chicago. In his free time, he enjoys woodworking and traveling with his daughter and wife.

Innovating financial services

Age: 30

Title: Founder

Organization: Retirement Systems

After years of dedicating himself to producing successful financial outcomes when managing risk and reward within finance, Richard Corral founded an independent wealth management company (Skyward Wealth) and then a registered investment advisory firm and insurance agency: Retirement Systems. He did all this in his 20s, becoming one of the first few young minority founders of these types of firms.

Corral and Retirement Systems were recently recognized by Crain’s Chica-

Fighting for justice with law

Age: 35

Decoding personal finances

go Business magazine for providing quality financial services. Corral has also received the regards of Citadel executives for designing plans that serve the best interests of clients.

Early in his career, Corral worked in the hedge fund division of CME Group/ Chicago Board of Trade. At Grant Thornton, a top five global public accounting and financial services firm, and CVC he performed valuation services. Corral belonged to Aon’s financial leadership program where he supported efficiency, reconciliation, and reclassments of several billion per quarter.

Corral graduated cum laude in finance at DePaul University in downtown Chicago.

Title: General Counsel

Organization: Illinois Torture Inquiry and Relief Commission

Jennifer Lydia Crespo is a graduate of Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism and the University of Illinois Chicago School of Law. The daughter of immigrants from the Philippines and Puerto Rico, Crespo’s perspective is informed by her unwavering commitment to fierce, fair advocacy. Crespo’s work with the Medill Innocence Project helped exonerate a wrongfully convicted man, and that experience prompted her pursuit of a career in law.

After earning her law degree, Crespo assisted immigration clients with ob-

taining asylum in the United States. She joined frontline attorneys at O’Hare International Airport in January 2017 to combat the travel ban targeting Islamic religious groups. While working with her immigrant clients, Crespo learned about scams that disproportionately affect immigrant communities and non-English-speaking consumers. This led her to the Office of the Illinois Attorney General where she served as an assistant attorney general in the Consumer Fraud Bureau.

Today Crespo is general counsel of the Illinois Torture Inquiry and Relief Commission where she investigates claims that torture was used to obtain confessions leading to criminal convictions.

Ruben Flores Martinez Founding a new financial service

Age: 31

Title: Founder

Organization: CASHDROP

Ruben Flores-Martinez, an immigrant from Mexico, saw the reality of setbacks Latinos face.

At age 13, Flores-Martinez and his family immi-

grated to the states from Guadalajara, Mexico. FloresMartinez had many scholarships to attend different universities but couldn’t due to his immigration status.

He began watching YouTube videos on coding and taught himself how to build websites and mobile apps. A

few years later, he successfully founded CASHDROP , a point-of-sale and online ordering platform with zero merchant fees, and joined the 1% of Latino founders who are venture-backed.

CASHDROP’s product and mission attracted investors that include Harlem Capital,

Flores-Martinez’s story has placed him in Forbes 30 Under 30 and Crain’s 40 Under 40, and the CASHDROP founding story has become a case study at Harvard Business School.

Age: 39

Title: Owner & CEO

Organization: Latino Tax Corp.

Judith Deniz Bucio is the owner and CEO of Latino Tax Corp., a tax office located in the heart of Hermosa on the northwest side of Chicago. At Latino Tax Corp., Bucio coaches small businesses on managing their books and achieving financial success. Inspired by her own personal struggles as an immigrant, she serves the Hispanic community and educates people on the U.S. tax system.

Bucio was born in Morelia, Michoacan, Mexico. Her education in the United States began in the

second grade. In 2001 her world was shaken after learning that college was not an option due to her immigration status. Bucio’s perseverance and drive led her first to real estate. Soon after becoming a DACA recipient, Bucio became a mortgage loan officer.

After knocking on many doors, Bucio decided to start her own business in tax preparation. With online courses, seminars, inperson classes, and the IRS website, Bucio obtained her tax preparer certification. In 2009, she founded Latino Tax Corp. Today Latino Tax Corp has a team of four fulltime employees and thousands of returning clients.

Richard Corral

Jennifer Lydia Crespo

Judith Deniz Bucio,

Cyan Bannister, Scott Belski, Valor Equity Partners and David Grutman.

Ambrocio Gonzalez Pedro Guerra Anthony Guzman

Feeding the community

Age: 38

Title: Founder

Organization: The Cathedral Café Little Village

Originally from Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico, Ambrocio Gonzalez started in the kitchen out of the need to cook for himself because his single mother worked during the day.

At age 12 he started his first business together with his grandmother and his mother. Before he was 16 years old he moved to Chicago, where he graduated from Oakton College.

At 23, with the help of his family and his partner Alfredo Flores, he opened Tepache Restaurant in La

Villita in 2010. With no experience and insufficient capital, they were forced to close the business. With more experience and preparation, chef Ambrocio and his partner opened The Cathedral Café Little Village in 2011, and it became a success.

Other restaurants followed: Las Quecas Little Village Restaurant in 2013, with other locations in 2014 and 2015, a second La Catedral Café in North Chicago, and Altiro Breakfast. In 2016 he graduated from the prestigious French culinary school Le Cordon Bleu.

In 2017 he presented his book “Con Sabor a Guadalajara.“

Connecting businesses to opportunity Building a better tomorrow

Age: 36

Title: Director

Organization: Illinois Latino Small Business Partnership

Pedro Guerra serves as director of the Illinois Latino Small Business Partnership. For over 10 years he has committed his professional career to work in the business, education, and nonprofit world.

He’s worked as a business advisor in the financial industry and in the educational industry as an instructor focusing on career pathways. Guerra is a founding member of the Business Technology Educational Center, an organization that provides edu-

cational programming in Chicago public schools to help underserved communities. As an activist, Guerra is a founding member of Rise and Organize. He also serves on the Berwyn Township 708 Community Mental Health Board. In addition, he’s on the local school council at Curie High School. Guerra will transfer his experience in the business and education fields by doing a deep dive into clients’ needs to find solutions that best serve them.

In his free time, Guerra enjoys playing sports, attending live sporting events, and watching movies.

Cristina Flores Henderson Setting an example in construction

Age: 32

Title: Assistant Project Manager

Organization: Walsh Group

Cristina Flores Henderson is an assistant project manager with The Walsh Group, one of the largest and most established builders in North America, better known as Walsh Construction in Chi-

cagoland. Henderson started her career with Walsh in 2011 as an intern while studying at Marquette University for a bachelor’s degree in construction engineering and management.

As the proud daughter of two immigrant parents, oldest of five children, and the first in her family to have an

opportunity to attend college, she knew exactly what she wanted in life: pursue a bachelor’s degree to pave the way for her younger siblings, and set the example for the rest of her family and fellow Latinas and Latinos.

Henderson was happy and proud when she received an offer from Walsh

Construction for a full-time position as a project engineer in June 2014. Since then, Henderson has worked in Chicago and the surrounding suburbs on multiple construction projects ranging from a school renovation worth $2 million to a renovation at the Chicago Tribune Tower worth $314 million.

Age: 31

Title: Senior Project Manager

Organization: Cullen

Construction Management

Anthony “Tony” Guzman is a child of immigrants and a first-generation college graduate. Guzman was raised in Cicero, Illinois, and went to Morton East High School. He attended Northwestern University and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering. Guzman began his career at a large, international general contracting firm in Chicago and worked on residential high rises, schools, and historical renovations. In addition to project management work, he participated in the company’s rotation program focused on preconstruction and estimat-

ing. He then moved to a developer and general contracting firm where he gained skills in retail and commercial construction. Currently Guzman is a senior project manager at Cullen Construction Management and has had the opportunity to work on an extensive array of projects including high rises, senior living and educational facilities, student housing, transit-oriented developments, tenant improvements, and commercial standalone buildings. Guzman provides day-to-day leadership and support on projects that have received local and state funding from groups such as the Chicago Neighborhood Opportunity Fund and the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity.

Caring for people and pets

Age: 30

Title: Owner

Organization: Danny the Groomer

Daniel Hernandez came to the United States 10 years ago and lived in Las Cruces, New Mexico. Only six months after arriving, his mother died. He worked odd jobs for a few years, and then decided to be a dental technician. After becoming certified at the University of Illinois Chicago, he worked in that job for three years. Next he opened a restaurant in Little Village in Chicago, but he had to shut the business

after only a year because of health problems.

When he recovered, he returned to what he had always liked: dog grooming. He found a job as a groomer at a local shop, and while working there came up with the idea of creating a page on Facebook. People began following his page, he started working from home, and when he reached 20,000 followers he quit his job and opened his own business. Now, two years later, he has more than half a million followers across all his social media accounts and is making a living from that and his businesses.

Monica Lopez

Age: 39

Title: Director of Talent

Acquisition

Organization: Northwestern Mutual Chicagoland

Monica Lopez is an alumna of Northeastern Illinois University, a human resources and organizational development consultant to business partners, a career coach, entrepreneur, and speaker.

Making space for creators Revealing the beauty in women

Age: 38

Title: Head of Sales Strategy and Programs

Organization: Google/YouTube

Johanna Lara is a media and tech executive focused on building teams and systems that deliver compounding growth for organizations. Currently she is the head of sales strategy and programs for YouTube BrandConnect, responsible for developing strategic programs between advertisers and global content creators. In her role, she oversees partnership deals and revenue operations to increase monetization for creators on the platform.

With over a decade of industry experience, Lara spent time in various sales and marketing roles at pre-

miere media conglomerates such as NBCU Comcast, Univision Communications, and CBS Television stations, advancing partner business objectives, negotiating commercial deals, and accelerating growth.

Lara is a co-founder of Latinos in Tech Chicago, working to empower Latino leaders in the space. She also serves as a co-chair for the equity, inclusion, and belonging committee at She Runs It, infusing inclusion into programs and fostering community among its members.

She holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of South Florida and a certificate in strategic execution from Harvard Business School Online.

Promoting Latinos in finance

At Northwestern Mutual, Lopez is leading the firm’s talent and diversity and inclusion initiatives through her various partnerships, working to increase Latino and female representation in the insurance and wealth management industry.

With more than 15 years’ experience in human resources and organizational development in industries,

Lopez has partnered with universities and businesses across the United States, supporting their initiatives in diversity, equity and inclusion, in recruitment, and in organizational development.

Lopez has served as a national ambassador and strategic partnership chair on the board of directors for the Association of Latino Professionals for America. Lopez’s

contribution has helped lead a mission to elevate and support Latinx members through corporate partnerships.

In her most recent role as a council member for Northeastern Illinois University’’s College of Business and technology executive council, she has served as an advisor to the dean and has been a lead contributor to the council, students, and community.

Age: 31

Title: Owner Organization: KeniaLea.Co

Kenia Leanos is a thirdgeneration entrepreneur and the owner and founder of KeniaLea.Co, a brand with the goal of empowering women across the country to feel and look their best.

Leanos started her career in fashion at the age of 17, from assisting customers as a retail associate, being involved in various fashion weeks, to launching her own fashion brand in 2021.

Leanos has hosted fashion shows in Chicago where she prioritized

making women of all body types showcase her designs. Throughout her journey as an entrepreneur, she has been able to help women gain the confidence they need to grow as leaders and enhance their natural beauty through their unique style.

In addition to owning her own fashion brand, she also founded Papa Proto Foundation in 2017, a nonprofit organization aimed at helping the less fortunate. Leanos finds great importance in being a minority woman in business, and she wishes to inspire more women to follow her lead for years to come.

Daniel Hernandez Johanna Lara Kenia Leanos

Walsh

Construction

Cristina Flores Henderson

Cristina is an Assistant Project Manager at Walsh Construction, currently working with our building estimating group in Chicago and has helped manage recent projects that include the Tribune Tower Redevelopment, Artis Senior Living of Wilmette and renovations at Mount Carmel High School.

congratulates on being recognized by Negocios Now’s Latinos 40 under 40! www.WalshGroup.com

Claudia Roxana Martinez

Lisette Martinez

Sheltering the world Making hair into an art Spreading technology in the Midwest

Age: 36

Title: Founder & President Organization: Foremost Improvements/Foremost Roofing Solutions

Mari Madrigal is a trailblazer in the roofing industry. Born in Panama to a Panamanian mother and Costa Rican father, Madrigal’s upbringing was marked by her parents’ full-time volunteer work for a humanitarian nonprofit. That took them to Mexico where she grew up as the oldest of five children.

From a young age Madrigal learned project management skills as part of her family’s humanitarian work in Mexico and Central America. Her upbringing instilled in her a desire to constantly learn and evolve.

After immigrating to Il-

linois in 2013, Madrigal discovered a passion for roofing and construction while working in sales for a residential roofing contractor.

In 2018 she launched Foremost Improvements Inc., a residential exterior renovations company. Madrigal’s commitment helped her grow the company, which evolved into Foremost Roofing Solutions.

Her company is a certified women’s business enterprise and minority business enterprise firm, and she is an active committee member of the national and Chicago chapters of Women in Roofing. She recognizes the unique strengths that women have and is eager to see more women thrive in traditionally maledominated fields.

Age: 37

Title: Founder & Master Hair

Artist

Name of Organization: Ponte Catrina, Chicago

Claudia Roxana Martinez is the founder and master hair artist at Ponte Catrina, a boutique hair salon inspired by Mexico’s rich culture and women’s elegant essence.

In 2004 Martinez graduated from Pivot Point International as a cosmetologist and divided her time between Chicago and Milwaukee, refining her craft and technique while developing her signature style. Through focus, consistency, and passion she found purpose in empowering women through beauty.

Martinez is a Chicago na-

Elisabeth Ocon Calderón

Age: 37

tive, raised in Brighton Park. In 2010 her at-home salon evolved to what is known today as the house of the makeovers. The house of the makeovers is now the company’s alias, a name that clients themselves gave the growing business. In 2018 Ponte Catrina established its operation at Lacuna Lofts in Pilsen.

Women stand at the center of Martinez’s mission. Therefore, she partners and supports other women-led organizations such as Escaramuza Charra El Eden and De Mi Tierra Natural.

Martinez has collaborated with hair color brands on stage at the Midwest America’s Beauty Show, where Martinez unveiled her own technique: the chandelier effect.

Elevating diverse students

Age: 27

Title: Director Diverse Learning

Organization: Instituto Justice and Leadership Academy

As a first-generation Latinx college student, advocating and pursuing educational equity has always been Calderón’s passion.

As a Chicago native and Chicago Public Schools grad-

uate, she wanted to pursue a role in education where she could serve and elevate change for communities and students of color. In 2018 she joined Teach for America. Her experiences in the education system pushed her to support the highest-needs students.

As a queer Latina, Calderón wants to create a space where the BIPOC community

feels embraced when they walk into schools. She currently serves as director of diverse learning for Excel Southwest, an alternative option school contracted with CPS. The school serves students who haven been removed from traditional schooling.

As a restorative justice practitioner, she believes that BIPOC communities need

significant healing from harm created through generations by the education system. As an experienced interventionist, LSB1, and case manager for alternative secondary education, she will begin her next journey in policy and systemic change by serving in the inaugural class of leaders of color for systemic change with Teach For America.

Title: Vice President of Sales Organization: Comcast

In her role, Martinez oversees the company’s 36 Xfinity stores, indirect retail, sales operations, third-party branded partner retail, and multi-dwelling units throughout the Comcast greater Chicago region, which includes Illinois, northwestern Indiana, and southwestern Michigan.

Martinez began her career in the consumer electronics industry and rose through the ranks at large big-box retailers. Since joining Comcast in 2013, Martinez has served in an array of roles, the latest being senior director of retail. In that job, she and her team led the compa-

ny’s retail transformation in the region, developing and maturing some of the company’s first local Xfinity retail stores and contributing to the company’s national retail operations and processes.

Martinez has served on the board of the Computing Technology Industry Association, is a member of Women in Cable Telecommunications, and serves as the executive sponsor for Greater Chicago Unidos, an employee resource group providing leadership opportunities, professional development, and service to multicultural communities. A native of Chicago’s Little Village neighborhood, Martinez and her family live in Chicago’s west suburbs.

Mari Madrigal

Congratulations to our very own Lisette Martinez for being named to the Negocios Now 8th annual list of “Latinos 40 Under 40” in Chicago. You’ve always been on our list.

Juan Ortiz-Rivera Belem Paramo Javier Perez

Using deep experience Advocating for foster children Driving business forward

Age: 34

Title: Manager, HR Business

Partner

Organization: United Airlines

Juan Ortiz-Rivera was born and raised in Ciales, Puerto Rico. He majored in social sciences and graduated summa cum laude from the University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras campus. After graduating from college, Ortiz-Rivera completed a master’s degree in administration and cultural agency and supported different educational and cultural organizations before he joined the military.

At age 24, Ortiz-Rivera joined the U.S. Army Reserve as a human resources specialist and went to

boot camp in Columbia, South Carolina. Back in Puerto Rico after his military training, Ortiz-Rivera was assigned to the 271st Postal Company. Illinois became home to Ortiz-Rivera in 2015. He fell in love with Chicago, and with support from his leaders was assigned to the Army Guard and Reserve in Chicagoland.

He transitioned to a civilian job with United Ground Express, a United Airlines subsidiary, in 2017 where Ortiz-Rivera developed his career as a human resources professional.

Ortiz-Rivera became the HR business partner for United Airlines at O’Hare International Airport in September 2021.

Age: 33

Title: National Schools

Account Manager

Organization: American Massage Therapy Association

Belem G. Paramo Vela is a passionate, energetic, warm-hearted, and extroverted queer Latina. She was born in Mexico, and her family moved to Chicago’s Little Village neighborhood when she was

1. In 2012, she received DACA status, and she became a U.S. citizen in 2019.

Paramo graduated with an associate’s degree from Richard J. Daley College in 2012 and completed a medical assistant certificate program from the Illinois School of Health Careers in 2008.

Paramo is currently the national schools account manager at the American Massage Therapy Association, the largest nonprofit association serving massage therapists, massage students, and massage schools across the country. She serves as a liaison to over 575 massage schools in the United States and Puerto Rico and leads a team of two who oversee student engagement and relationships with schools.

Paramo is one of two Latinas in leadership at AMTA. In 2015, she identified an opportunity to expand AMTA into Puerto Rico. In eight years, AMTA built a market of over 20 massage schools, over 700 students, and over 500 therapists in that market.

Alan Radevski Creating a future rooted in the past

Age: 35

Title: Sales Manager

Organization: CDW

Alan Radevski looks to his past and uses it as motivation. He was born in Chicago and grew up in Chicagoland, but his mother was born and raised in Cuernavaca, Mexico. She and her four sisters grew

up poor and without a father.

Radevski’s abuelita persevered and worked hard to provide for her daughters. When they came to Chicago in the early 1980’s, his mother used the perseverance she had learned and went to college at the University of Illinois Chicago where she earned a degree

in chemical engineering. His father was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, after his grandfather immigrated to Argentina from Macedonia. His grandfather’s journey motivates Radevski to succeed.

Radevski believes himself lucky to have worked for CDW for 11 years. The culture

of diversity at CDW has motivated him each day to be the best that he can be. He is currently a sales manager in the healthcare academy segment and is a proud member of the Hispanic organization for leadership and achievement, a business resource group, and serves on the professional development committee.

Age: 39

Title: Chief of Staff to the CFO of International Sales Organization: Lenovo

Perez is a results-oriented strategy professional, with 14-plus years of experience in finance strategy, corporate strategy, management consulting, and operations.

As a chief of staff to the CFO, Perez is responsible for driving the strategy of the finance organization by working closely with the different business teams, as well as developing new frameworks and analyses to move thinking forward.

Perez joined Lenovo in 2018 as part of the Motorola Global Strategy team (a Lenovo company), where he focused on driving growth strategy.

Prior to joining Lenovo, Perez spent five years in management consulting. During this time, he worked for Strategy& (part of PricewaterhouseCoopers) and Argo Consulting (a boutique management consulting firm), where he helped his clients win a competitive advantage across multiple industries and countries. He has done this through operating model redesign, process and cost optimization, project leadership, and change management.

He holds an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management, a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from UPM in Madrid, the Six Sigma black belt certification and the project management professional certification.

SOARING TO NEW HEIGHTS.

United is proud to congratulate Juan Or tiz-Rivera on being named to Negocios Now ’s 40 Under 40 Class of 202 2 Chicago.

Sandra Paola Reyes Carlos Rivas

Mark Rivera

Mastering two careers Empowering the next Informing the community

Age: 38

Title: Insurance Agent, Real Estate Agent

Organization: American Family Insurance and YUB Realty

Sandra Paola Reyes was born and raised in Mexico City, an only child whose parents divorced when she was 13. She lived with her father in Monterrey Mexico, and at age 15 her mother brought her to the United States. She had a daughter at age 17, dropped out of high school, and got a job at a factory. She married in 2005 and had a son in 2008. Then DACA changed her life.

She started working as a customer representative

Devin

for Magnum Insurance, and two months later was licensed to be a producer. She met people who helped her change and grow, acquired four insurance licenses, and was promoted to office manager.

Before starting in the insurance industry, she had thought of being a real estate agent. She failed the exam on her first try, but enrolled in class again and passed the test. At the right moment American Family Insurance opened the door for her to become an agency owner, an entrepreneur, and ultimately realize one of her biggest desires: to be a woman in business.

Rowland

Age: 33

Title: Director of Public Affairs

Organization: The Civilian Office of Police Accountability

Carlos Rivas, born and raised in Chicago’s Humboldt Park neighborhood, is currently the director of public affairs with the Civilian Office of Police Accountability, Chicago’s police oversight agency.

In his job, Rivas works to build connections in communities across Chicago and to build trust through accountability. In 2022 Rivas hosted nearly 100 engagement events and forged new partnerships with community-based organizations. Since August 2022, Rivas has served on a special mayoral detail to support recent migrant arrivals

Housing for everyone

Age: 32

Title: President

Organization: KMA Companies

Devin Rowland is the president for KMA Companies, a fast-growing and leading real estate development and property management company based in Illinois.

KMA Property Management Services is a licensed real estate brokerage that provides

property management services to 27 real estate holdings and 1,000 apartments in Illinois and Indiana.

Rowland leads KMA Companies in analyzing and deal sourcing. He serves as an owner’s representative in securing public and private funding and maintaining compliance in tax credit, mixed use, affordable, and market rate

properties. He has overseen more than $100 million in public and privately funded supportive, affordable, and veteran housing real estate developments in Illinois and Indiana.

Rowland is a 2022 recipient of the Charles L. Edson Tax Credit Excellence Award from the Affordable Housing Tax Credit Coalition in Washington, D.C.

from the southern border.

Previously Rivas served as the alumni supports and external affairs manager at UIC College Prep where he worked hard to provide extracurricular activities such as Code Nation, which provided sophomores through seniors with coding education and internships. . He joined the staff at UICCP in 2014 as a Spanish instructor and later became an alumni counselor, supporting many of the same students he had taught.

Rivas earned a bachelor’s degree in government and Spanish from Claremont McKenna College and holds two master’s degrees, one in teaching from Dominican University and another in higher education administration from Northeastern Illinois University.

Age: 34

Title: Anchor and reporter

Organization: WLS-TV ABC

7 Chicago

Mark Rivera came back to work in his hometown when he joined the ABC 7 Eyewitness News team as a news anchor and reporter in December 2017.

He is a skilled anchor and a versatile reporter adept at covering everything from big breaking news to politics and feature stories.

Since joining eyewitness news, he has covered fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic in the

Chicago area and efforts to recover, helmed the anchor desk following civil unrest in Chicago after the death of George Floyd, and reported on the fight for racial and social justice in the city and state.

Rivera was awarded an Emmy for his work as an anchor during the high-speed chase and hours-long standoff between police and a suspect accused of killing a McHenry County sheriff’s deputy.

He and his wife Alissa are grateful to have welcomed a new baby boy this year.

This category recognizes affordable housing organizations that have demonstrated impactful use of the low-income housing tax credit.

Rowland is a graduate of Purdue University Krannert School of Business and holds a master’s degree in real estate from Kellstadt Graduate School of Business at DePaul University.

Inspiring youth involvement Designing a new Chicago

Age: 39

Title: Managing Director

Organization: Mikva Challenge

As managing director of Illinois programs, Rubalcava sets the vision and direction for Mikva Illinois’ youth-facing programs, elevates the work of youth program facilitators, and oversees Mikva’s schoolbased classroom initiatives.

Before joining Mikva Challenge, Rubalcava served as the director of enrollment management at Harold Washington College, one of the City Colleges of Chicago. She led a college-wide committee that designed a framework for student recruitment and established strategies for the college’s three-year enrollment plan.

Ed Suarez

She has been exposed to all areas of a nonprofit organization. Rubalcava began her career as a community organizer in Uptown, Rogers Park, and West Ridge. She then joined the Association for Child Development as the director of nutrition services. After that, she spent six years working at the Academy for Urban School Leadership and Holy Trinity High School. Rubalcava earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana. In addition to her work at Mikva Challenge, Rubalcava serves on the associate board of Erie Family Health Centers and sits on the steering committee for the University of Chicago Consortium on School Research.

Age: 39

Title: Vice President

Organization: Wallin/Gomez Architects Ltd

Joanna Ruiz is vice president of Wallin/Gomez Architects, which she joined in 2007.

She manages teams throughout an entire construction project, with clients during design, followed by permit and construction drawings with internal teams and engineers, and finally with contractors in the construction phase. She has successfully completed over $180 million of construction thus far. She is an accredited professional in Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design and consults on all aspects

Healthier eating with less waste

of sustainable design.

With her vast knowledge, she started an architectural consulting firm in 2020 called Prism 312 LLC which is WBE and MBE certified.

She is a founding member of the auxiliary board for the National Museum of Mexican Art. The board fosters the growth of young professionals who volunteer and plan fundraising events that help support the museum.

Joanna received her architecture degree from the Illinois Institute of Technology in 2007. As a firstgeneration U.S. citizen with both parents of Mexican descent, she is one of the first from her extended family to receive a bachelor’s degree.

Immigrant background is his bedrock

Age: 36

Title: Head of U.S. Premier

Service Sales

Organization: BMO Financial Group

As the head of U.S. premier service sales for BMO Harris Bank, Edward Suarez brings a results-oriented approach to the business with employee engagement and relationship building at its core.

As a Cuban immigrant, Suarez’s personal experiences integrating into American society, while learning a new language, have helped him adapt to an evolving industry. His humble upbringing, which included helping to pay family bills in high school and putting himself through school, fueled his success. He received a

bachelor’s degree in business administration from DeVry University and an MBA from Temple University, both with 4.0 GPAs. He started in the financial industry in college and has lived in Philadelphia, Wisconsin, Florida, and Illinois. The changes in environment have exposed Suarez to an array of cultures, thus his specialty in leading

diverse teams. His drive, perseverance, and team motivation have led his departments to outperform peers nationally.

Suarez enjoys working with people. Mentoring and helping others improve brings him joy. A fixer at heart, he connects with employees at all levels to identify and address underlying challenges.

Age: 34

Title: Founder Organization: Flourish Juice Co.

Kaitlin Soto is the creator and owner of Flourish Juice Co. in Joliet, Illinois. She is dedicated to educating others on how to improve their quality of life through nutrition and how to respect the environment through sustainable practices.

She graduated college with honors when she received a bachelor’s degree in nutrition from Benedictine University in Lisle, Illinois. She’s received awards for nutrition education, community education, volunteerism, and nutrition advocacy. Her business

has been flourishing since 2016. Her 6-yearold son is the company’s marketing manager in hopes of encouraging other children to eat (and drink) healthier.

Flourish Juice Co. was cultivated from community outreach for a healthier way to fuel your body, mind, and spirit while caring for the Earth. Flourish incentivizes customers to return glass juice bottles to its shop through a bottle-recycle program. The company washes and, sterilizes, and refills all bottles, diverting waste from landfills. By 2023 Soto hopes to have farmland in order to create a circular economy supporting only local food systems.

Carla Rubalcava Joanna Ruiz Kaitlin Soto

Celebratingan outstanding leader.

Edward Suarez

Head,USPremierServiceSales PersonalandBusinessBanking

We’reproudtocelebrate EdwardSuarez, named tothe Latinos40Under40 list,Classof2023.

Ourbankingteams,andtheoutstandingbanking professionalslikeEdwardwholeadthem,arean essentialpartofour purposetoboldlygrowthe goodinbusinessandlife,inthecommunities whereweliveandwork.

CongratulationstoalltheClassof2023honorees onyour accomplishments.

Making a better company for women Keeping homes warm in winter

Age: 36

Title: Global Talent and Organizational Effectiveness Manager

Organization: SC Johnson

Cindy Tapia is proud to be a Latina and Mexican woman with a great passion for working in human resources and all topics related to inclusion and diversity.

A psychologist with a major in coaching, she has 14 years of experience in companies such as Coca-Cola, Avon, and Pfizer. She has been at SC Johnson for seven years, involved in human resources, inclusion and diversity, and social respon-

sibility, as well as leader of talent and culture for Latin America. Currently Tapia works at SC Johnson headquarters as global talent and organizational effectiveness manager, supporting the lifestyle brands business unit.

In addition, Tapia is the current global chair of SC Johnson’s women’s employee resource group, working with leadership teams in Europe, Asia, Latin America, and North America toward the goal of inspiring and empowering women and their allies to make SC Johnson smarter, more inclusive, and the best place for women to work.

Gabriela Vargas

Age: 37

Title: Capital Planning Supervisor

Organization: Peoples Gas

Amaris Torres is the capital planning supervisor for Peoples Gas, which serves residential, commercial, and industrial customers in the city of Chicago and is a subsidiary of WEC Energy Group.

In her current role she assists field teams in the planning and execution of an annual multi-milliondollar infrastructure system modernization program in the city of Chicago. Prior to her current job, she worked as a senior analyst, leading various initiatives for process improvements.

Creating a better space for women

She has worked for the majority of her career in the utility industry, but she took a couple of years away from corporate jobs to pursue volunteer work. For The World Race she backpacked to over 16 countries, leading and mentoring teams as they assisted local nonprofits with various community projects. In 2015 she worked at Bibles For The World in Colorado Springs, where she mobilized doctors in the hills of northeastern India for free medical camps.

Amaris Torres is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee and received a bachelor’s degree in accounting and finance with a minor in Spanish business.

Challenging society to handle suicide differently

Age: 36

Title: Founder & President

Organization: National Hispanic Suicide Prevention Network Inc.

Gabriela Vargas is a social entrepreneur, and founder and owner of Poiema Studio, a safe space for community mental wellness in the city of Elgin where the National

Hispanic Suicide Prevention Network Inc. was born. With the support of co-founder Alejandro Ramirez, Vargas leads NHSPN, a nonprofit organization centered on suicide prevention with an increased focus on marginalized communities.

Vargas’ passion for preventing suicide in the Hispanic community is based on per-

sonal experience with anxiety and depression, the impact of becoming a suicide attempt, and suicide loss survivor. She began making a difference in her community by sharing her personal survival story and advocating for changing the way society remembers suicide loss victims and offers support to survivors.

Varags shares the challeng-

es of fellow immigrants. She was born in Zacatecas, Mexico, and grew up biculturally as an undocumented child in Palatine, Illinois. She became a mother at a very young age. As she raised her two sons and worked in a community hospital as a medical interpreter for 14 years, Vargas experienced firsthand the needs in her community.

Age: 36

Title: Owner

Organization: Salsas Family Market

Born in Morelos, Cuernavaca, Mexico, Laura Valle came to Chicago at the age of 14. Her parents had nothing and needed to work long shifts, leaving her alone with her 8-yearold sister and newborn boy. Their salary was not enough to support the family, so Valle found a part-time job in a grocery store where she met her future husband.

Previously she owned the successful restaurant Salsa’s Grill at 3808 W. Lawrence Ave. It was known for pozole and tamales, but the stress

and time needed to run a restaurant made her consider leaving the industry. She opened Salsas Family Market with a goal of giving staff, especially women, the opportunity for a job within walking distance of home. As a woman, mother, and wife, Valle knows it is sometimes hard to hold jobs run by men or large corporations that do not allow flexible schedules. She started the store with only herself and her husband. After two years in business, they were distributing homemade salsas to six different stores and had hired five women with flexible hours and days.

Cindy Tapia Amaris Torres

Laura Valle

small business owners through the multiple stages of business development by offering workshops, trainings, access to capital, networking, and referrals.

COVID 2019

REYNA TORRES

Consul General

JUAN SOTO

President IT Impact

Inc.

at Norwegian American in the community. When the pandemic came, she went into overdrive, and began the coordination of food for staff. When the rates of Covid-19 were disproportionately high at NAH, she helped set up a press conference to be sure that others were aware of the health inequities. She led NAH’s social media campaign around Covid and helped coordinate with the National Association of Hispanic Nurses to distribute food.

Iliana Vargas Informing better public school policies

Torres Mendivil

Chicago on July

IT Impact is a Microsoft partner located in Chicago and with employees in North and South America.

Age: 35

Title: Director of Planning and Data Management

Organization: Chicago Public Schools

�s they sa� fie�d hospita�s going up as the pandemic took hold, they created a free tool to allow organizations to keep track of ��� inventory� �ovid �upp�ies Database (COVIDSuppliesDatabase. com). It is a simple inventory system that comes loaded with many of the items a fie�d hospita� cou�d need� including many models of ventilators, and is easier than using a spreadsheet.

In her role as director of planning and data management at Chicago Public Schools, Iliana Vargas leads a team of analysts to evaluate and synthesize data about district enrollment, school choice patterns, and demographic trends to help inform district planning.

JACQUELINE SOTO

Manager of Community Affairs

Norwegian American Hospital

Paola has been tireless in her care not only for her patients, but for her fellow staff as well. She has been nominated as a Healthcare Hero by her colleague Itzel Gonzalez, a medical assistant at Rush, who says, “I’ve seen Dr. Susan very tired and exhausted, working on barely any rest or sleep. Despite this, she has been helping in the Emergency Department during this challenging time and still in the clinic helping her patients� �he rocks��

can immigrants, Vargas believes the analysis of data should be done with specific attention to the tenets of diversity, equity, and inclusion.

14, 2019. During her diplomatic career she has held various positions in the Mexican general director for Latin America and the Caribbean, and deputy general director for international policy on human rights. Before her current position in Chicago, she was consul general in San Antonio, Texas. Torres Mendivil was a resident fellow at Harvard University’s Weatherhead Deputy District Chief Chicago Fire Department

Prior to this role, Vargas oversaw the creation of school quality and performance measures for over 600 district and charter schools. Her approach to working with data within the public sector draws from her training as an academic researcher at Northwestern University. Additionally, as a firstgeneration college student and daughter of Mexi-

For the last seven years, Soto has worked

Vargas received a graduate research fellowship from the National Science Foundation in 2012. She holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of Arizona, where she graduated magna cum laude, as well as a master’s degree and doctorate from Northwestern University. She credits her success to her parents who nurtured her innate curiosity from a young age, instilled a strong work ethic, and always supported her.

Velez grew up in Humboldt Park and is a 25-year-veteran of the Chicago �ire �epartment� the second �argest fire department in the country. As deputy district chief he assists with the dayto-day operation of the department. In addition to advising the fire commissioner and first deputy on administrative and operational matters, he is also responsible for �udget preparation� staffing� assisting

with legal matters and representing the department in meetings with agencies and outside organizations.

JESSE VERA

Motor Transport Coordinator

Norwegian American Hospital

Age: 34

Title: President

up in the Little Village neighborhood and earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Gabriel Velez Offering help where it’s needed

To help prevent healthcare inequity from affecting communities, she �aunched one of the first �ovid� 19 testing sites at the start of the pandemic. She is currently serving on the city’s Racial Equity Rapid Response Team, and on the Illinois Latino Covid19 Initiative.

Vera has been with the hospital

for almost 20 years. His attitude and can-do spirit are contagious. When the Covid-19 pandemic began, he took initiative to increase cleaning for all the transportation vehicles.

Organization: Elite Welding Corp.

Gabriel Velez is president and owner of Elite Welding Corp., a mobile welding repair service. What makes the company different is that it’s one of very few companies offering mobile welding services to Chicago and Illinois.

He speaks in whatever language a patient wants, and he has been educating the community, promoting masks and other PPE, to keep people safe. When he heard that many people were facing food insecurity, exacerbated by the pandemic, he stepped helped deliver food to patients’ homes.

CARMEN

VERGARA

Chief Operations Officer

Welding is a craft in high demand, and Velez’s objective is to spread awareness as it continues to grow. He is excited with all that he and his team have accomplished, and the goal is to add more service vehicles to the area and train more dedicated individuals.

Esperanza Health Centers

With 10 years of experience in this field, he is proud to say Elite Welding is a family business for many years and generations to come.

Vergara is the chief operations officer at Esperanza, which operates four clinics on Chicago’s southwest side. She grew

Vergara-Rodriguez is a tripleboarded-certified physician in internal medicine , psychiatry and addiction medicine with more than 15 years’ experience as a multispecialty HIV provider in the Cook County Health System. She has a particular focus on Spanish-speaking groups, and she has led several social service grants to improve the health outcomes of underserved populations including Mexican immigrants, the LGBTQ population, people living with HIV, and people living with substance use disorder and/or mental illness.

Maywood native helps lead equity strategy for JPMorgan Chase

By David Steinkraus

WITH WILLIAM JARAMILLO, EXECUTIVE DIRECTORDIVERSITY EQUITY & INCLUSION AND HEAD OF COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT AND FINANCIAL HEALTH AT JPMORGAN CHASE.

William

Jaramillo

had a talent for the thinking that underlies banking, but he never thought of it as a career. He followed opportunities as they arose.

Today, at age 37, he is back in his native Chicago and leading part of the diversity, equity, and inclusion strategy for JPMorgan Chase. There are seven segments in the company’s strategy, each devoted to a particular diverse community. (Chase calls these centers of excellence.) Within the segment for advancing Hispanics and Latinos, Jaramillo is an executive director leading the financial health and wealth creation strategy and the community development strategy.

The segment for Hispanics and Latinos is one of the newer DE&I segments and started in2021. Jaramillo said he was the first hire made by Silvana Montenegro who heads the firm’s global efforts to advance Hispanics and Latinos.

MONEY COMMIT MENT

JPMorgan has committed to spend $30 billion by the end of 2025 to help close the racial wealth gap for Black, Hispanic, and Latino communities. The firm understands Latinos are its largest growing customer group, Jaramillo said. “Being proximate to this community is not just the right thing to do. It’s a business imperative because we are such a major contributor to the US economy,” he said.

Addressing the financial needs of Latinos means having people who can connect with Latino customers culturally and in the same language.

“I can’t speak for the entire Latino community, but from what I’ve seen, we need to trust the person we’re talking to,” Jaramillo said. “Let’s look at the banking systems in the countries where many

of us came from — Venezuela, Cuba, Colombia. These are not necessarily trusted banking systems, so try telling my grandfather, my grandmother, to put your hard-earned money in the hands of a bank for your retirement 20, 30, 50 years from now.”

Helping Latinos also involves making people in the community aware of what resources are available, Jaramillo said. Latinos are growing businesses faster than any other community, but scaling is a problem he said. Without help, without the right

infrastructure or systems, a business can’t make good use of capital it receives.. So senior business consultants working through the firm’s minority entrepreneur program can provide technical assistance and mentorship to small businesses to prepare them for their next step, he said. Customers may also be connected to outside resources such as community development financial institutions that combine federal and private money to invest in distressed or underserved communities.

FAMILY KNOWLEDGE

Jaramillo is a first-generation Cuban, born in Maywood after his grandfather Arnaldo Ramon Garcia brought the family to the United States during the 1960s. Arnaldo had been a truckdriver in Cuba, worked briefly in a bakery when he immigrated to the United States, then started Arnie’s Trucking, “and that’s what he did until the day he died.”

As he grew, Jaramillo said, his grandfather always wanted him to help work on the trucks, but that wasn’t his interest or his talent. “What I could help with is going to the bank to set up his account. I have these memories of saying, ‘Grandpa, this is tax deductible.’”

Maywood was the definition of an underserved community, he said, and living in its push and pull meant college wasn’t his future when he graduated from high school. He delivered pizzas for a while, then went into business with his older and entrepreneurial brother Gerardo Robledo who started a real estate company and mortgage company.

At age 20, he said, they made a lot of money during the end of the subprime lending splurge. When the bubble burst, he did odd jobs, and then one day walked into the Melrose Park branch of Chase with his grandfather. He knew the people because it was the local bank, and the manager encouraged him to apply as a teller. Jaramillo worked his way up from there.

Now he draws on what happened in his own family. He was raised by a hard-working single mother, Delia Garcia, and neither she nor his grandparents had access tools to build wealth, he said.

“For me, helping her understand her finances differently, it’s like the completion of a full circle,” Jaramillo said, “and I think about all the moms out there, all the grandmas, all the grandpas, everyone out there who is thinking about their financial journey.”

William Jaramillo

La noche de los 40

Venga un aplauso para nuestros Latinos 40 under 40 Class-2022, para este otro fabuloso grupo de jóvenes líderes que sobresalen por su talento en sus respectivos campos. Hemos celebrado sus logros, su esperanza y su determinación de seguir creciendo saltando innumerables obstáculos. Fue, en realidad, una celebración compartida, porque en la noche del 31 de marzo vimos padres, abuelos, esposas, tíos, hijos, partners, compañeros de trabajo, amigos que vinieron a brindar por el éxito de estos jóvenes. El equipo de Negocios Now no puede expresar otra cosa que agradecimiento a los premiados por ser parte de la creciente familia de los Latinos 40 under 40 y que suman ya 440 de Chicago, Nueva York y otras partes del país; agradecimiento a quienes participaron en el proceso de nominaciones, a quienes apuestan por este proyecto lanzado en 2015 y a nuestros patrocinadores, en especial BMO, el sponsor principal. A todos, ¡Gracias very much!

Presented by

RETIREMENT PROGRAM BRINGS BENEFITS TO BUSINESSES

By David Steinkraus

There is a quiet crisis among workers because too many aren’t saving for retirement, and people don’t talk about it, said Illinois State Treasurer Michael Frerichs in a recent conversation with Negocios Now.

He also talked about a solution: the Illinois Secure Choice retirement program and the accompanying law that set a series of deadlines for companies to offer a retirement savings program to employees. Secure Choice has been rolled out in three phases, beginning with the largest employers. This fall brings the enrollment deadline for the smallest employers.

Businesses that have existed for at least two years, and that had five to 15 Illinois employees in 2022, must offer a qualified retirement plan or start the onboarding process for Secure Choice by Nov. 1. Companies with 16 to 24 Illinois employees had to be signed up by Nov. 1, 2022.

“Everyone knows they need to save for retirement,” Frerichs told Negocios Now.

“Life happens, excuses come up, and we put this off. We all know this.”

People want to save, but they face other expenses: holiday gifts, vacations, credit card debt, and unexpected bills, he said. Retirement planning also requires finding a financial advisor and thinking about how much risk to take with retirement investments, and so people delay saving, he said. Then people reach their 50s or 60s and haven’t saved for retirement, and they may feel like failures and may be embarrassed to talk about it, he said.

AUTOMATIC CONTRIBUTIONS

Secure Choice gives workers their own Roth IRA. These are funded with after-tax dollars, and withdrawals are tax-free. A seven-person board, with the state treasurer as chair, oversees the program. Professional investment managers are hired to administer the program.

A big advantage of Secure Choice, Frerichs said, is that contributions are made automatically through payroll deductions at a default rate of 5% that employees can

change. To date, more than 120,000 workers have enrolled in Secure Choice and saved more than $100 million, according to Frerichs’s office.

Because of the federal Employee Retirement Income Security Act, Frerichs said, employers are forbidden from making contributions, which also means they carry no liability for management of the funds and pay no fees.

“It’s not that employers aren’t interested in help-

ing their employees to save for retirement,” he said.

“Employers know that happy employees are more productive employees.” People with worries are less productive, he added.

For smaller employers, like the group facing the November deadline, setting up a private retirement program can be difficult and complex.

SAVINGS GAP

In September 2022, the American Association of Retired Persons reported that about 64% of Latino employees ages 18 to 64 did not have access to a workplace retirement plan. More than 53% of African American employees did not have access while 42% of white workers and 45% of Asian workers didn’t have access, AARP reported.

In past work, AARP researchers found that Americans are 15 times more likely to save for retirement if they have a workplace plan and are 20 times more likely to save if contributions are automatic.

Businesses that do not comply with the law may

be referred to the Illinois Department of Revenue for enforcement. Penalties are $250 per employee for the first calendar year of noncompliance, and $500 per employee for each subsequent calendar year of noncompliance.

The Revenue Department has begun enforcement for noncompliance for the enrollment periods from 2018 through 2020. “Right now we have been much more interested in communicating and signing businesses up,” Frerichs said.

Secure Choice is focused very much on employees, Frerichs said, but employers also benefit. They don’t pay fees or make contributions, he said, and employers who worried about the cost of administering the program find it’s rarely more than an additional column on a spreadsheet, a minor change in payroll tax and other payments they already send as part of the payroll process.

Then those businesses realized they could use Secure Choice as a recruitment and retention tool, he said.

INTERVIEW WITH ILLINOIS STATE TREASURER MICHAEL FRERICHS ABOUT THE ILLINOIS SECURE CHOICE RETIREMENT PROGRAM.

ComEd invests $963 million

with Diversity-Certified Suppliers in 2022

THIS BRINGS ITS SPEND WITH DIVERSITY-CERTIFIED SUPPLIERS SINCE 2012 TO $7.4 BILLION.

Chicago- (HINA Wire)-

As part of its longstanding effort to advance equity in the communities it serves, ComEd spent $963 million, or 43% of its total supply chain spend, with businesses owned by women, people of color and veterans in 2022.

This brings its spend with diversity-certified suppliers since 2012 to $7.4 billion. Maintaining its commitment to local investment, ComEd spent $651 million of its total diverse spend last year with

Illinois-based suppliers.

“Recognizing the important and growing role that diversity-certified suppliers play in meeting the needs of our customers and making their communities stronger, we will increase our diverse spend to 45% of our total supply chain spend by 2028,” said Gil Quiniones, CEO, ComEd.

“We believe investing in businesses owned by people of color, women and veterans is essential to creating an equitable clean energy transition.”, he said.

ComEd’s commitment to further increase its spend with diversity-certified suppliers aligns with the performance targets adopted by the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC) in September, 2022, and is reflected in its multi-year grid and rate plans filed with the ICC in January to strengthen the region’s infrastructure and economy and increase access to the benefits of clean energy and decarbonization.

In its 2022 report submitted recently to the ICC, ComEd

detailed its partnership with 650 diversity-certified suppliers, including 159 new partnerships. Diverse suppliers support departments and workstreams across ComEd, including construction, engineering, and materials, among others.

Diversity-certified suppliers also play key roles in ComEd programs to help customers reduce their energy use and costs, which are expanding as a result of increased funding from the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act of 2021.

Illinois utility companies’

spend with diversity-certified suppliers contributed $11.8 billion to the Illinois GDP from 2017-2020, with $4 billion in purchases from Illinois-based diverse businesses, according to the Illinois Utilities Business Diversity Council (IUBDC), which was formed in 2015 to help utilities establish and share best practices for diverse supplier participation and development. Members include Ameren Illinois, Aqua, ComEd, Illinois American Water, Nicor Gas, North Shore Gas, and Peoples Gas.

ComEd CEO, Gil Quiniones (Center) and VP of Large Customer Services, Diana Sharpe, pictured with The Will Group Chairman, Stephen L. Davis; President, Joshua Davis; COO, Jessica Ashley Garmon; Exelon Diverse Business Empowerment Manager, Cherise Conley; Exelon Senior Category Manager, Jacqlynn Guidry.