any ingredients go into Sauk Valley’s rich melting pot of cultures, and a local business group is helping the community get a taste of what one of those cultures is adding to the mix.
At the Sauk Valley Area Chamber of Commerce, a group of dedicated business owners and employees are helping their fellow Hispanic and Latino businesses and business owners connect with the community — the Hispanic Business Leaders Committee.
People of Hispanic origin make up the largest percentage of the area’s non-English community, and many of them have turned their talents into small businesses that are a big part of the Sauk Valley. That’s where the Hispanic Business Leaders Committee comes in.
The committee serves as an outreach between the Chamber and Hispanic and Latino business owners in Sterling, Rock Falls and the rest of Whiteside County, which is the Chamber’s service area. The group of about 20 members meets at noon on the third Thursday of each month at the Chamber’s office in downtown Sterling, where they discuss ways to promote Hispanic-owned businesses to the community, and make the businesses aware of how the community can help them.
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Interested in becoming a member of the His panic Business Leaders Committee? Email Kris Noble, Sauk Valley Area Chamber of Commerce Executive Director, at knoble@saukvalleyarea chamber.com or call 815-625-2400 for more information. Go to saukvalleyarea chamber.com/hispan ic-business-leaders-com mittee to learn more about the committee.
Kris Noble, Sauk Valley Area Chamber of Commerce’s executive director, leads the forward-thinking group and values the involvement of those Hispanic-owned busi nesses who are active in the Chamber and the committee, which began in 2006.
“We’ve morphed into how this committee can support all of our Hispanic business es and let the community know these Hispanic busi nesses exist, and then how to get them more engaged in the community,” Noble said. “It’s a great group of people who come together. It’s a lot of people who are passionate about the role of helping the Hispanic community and their businesses.”
The committee’s goal, according to the Chamber’s website, “is to build rela tionships and promote the economic quality of life in the Sauk Valley,” with a mis sion “to provide leadership, education, networking, and marketing opportunities for Hispanic businesses, leaders, and students of our community.”
Raquel Sifuentes and Mary White take part in a discussion dur ing a recent meeting of the Hispanic Busi ness Leaders Com mittee in Sterling.
Members represent local businesses large and small. As part of the committee’s action plan, which was revamped this year, they help promote education, support local cultural events and bring awareness to the local Hispanic community about them, and promote leadership in the community. The committee also assists Hispanic-owned businesses in accessing resources, marketing, promotion and any other relevant information to help them become successful.
“We like people to understand the importance of ‘Shop Local’ and using local resources, and helping the Hispanic community understand how we are there to help them and to promote them,” Noble said.
In addition to promotion and marketing, the committee also is responsible for planning special bilingual events for area Hispanic business owners, as well as the annual Fiesta Day parade, now in its 69th year. From May until the celebration — this year on Sept. 17, in line with Mexican Independence Day — committee members work on arranging sponsors, planning a parade route, and naming a Grand Marshal from nominees submitted by the community. This year’s honoree is Sterling Police Chief Alex Chavira. The Latin American Social Club had organized the parade for many years before handing operations over to the Chamber in 2013.
Hispanic heritage runs deep in Sterling and Rock Falls. Many Hispanic workers came to the Twin Cities in the 1930s and 1940s to work at the large manufacturing companies, namely Northwestern Steel and Wire, and many descendants of those workers continue to call the com munity home. Sterling first held a community event observing Mexican Independence Day in 1937, with celebrations paused during World War II.
CODY CUTTER/CCUTTER@SAUKVALLEY.COMOver the years, several committee mem bers have come and gone, while some have remained since the beginning. As time goes on, the committee adopts new ways to help Hispanic-owned businesses. Its current action plan calls for the committee to begin a multimedia endeavour of increasing visi bility of Hispanic-owned businesses during Hispanic Heritage Month, which lasts from Sept. 15 to Oct. 15.
“We’re going to look at three or four His panic-owned businesses that are Chamber members and really try to dig deep into them and give them some coverage,” Noble said. “We’ll put them out from Mexican Independ ence Day and Hispanic Heritage Month. That’s the vision: How do we give some great cov erage to Hispanic-owned businesses — small businesses — that are contributing to the community and share their story?”
Only about 20% of Hispanic-owned businesses in Whiteside County are members of the Chamber, a figure that Noble knows can increase as long as the Hispanic Business Leaders Committee continues to work at bring ing together local businesses with local resources.
“We love hearing feedback,” Noble said. “How can we do things better? What do we need to be doing different? That’s important as a Chamber, and as HBLC.” n
CODY CUTTER/CCUTTER@SAUKVALLEY.COM
Sterling Main Street Executive Director Janna Groharing (left, holding check) accepts a $1,000 donation from the Sauk Valley Area Chamber of Commerce’s Hispanic Business Leaders Com mittee for work on “Adelante,” a Hispanic-themed mural on the side of Napa Auto Parts, near West Third Street and Avenue C in downtown Sterling. Also pictured are committee members.
ALEX
When it comes to keeping your vehicle looking its best, Jorge Lopez believes that the difference is in the details.
He should know. For as long as he can remember, he’s taken a shine to cars, from the first one he owned more than a decade ago to the ones that drive into his shop today.
Lopez, 31, is the owner of Exclusive Style and Protection in Sterling, and he knows his business. He’s honed a hobby he picked up at home in his parents’ garage back in high school and turned it a business where the rides that roll out of his garage always look better than when they rolled in.
“It started as a hobby, really,” Lopez said. “It was some thing to do in the summer throughout high school. With your first car, it’s like your baby, so you want to take care of it and detail it whenever you can.”
Today, he’s still taking care of vehicles, and he’s doing it with a crew that can tint windows, do vehicle wraps, apply polishes and ceramic coatings, and do detail work inside and out. Among the crew are people who’ve seen his de tailing expertise in action for a while: his father, Martin, brother Jesus, and sister Teresa.
Jorge’s first car was a 2001 Dodge Neon, and he took good care of it keeping it in tip-top shape, like it came straight off the assembly line from Belvidere, where Neons were made at the time.
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CODY CUTTER Sauk Valley Media Story by ABOVE: Jorge Lopez applies a vehicle wrap at his Sterling shop, Exclusive Style and Protection. Vehicle wraps have become increasingly popular with vehicle owners in recent years, whether they want a new look without a whole new paint job, they want to turn their vehicle into an eye-catching ad on wheels for their business, or they just want to add another layer of protection to their investment. PHOTO COURTESY OF EXCLUSIVE STYLE AND PROTECTIONThey all shine on ... Family lends a hand at Jorge’s shop. Here, his sister, Teresa Lopez, gets a customer’s windshield crystal clear on Sept. 1. Teresa helps with office work too. Jorge’s brother, Jesus and dad, Martin, also help out.
Cars, along with soccer, were Lopez’s pas sion during his time at Sterling High School, and he even took a year of auto mechanics classes at the Whiteside Area Career Center — but he was always more interested in how vehicles looked than how they ran.
“I always wanted to be around cars,” Lopez said. “Not so much mechanically, but just more of taking care of the vehicles [outside].”
After high school, Lopez began doing detailing jobs for friends and family while he studied at Sauk Valley Community Col lege. Those side projects eventually grew into a business 6 years ago, when he started Exclusive Style and Protection, in the former home of Foster Coach Sales on Sterling’s west side.
Exclusive uses the Xpel line of products for tinting and protection. Tinted windows help vehicles keep their cool while looking cool, cutting down on the sun that pours through the windows. They also afford riders a little more privacy — but not so much that they’d run afoul of the law. Tinting’s translucence for front and rear windows can’t be darker than 35 percent for most vehicles, in accordance with state law. If you want to shed some light on your vehicle, film tint removal services also are available — and tint jobs can even be arranged for home and office windows as well.
ALEX T. PASCHAL/APASCHAL@SHAWMEDIA.COM
CODY
Vehicle wraps are another auto trend that’s been pick ing up speed in recent years, and Exclusive offers three size-based packages. The vinyl wraps give your vehicle a whole new look without a whole new paint job. And changing colors is as easy as having the old wrap peeled off and a new one put on. The wraps also provide protection against scuffs and scratches.
If you’d like to stick with the color your car came with, Lopez and his team can keep it looking in tip-top shape. Polishing services also include paint enhancement and paint correction.
“Everything is different,” Lopez said. “We deal with a lot of budgets and expecta tions. We have people who have had their vehicles for 3 or 4 years and they’re on the fence of getting rid of it or wanting to fall back in love with it.”
Exclusive Style and Protection, 1231 W. Fourth St. in Sterling, is open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday. Find it on Facebook, YouTube or Instagram (@ styleandprotection), go to exclu sivestyleandprotection.com or call 815-632-3201 for more information.
Lopez and his family came to Sterling in 2003 from a town in Texas near the Mexican border. Every now and again, he will trav el throughout the nation for conventions or to see what’s new in detailing, and bring ideas back to his shop.
“One thing I’ve noticed talking with people from shops in the bigger cities, I’ll tell them what town I’m in and they get real impressed that I’m in a town of 15,000 people — about 35,000 combined with Rock Falls and Dixon — and it’s such a ‘small town,’” Lopez said. “It’s good because there are opportunities for bringing in something else from out of town. I’ll drive to Arizona, or Vegas, or even Chica go, and I can bring ideas into a small town.”
Lopez enjoys being in Sterling and being able to turn his passion for car care into cash.
“As long as you stay open-minded about everything, and have a passion for it, being in a small town you can try different things out.” n
Above: Juana Ayala (left) has seen a lot of families come through the doors since opening Salamandra in 2002, including many of her own. “Twenty years doesn't seem like a long time, but three generations are working here, my daughters and my grandkids," said Aya la, shown here with daughter Kora, who owns the restaurant with her mom. Below: Salamandra boasts an impressive lineup of Mexi can flavors. Clockwise from top left: Birra tacos; Alambre with rice and beans; a Salamandras salad; enchiladas (roja, verde and vegan).
PHOTOS: ALEX T. PASCHAL/APASCHAL@SHAWMEDIA.COM
here’s no doubt about it: Cuisine from south of the border is popular north of the border. Americans love their Mexican food, and you can find it pretty much anywhere you go, with each region and each state bringing their own takes on the traditional tastes of Mexico — but you don’t need to travel far to find them.
Just head to Dixon and look for a surprised-looking salamander.
When Juana Ayala came to Dixon from Mexico City 20 years ago, she not only brought her family with her, she brought along family recipes, a passion for cooking, and a good eye for picking the right spot to open a business.
Ayala owns Salamandra with her daughter, Kora Bajrami, where they bring a lot to the table — a parade of flavors that have marched all the way from Mexico to their menu.
She draws her ideas and inspiration for the menu from many places, be it the home she came from or the place she now calls home. She has extended family from all over Mexico, and they have inspired her to come up with a wide variety of dishes — enchiladas, sin cronizadas, burritos, alhambre and cascaritas, to name just a few — and bring them to American taste buds.
SALAMANDRA“Sometimes people ask about our food,” Ayala said. “We are from Mexico City and there are many different states that have different foods, and we have food from different states here.”
“Here” is in downtown Dixon, where Salamandra has called home for 20 year. Dixon hasn’t had a lot of Mexican restau rants through the years, but Ayala decided to take a chance and open one. Twenty years later and she’s still cooking.
Ayala said she and her family — three generations help out at the restaurant — have come to appreciate the com munity and its willingness to accept “something different” into the local landscape of restaurants. She had owned a restaurant in Mexico City for 7 years before coming to Dix on, and when she saw an empty storefront — many down town were empty at the time, Ayala said — she decided to get back into business again.
Salamandra opened in May 2002, and before long she got over her initial nervousness.
“We were worried that we weren’t going to be accepted in the town because we were new to the community, so we didn’t know how long we were going to go for,” Bajra mi said. “This is a very close-knit community, so when we first came to Dixon we were worried about what they might think with us not being local. It took a little time for people to notice and go, ‘This is not bad, and we like the food.’”
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As far as the name Salamandra goes, there’s more than meets the eye. The little critter in the logo with the pop-eyed peeper was inspired by the women in Ayala’s family, who have large eyes — “like a salamander,” Bajrami said. The res taurant carries the theme inside, too, with salamander-in spired decor sharing space with family pictures.
The impressive menu will have customers’ eyes pop ping, too. Dishes such as burritos, tacos and enchiladas are popular staples, but other dishes, such as allambre — with chopped steak cubes, bacon, onion and bell peppers topped with chihuahua cheese, as well as sincronizadas — chihua hua cheese and a choice of chicken, beef, steak or chorizo between two flour tortillas — also are top sellers. A recent addition to the menu, the quesabirria, has really taken off in the past few months: The taco-like food has cheese and stewed meat inside.
Vegan and vegetarian options also are available. Lunch spe cials are served from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
When it comes to salsa, variety really is the spice of life. Ayala can make about 40 different types for a any meal. Have a favorite dish but just can’t get enough of a certain salsa? Con tainers are available for purchase.
Seeing the current generation of family wanting to help their grandmother makes her proud, Ayala said.
“Twenty years doesn’t seem like a long time, but three gen erations are working here, my daughters and my grandkids,”
