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Hispanic-Americans Grow As Leaders & Managers

Hispanic-Americans Grow as Leaders & Managers turfmagazine.com

Ron Hall June 6, 2015

It has only been within the past decade that theindustry began to recognize the growing impactthat individuals with Spanish-speaking heritagesare having on the vitality of the landscape/lawnservices industry. These Hispanics are notundocumented (i.e. illegal) workers or H-2Bseasonal workers, as valuable as they are to manycompanies. These are U.S. citizens who identifythemselves as Hispanic-Americans.

The growth of the National Hispanic Landscape (NHLA), founded in 2011, is helping toAlliance

illuminate the presence and importance ofHispanics as managers, supervisors and company owners. It is also actively engaged in encouraging andbuilding the leadership and managerial skills of its members and the employees of its member companies.

This past February, the NHLA offered a Train the Trainer retreat near Baltimore, Maryland. Thetwo-and-a-half-day event drew heavily on the knowledge and experiences of NHLA member Ellen Ely,president of . Ely is the former director of training for Landscape Training Solutions The Brickman

, and he engaged the participants in leading and managing in a multicultural business environment.Group

Train the Trainer a huge hit

Afterward, participants raved, not only about the education and information shared at the retreat by Ely, butalso about the interaction and idea-sharing fostered among participants.

“The two men from Mariani who attended came back with a renewed sense of appreciation for what ourcompany stands for, and they also gained some new tools that they are eager to apply to our professionaltraining and development program,” says Fred Wacker, president of , Lake Bluff,Mariani LandscapeIllinois.

Wacker adds the confidence the men gained at the Train the Trainer event encouraged them to share theskills and the techniques at “Mariani University” several weeks later.

“Train the Trainer welcomes participants to consider possible hard-to-deal-with situations and challengesthem to consider the best resolutions,” says Jose Arroyo, , Lyman,Jose’s Lawn Service & LandscapingSouth Carolina. He adds the program provided “attendees lessons on leadership and focused on allaspects of life, whether it be at work or at home.”

But perhaps the biggest payoff of the event was theconfidence to make positive contributions to boththeir companies and their lives that it instilled inparticipants, Arroyo adds.

Since its founding in 2011, the NHLA has steadilygrown, thanks to both the encouragement and

Group,

and she engaged the participants in leading and managing in a multicultural business environment.

But perhaps the biggest payoff of the event was the confidence to make positive contributions to both their companies and their lives that it instilled in participants, Arroyo adds.

Since its founding in 2011, the NHLA has steadily grown, thanks to both the encouragement and participation of Hispanic-American business owners and also to the support of major industry suppliers.

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Carlos Barron, Denison Landscaping, with his certificate of achievement. On his left is trainerEllen Ely and on his right is NHLA Executive Director Ralph Egües.

The instruction was up close and personal (fun too!) at the NHLATrain the Trainer retreat near Baltimore earlier this year. The

participant’s smiles tell the story.

grown, thanks to both the encouragement andparticipation of Hispanic-American business ownersand also to the support of major industry suppliers.

“We have members from coast to coast and fromborder to border,” according to NHLA PresidentRaul Berrios, of , Centreville, Virginia.RulyScapes“Some have been in business for more than 20years and others for less than 10.”

These trends haven’t gone unnoticed by industrysuppliers who are starting to recognize thesignificance of this large but heretofore poorlyidentified population of business decision makers –the rapidly increasing number of Hispanic-American

managers and owners. The NHLA claims that approximately a half-million U.S. Hispanic householdsdepend on the landscape industry for their livelihoods.

As of this writing, 11 industry manufacturers have joined the NHLA as major sponsors and supporters.

Assuming leadership

“Without doubt, the respect forHispanic professionalscontinues to grow. In our market(Chicago), we see a steadyincrease in the number ofHispanics who are willing to takethe risk and start their ownbusinesses,” says Wacker ofMariani Landscape.

“More and more Hispanicemployers are being exposed to duties beyond that of laborer. As they progress up the corporate ladder byadvancing into supervisory positions, they are breaking the barriers that existed in the past generation,”adds Josh Denison, human resources & operations manager, , FortDenison Landscaping Inc.Washington, Maryland.

But the process hasn’t been without its challenges, he adds.

“While I have seen improvements in the way that the industry views Hispanic landscape pros’ contributionsand their services, there are still stereotypes that we need to overcome,” adds Denison. “That is part of thereason I joined the NHLA, to show my employees they have a voice and that we believe in what they areand what they mean to the industry.”

NHLA Executive Director Ralph Egües can easily tick off a half-dozen industry issues vital to its Hispaniccomponent and the industry in general. However, at the top of NHLA’s list is helping its members achievebusiness success by networking and sharing their experiences and ideas.

The reason why the Alliance does programs like Train the Trainer is that many of its members can’t affordone-on-one training from business consultants.

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one-on-one training from business consultants.

“For larger companies, hiring a consultant is a wise investment, but many smaller companies can’t affordthat, and they need help taking their operations to the next level,” says Egües. “They need to learn how todo things smarter and to get their workforce to perform in a more competent, professional way.

“If you do not have your programs and your systems honed so that they are as efficient as possible, youjust cannot be successful,” he adds.

Egües sees the broader role of the NHLA as being what he terms a gateway association – as a vehicle toexpose Hispanic-American landscape professionals to the richness of the industry.

“We’ve partnered with NALP, and some of the stateOPEI

associations,” he adds. “Thereare a lot of really great thingsgoing on within the industry.There are great opportunities,including education and a lot ofwonderful programming thatother industry associations areoffering.”

He adds that NHLA wants to help Hispanics not just work in the landscape industry, but to embrace theindustry and experience all it has to offer in terms of opportunity and success.

COVER AND PHOTOS: NATIONAL HISPANIC LANDSCAPE ALLIANCE

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