Ask for his business card and you're likely to get a handful from Ruben Guerra, chairman of the Latin Business Assn. in Los Angeles.
The affable Los Angeles native carries one for his 1,200-member organization, one for his construction company, a freshly printed one for his new liquid coating business and, until recently, a fourth for the packaging wholesale business he started when he was 23.
He sold a majority interest in the City of Commerce-based business to free up time for his other pursuits, which include co-chairing the California Latino Water Coalition, a group working to bolster the state's water supply.
It's the LBA that has his heart, he said.
"Being part of the LBA has been kind of an eye-opener for me," said Guerra, who will turn 40 in May. "Right now it's a time of my life where I want to give back somehow, to help somehow."
Guerra was elected to a two-year term in October after filling in the prior eight months for the former chairman, Rick Sarmiento, who left to serve as appointments secretary for Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Another former chairman, Hector V. Barreto, was tapped to run the Small Business Administration in 2001, a job he held for five years.
Guerra says he has no desire to follow in their footsteps in the near future. He has been approached many times for possible political posts, he said, but hopes to be reelected for another two-year stint as head of the LBA so he can get to his entire to-do list.
At a board retreat last month, he got approval to move forward on several new programs, including a partnership with several longtime local Latino realty companies that are members of the LBA to give free counseling to homeowners struggling in the sub-prime mortgage meltdown.
He also is expanding the group's scholarship program to include the Boyle Heights Technology Youth Center, an alternative high school that opened in 2006.
Guerra also wants the LBA to get more involved with members to promote their businesses, including tapping local political leaders to attend grand openings. And he's looking to boost the number of corporate sponsors that work with the group, which hasn't operated in the black for several years, he said.
Guerra spoke recently about his agenda for the national business group, as well as the challenges he sees ahead.
Is there still a need for a Latin business association?
