Negocios Now

www.negociosnow.com 12 Junio 2021 GRAYSLAKE JULIAN CREWS FOUNDER Old Havana Foods GRAYSLAKE Crews is the founder of Old Havana Foods, a company producing all-natural Cuban gourmet products, including his family's celebrated black beans, Chili Cubano and famous black bean dip. These products can be found across the Chicago area in Mariano's Fresh Markets, Whole Foods, Sunset Foods, Grand Food Center and other specialty stores. Products are also available in select Wisconsin stores and Australia's USA Foods. Crews is also a veteran TV Journalist. HANOVER PARK ELIA RODRIGUEZ CO-FOUNDER Alianza Hispana Inc. HANOVER PARK Alianza Hispana Inc. is an accounting firm specialized in income tax preparation offering additional services such as a travel agency, auto insurance, notary public, translations and more. Rodriguez's business was inspired by the needs of Latino immigrants who, like her, her parents, and her nine siblings, arrived in the United States without speaking the language. Together with her sister Laura and armed with her accounting skills, she decided to start a business with services for the Hispanic community in the north suburbs. SIXTO RINCON OWNER Aracely's Bakery FRANKLIN PARK Aracely's Bakery is a must-see in Franklin Park and a monument to the effort and perseverance of a Mexican immigrant in search of a better life. Its founder, Sixto Rincon, opened the first store in 1982 and today has five other locations in of Cicero, Lagrande, Melrose Park, and Franklin Park. Rincon appears in this photo taken for the first Negocios Now Chicago suburbs special edition in 2013. EVANSTON Benoit Angulo Chef & Owner / La Cocinita Restaurants & Food Trucks EVANSTON Born and raised in Caracas, chef Benoit Angulo has been making arepas, a Venezuelan specialty, since he was 9. He attended culinary school in Caracas and moved to the United States 20 years ago. Angulo came up with the idea of a food truck in 2011, drawing on the flavors of late- night street food carts in Caracas. Today, he and his wife Rachel own a food truck and food hall stand in New Orleans and a food truck and restaurant in Evanston. LINDA DEL BOSQUE FOUNDER, PUBLISHER, EDITOR IN CHIEF Evanston Woman magazine EVANSTON Del Bosque is founder, publisher and editor-in-chief of Evanston Woman magazine and CEO of Midwest Medical Media. Her interest in magazines started when she was a 5-year-old girl in Texas tasked with collecting magazines in waiting rooms while her family cleaned offices. After serving as editor in chief of Mature Texan Healthcare Texas, she moved with her daughter to Evanston. Del Bosque realized there was not a place for Evanston women to meet, and Evanston Woman was born. FRANKLIN PARK JOLIET VERENISE ALVAREZ CO-OWNER K&A Landscaping Inc. JOLIET K&A Landscaping is a family- owned landscaping company in the Joliet area and southwestern suburbs. The company was founded by Mauricio Alvarez who wanted his daughters to take over the family business one day. That day came sooner than expected when he lost his battle with COVID-19 and passed away in December 2020. Verenise said it is a true honor to continue his legacy and vision for the company: to deliver the same excellent customer service he supplied for the past 25 years. JOSE ARIAS FOUNDER CXA Utilities JOLIET Arias learned the value of hard work early on. At the age of 18, he began working in construction, where he started as an apprentice with IBEW Union Local 9. He quickly moved up, took advantage of every opportunity, and attended night school while working full time. In the fall of 2017, he decided to take a considerable risk and start CXA Utilities Inc., a company specializing in underground conduit, underground utility lines, and lighting for Illinois tollways, cities and villages. Jeff Tovar earned an MBA at Lake Forest Graduate School and developed the cultural values of the "Tovar Way" as owner/CEO of Tovar Snow Professionals. Tovar has served as board member, founder, president and member of numerous professional organizations, and he has had the honor to speak nationally for many of these associations as well as contribute to their publications. For more than 25 years, he has built Tovar Snow Professionals from a handful of lawn mowers to the largest minority- owned snow-only company in the United States. He has accomplished this through fearlessly embracing continuous improvement, innovation, and heroic customer service with like-minded heroes (employees). His philosophy on supplier diversity is that in an evolving world of cross- cultural societies, we need employees and vendors with various backgrounds. These differences combined with a common vision, allow us to provide world class service. Jeff Tovar Owner/CEO /Tovar Snow Professionals EAST DUNDEE S U B U R BS CHICAGO'S CHICAGO'S S U B U R BS 1 1

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