Negocios Now

www.negociosnow.com Junio 2022 19 JORGE L. ESCARPITA Founder & President Escarpita Construction Jorge Escarpita is the founder and president of Escarpita Construction, a company that specializes in large-scale, high-end and logistically complex projects in the commercial, institutional and municipal sectors. Escarpita has worked with such notable institutions as Northwestern University and Northwestern Memorial Hospital, University of Chicago and University of Chicago Medical Center, Fermilab, Argonne National Laboratory, Abbvie, O'Hare International Airport, Midway International Airport, Microsoft, University of Illinois Urbana- Champaign and University of Illinois Chicago, Advocate Health, Amita Health, Rush University Medical Center, Northwestern Lake Forest Hospital, city of Chicago, Cook County, and Will County. Escarpia is passionate about community and small business building and currently serves as the executive vice president of HACIA (Hispanic American Construction Industry Association). EZEQUIEL FLORES Founder & CEO Flying Concessions Ezequiel "Zeke" Flores is founder and CEO of Flying Concessions, an airport retail, food and beverage concessionaire. Flores, a Chicago native, graduated from DePaul University with a bachelor's degree in commerce and accountancy and began his career with the accounting firm Arthur Andersen. He later joined Sara Lee, traveling to 14 countries and seeing firsthand how Sara Lee purchased small, local companies and built them into national brands. He then founded Flores Retail Corp., a real estate company focused on public-private partnerships. He is an operating partner of Centre Partners, a longstanding middle-market private equity firm, and through that is a board member of Sabrosura, a platform investment focused on the large and growing Latino foods category. GUILLERMO GARCIA President & CEO GSG Consultants Inc. Guillermo Garcia, president and co-founder of GSG Consultants Inc., has led the transformation of the firm from a small asbestos service company with two people to a multi-faceted consulting firm with a staff of 130. GSG is a specialty engineering and scientific consulting firm serving transportation, buildings and facilities, and land development. With corporate offices in Chicagoland, GSG is strategically located to deliver services throughout the Midwest and beyond. The firm's recent noteworthy projects include the design-build project at Amtrak's Union Station, the Illiana and St. Louis-to- Chicago high speed rail projects for the Illinois Department of Transportation, various blanket design projects with Metra, and multiple contract awards with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and Chicago Public Schools. LATINAS IN BUSINESS AWARD Carmen Solano-De Carrier Owner-operator / McDonald's C armen Solano-De Carrier is the owner-operator of 15 McDonald's restaurants in Chicagoland. She started her career as a crew member, working behind the counter at McDonald's, and progressed to working at the corporate office where she met her husband and then became an independent owner-operator. Having grown up and attended school in Chicago, she believes she has a responsibility to work with the community and government to achieve the kind of economic and educational growth that benefits all. This belief has inspired her to work with organizations that help the communities they serve. She is also the current president of the McDonald's Hispanic Owner- Operators Association. EZEQUIEL FUENTES Owner Mi Tierra Restaurant Ezequiel Fuentes has three decades in the restaurant industry. He is investors or owner of over 30 restaurants in several states of the country, including the emblematic Mii Tierra Restaurant in Little Village in Chicago. He started working in restaurants as a dishwasher and busboy at a young age. As the eldest son of immigrant parents, he felt a duty to help his family, and eventually he, his brothers, and a cousin opened their own restaurant. They started with a small location in Champaign, expanded to surrounding towns, and opened restaurants in neighboring states. He and his family visited Chicago often and frequently ate at Mi Tierra. They loved the ambiance of the restaurant, and when Fuentes decided to buy it, he wanted it to still be a place where customers can feel like they are in Mexico. BRENDA GARZA KARHOFF President & Principal Founder Garza Karhoff Engineering LLC Garza Karhoff Engineering is a 100% Hispanic woman- owned engineering firm formed in July 2008. GKE is a consulting engineering firm specializing in structural and civil engineering design and project management. The company serves the transportation industry and major infrastructure projects with the design of roadways, bridges, transit structures, and buildings. Current projects include O'Hare Global Terminal 2, Chicago Transit Authority's RPM Project, and various state road and bridge projects. Karhoff began her career interning at Illinois Department of Transportation District 5 in her hometown of Danville. She received bachelor's and master's degrees in civil engineering from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. She is a licensed structural engineer and professional engineer in Illinois and a licensed professional engineer in Wisconsin.

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