Success Stories

Jim
For a very long time, trucker Jim Roman had the perfect vision for his entrepreneurial future: selling the perfect barbecue. But the community where he wanted to sell his barbecue was East Los Angeles. “This is the land of the taco and the torta,” he said. “People here just don’t know about the barbecue. Many didn’t even know the difference between tri-tip and tripe.” Not that there is anything wrong with tacos and traditional Mexican-American sandwiches, he said, “But I thought it was time for something different. Something new here that East L.A. could really go for.”

How does a veteran trucker get a leg up in the serious retail food business, Jim wondered to himself. How does he learn the ins and outs of SBA assistance and loans, of business plans and cash flow, of taxes and employee payroll, of marketing and accounting?

Then a neighbor told Jim about PACE’s new Business Development Center classes in Boyle Heights. “I’d been in the trucking business for 10 years, as a driver and as the owner of my own trucking company,” Jim Roman recalls. “But what I most wanted to do for a long time was to get into the food business. It was something deep inside me, something important to me, that very special goal.”

Now he’s closing on a property where in April, if all goes well, he plans to open what will be East L.A.’s first barbecue joint in decades. Meanwhile, he’s been practicing grilling and selling his tri-tips and St. Louis ribs with his home made secret sauce on an Indiana Avenue street corner.

“Once they actually taste it, people just love this stuff,” he grins. Jim’s PACE BDC entrepreneur training, offered in Spanish, gave him the tools he needed to get started. “And it was all pretty much for free,” he recalls. “We acquired years worth of professional know-how and experience in a matter of weeks. The people who talked to us understood just what we wanted to do and what we needed to know to do it. They gave us the tools. Now I’ve begun to make my dream real.”

Nearly all of the students in Jim’s class started out with different dreams, different visions and plans for advancement and success in small business, ranging from retail to food service to education. Some were new to the idea of entrepreneurship. Others, like Jim, already had considerable business experience. But they all applauded how the accessibility and wide range of professional input from their BDC classes helped them advance toward their goals.

Herminia
Herminia Flores’ modest east-of-downtown home is a warmer and safer place these days.

Flores, who was born in El Salvador, lives with her husband and son in a small house located in a 1940s-style Southern California bungalow court on South Burlington Avenue near MacArthur Park. She was canvassed by a PACE worker who offered to have Flores’ home inspected for possible energy use problems, at no cost.

“At first I was hesitant, but I thought about it for a few days. Then I asked them to come back and check out my home,” she recalls. “I’m really glad I did. They did their work very well and quickly.”

The PACE team discovered that Flores’ hot water heater was working erratically, so they took it out and replaced it with a new, more efficient heater. They also provided her with a new wall-mounted room heater unit—one that emits more heat and is safer to use. While they were at it, the team weather stripped her front and back doors and installed new lights with fluorescent, energy efficient bulbs and put in a carbon monoxide detector to make sure the new gas appliances were running safely. There were no charges for the new appliances and the installation work.

“I’m really happy with the work that PACE did,” Flores said. “I don’t know if anyone else in our community knows about PACE, but they should.”

PACE’s Energy and Environmental Services Program helps thousands of people like Flores every year, offering a number of energy conservation services, funded both by LIHEAP (Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program) grants through the state and PACE’s long time utility partners, the Southern California Gas Company and Southern California Edison. This program works to weatherize and assure the energy efficiency of low-income homes, as well as the replacement of inefficient appliances where feasible. PACE’s LIHEAP Program also helps families with emergencies involving utility bill arrears and non-payments.

Thomas
After decades of working for the same Simi Valley furniture firm, Thomas Brackeen found himself suddenly downsized of a job in his mid 60s. “I lost my main revenue source,” he says, “so I couldn’t afford to retire.” Now at age 65, with three grown children, three stepchildren and eight grandchildren, the Culver City resident has found a new job and a new career. He’s a PACE Weatherization Program field worker. He works throughout the 13 Los Angeles County cities served by PACE, making thousands of low-income homes warmer, more economical and even safer for the people who live in them.

Brackeen first heard about PACE through the East L.A. skill Center while attending Introduction to Solar Photovoltaic training. He attended the PACE Westlake WorkSource Center’s “Positive Recruitment Far” in June and was hired after his interview. He continues with his advanced solar photovoltaic training in the evenings after he leaves work at PACE.

“I like the work,” says Brackeen. “I’ve always been good with my hands. And I’m getting even better at 65, maybe because I have less to worry about nowadays. It’s the immediate gratification, too. You don’t wait around for something to do, you fix things immediately and then move on to another job.”

Deborah
Top prize winner Deborah Stern’s La Guera Tamalera of Silver Lake makes artisanal organic tamales with local ingredients and no trans fats. Her mentors are a family of tamaleros from Veracruz, Mexico who have been making and selling tamales for generations.

Stern learned about PACE Women’s Business Center through Mama’s Hot Tamales Café and graduated from the entrepreneurial training program in June 2008. She got early great media coverage for her find products but then couldn’t meet the demand for them. Her $5,000 award helped to hire two employees and rent a kitchen. Her new capacity has since garnered five new wholesale accounts.