Sergio Terreros desires extra Hispanic staff to change into building house owners. And he has some huge concepts on find out how to make that occur.
As the brand new head of the Nationwide Hispanic Contractors Affiliation, Terreros brings a marketer’s perspective to an trade that has struggled to promote itself to a youthful era.
Earlier than taking the helm of the Houston-based group in August, he labored with corporations akin to Bobcat and Caterpillar on Hispanic advertising initiatives through his promoting company, 11/11 Media.
A former tradesworker, his purpose is to assist Hispanic contractors transition from the jobsite to the entrance workplace.
Editor’s Observe: This interview has been edited for brevity and readability.
CONSTRUCTION DIVE: What do you want about building? What drew you to the trades?
SERGIO TERREROS: I attempted concrete, I attempted framing and I actually favored framing. You’re constructing. Once you drive by a constructing that you just constructed otherwise you made, you are feeling actually proud about your previous work. I nonetheless do it.
What are your targets for the Nationwide Hispanic Contractors Affiliation?
My purpose is to assist create extra Hispanic-owned building corporations throughout the trade.
Typically, for Hispanic tradesworkers, in the event that they’re on the labor aspect, they keep there.
Or in the event that they do have their very own firm, they set it up after which retire. Nobody is there to maintain it alive, so it shuts down and now we have fewer Hispanic building corporations out there.
At NAHICA, now we have packages to assist Hispanic tradespeople perceive extra of the enterprise aspect of building.
Sergio Terreros
Courtesy of NAHICA
Hispanic contractors have been looking for that info up to now few years. So we developed a program to prep them on find out how to bid on initiatives, find out how to estimate, find out how to do a takeoff.
Mainly, all the things they should know so that they have a greater alternative for achievement.
What made empowering the labor pressure your No. 1 precedence?
Once you discuss to our members, they’re hungry for information.
They wish to be building professionals who know find out how to be aggressive, not get ripped off and make actual cash.
And now we have members who’re doing that. We’ve a member in San Antonio who lately went from making 1,000,000 {dollars} a 12 months to creating 1,000,000 {dollars} 1 / 4.
The development trade wants extra basic contractors, particularly extra Hispanic basic contractors. That’s one of many issues that can make a distinction within the trade.
How will your group assist tackle the labor scarcity within the trade?
Properly, we encourage extra folks to hitch the development trade. One different factor is that we have to get entangled within the authorities. Immigration reform goes to be wanted if we wish to keep on monitor with different initiatives. So we’ll be advocates for that.
We have to carry extra younger folks into the development trade.
The message in society is if you wish to achieve success, you need to be a physician or a lawyer.
However an electrician or plumber, they’re making $150,000 a 12 months, more cash than folks suppose.
We have to get that message on the market, to allow them to resolve to hitch building.