Issue link: http://palletcentral.uberflip.com/i/1212207
40 PalletCentral • January-February 2020 palletcentral.com I t is really a good feeling to be a part of such a sustainable industry. It's an exciting time to recognize how many Hispanic and Latinos have taken this opportunity to work within this industry, provide for their families and make a good living. My hope is engage more members from the Hispanic community and get them involved in trade associations, such as the Western Pallet Association and the National Wooden Pallet & Container Association (NWPCA). My husband Elias and I have been in the pallet industry for 27 years. Before that time, I was in the banking industry, and Elias in trucking. He saw businesses trying to get rid of pallets that had been accumulating, so realized the need for this type of service. In 1993, we started our company, Oxnard Pallet, a pallet recycling company that services the greater Ventura County area in Southern California. The pallet industry, especially in Southern California, has a high demographic of Hispanics and Latinos along many nearby businesses such as Agriculture and food industries, for example. To be bilingual is essential to better communicate with the surrounding workforce. To this end, building relationships is so critical. For example, after some unfortunate pallet fires set by arsonists a few years ago, especially within the greater San Bernardino area, the Hispanic and Latino pallet local network suffered obstacles and consequences from the aftermath with local officials. They came together and formed an alliance to work together for better realistic solutions for compliance and to progress in their communities. This regional alliance, known as NAPA (North America Pallet Association), is growing. NAPA has become educational and extremely helpful in providing guidance for smaller companies in California. We also believe NWPCA provides great networking and community value. For the past two years, we've hosted a Hispanic mix and mingle, and it has been growing each year. We'll do so again in 2020 for the third consecutive year during the NWPCA Annual Leadership Conference. We were both taught at young ages to work very hard and never give up. Our family is living proof that the American Dream is possible. We are both from Hispanic backgrounds. Both of our grandparents were born in Jalisco, Mexico, who then came to the United States at very young ages. We've built on their foundation of hard work and achievement. We have a wonderful sense of achievement that has been experienced in our work lives especially as our parents all had minimal schooling due to economy during those times. We want to encourage others, especially the younger generations of Hispanics and Latinos in our industry, Hispanics in the Pallet Industry BUSINESS BLOG By Beatrice Vasquez