Taylorsville salon named Hispanic business of the year

Mabel Gonzalez has fabulous skin, which perhaps glows a little more now.

Her Taylorsville esthetic salon, Mabel's Beauty Care, this week was named Zions Bank's Hispanic Small Business of the Year, honoring Gonzalez for "achievements in growth and expansion in sales or operations."

Launched in 2005, Mabel's Beauty Care has grown from four to 20 clients per day and has expanded from two to four treatment rooms. In its second year, the company booked revenues of more than $350,000 in direct services and product sales.

"We developed this awards program with our community partners to pay tribute to small businesses that help fuel our economy and create jobs — from bakeries and salons to professional services and restaurants," Sylvia Haro, Zions Bank senior vice president, said in a prepared statement. "Zions is proud to honor entrepreneurs who inspire others to follow their dreams."

Gonzalez received her award at Zions' Hispanic Business Awards event Thursday. The event also honored TNT Trucking and owner Antonio Tinti as Most Innovative Hispanic Small Business. Creative Times Academy, an Ogden day-care center, received the bank's Community Service Business Award. As part of their awards, the three businesses each received an advertisement package valued at $20,000 that includes radio, newspaper, marketing and consulting services.

Hector Barreto, former administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration and current chairman of The Latino Coalition, served as the event's keynote speaker.

"Small businesses are the engine that drives America," Barreto said in an interview. "They're the ones producing the new jobs, coming up with new innovations and generating 50 percent of our gross national product.

"Hispanic-owned businesses are really on a wave of phenomenal growth. What they need to do is surround themselves with the tools to succeed."

For Barreto, that means "The Three C's."

"They need to have access to capital, which is where banks like Zions Bank come in," he said. "They need capacity — which means they need to learn what they don't know, in order to be successful. And they need contracts. They need to be working with chambers of commerce and other organizations to get access to government and other contracts."

With her daughter, Carla Morales, translating, Gonzalez said she's "very, very happy" to win the bank's inaugural Hispanic small-business award. Even more to see her business grow, and her family with more opportunities. That's why she came to Utah from Venezuela five years ago.