LATINAS ON THE RISE
An accomplished Latina on the Rise… Lourdes Martin-Rosa
L
ourdes Martin-Rosa, is a Hispanic-American woman, born in Cuba, who migrated to the United States at the age of 2 -
escaping communism and grew up in Miami, Florida. As a small business advocate since 1995, Martin-Rosa has offered small business contract support services as an independent contractor for many firms, large and small in diverse industries. She has traveled several times to argue for the rights of her clients and has won the fight. Navigating through the maze of federal pro- posals and contracts, she knew her formula would work for other small businesses. This is when Government Business So- lutions (GBS) was born and in 2003 her firm was incorporated. With the help of two individuals, the House of Representa-
tives Small Business Committee Chairman – Congressman Donald Manzullo and Congresswoman Nydia Velasquez, my passion was noticed. “I had a passion for helping small busi- nesses and encouraged me to open my own management-con- sulting firm.” Martin-Rosa offers various services. She offers guidance and
education to small business owners on the importance of grow- ing their business with government contracts. Most of the ser- vices are geared towards helping small businesses utilize the SBA’s business development programs to their advantage, such as, 8(a), Hub-zone, Service-Disable Veteran certifications, Men- tor/Protégé Agreements, Proposal Writing Services, GSA Sched- ule preparation services and federal government marketing pro- grams. She is also an American Express OPEN’s Advisor on Government Contracting, giving her an opportunity to educate small business owners via OPEN’s Government Contracting programs, such as Victory in Procurement (
www.open.com/gov- tcontracts) and Give Me 5 (
www.giveme5.com). She has also helped government agencies with their own particular small business programs, promoting outreach, training, certification assistance, acquisition training and agency procurement goal achievement. “As an 8(a) certified woman-owned Hispanic firm, we antici-
pate continuing our small business support services to all federal agencies, helping them achieve their small business contracting goals, thus providing more government contracting opportuni- ties for small businesses. Small Businesses are the backbone of America, we believe if more small businesses receive govern- ment contracts, this will promote economic development and increase job growth.” Her company has provided small business support manage-
ment consulting services to local and state government agencies creating effective and positive Small Business Enterprise pro- grams allowing maximum contracting opportunities to the small business community while helping agencies achieve their goals. “As American Express OPEN’s Advisor on Government Contracting, I hope to utilize OPEN’s Government Contracting
68 PROFESSIONAL WOMAN’S MULTICULTURAL MAGAZINE
programs to its maximum potential and create small business awareness, participation and opportunities, thus strengthening the Nation’s economy.” When asked what advice she would give other women who
are interested in starting their own business, she said, “Women are capable of achieving many tasks. As a business owner, mother, wife and PTA President, I learned to become an expert at multitasking. I love what I do, helping small businesses achieve their federal government contracting goals gives me a since of fulfillment. I believe success is not measured by how much money you make but rather how happy you are at making a living. Find out what you love to do and do it well and whole- heartedly. Then find out who pays the most for what you love to do. Since the federal government is the largest purchaser of good and services in the world, we noticed there was an opportunity for us to help small businesses, help the government agencies and help ourselves also.”
Martin-Rosa has a favorite inspiration quote and it states: “It is from numberless diverse acts of courage and belief that
human history is shaped. Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot or others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope.”
CELEBRATING 10 YEARS OF DIVERSITY
By Robert Francis Kennedy WWW.PROFESSIONALWOMANMAG.COM
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