Minority Entrepreneur of the Year : Rafael De La Cruz Jr ., Bay Area Traffic Solutions ( B . A . T . S .)
Rafael De La Cruz Jr .
President Bay Area Traffic Solutions
( B . A . T . S .)
From humble beginnings to great success , Rafael De La Cruz is a born native to Hayward California . At the age of 10 Rafael moved to Guadalajara , Mexico . Shortly after , he began his passion and love for Tae Kwon Do ( TKD ). The 5 TKD principles of courtesy , integrity , perseverance , self-control and Indomitable Spirit have been the foundation for his success . In 1992 , he started his first business and opened up a TKD school in Mexico . Being inspired by the kids to teach , he has continued in his passion 30 years later . At the early age of 15 , Rafael started working in the United States seasonally in the Traffic Control industry . He started out as a yard boy and progressed to an Office Manager within the next 17 years . In 2007 , after struggling to make ends meet financially and living in a garage ; Rafael decided to open his own business and provide for his family .
With his acquired skills and knowledge in the Traffic Control Industry , his wife encouraged him to open up his own Traffic Control business . July 3rd , 2008 Rafael performed his first job under his company B . A . T . S . Traffic Solutions . He started the company with his dad and 2 trucks . September , 2008 ; Rafael joined the Diversity Supplier Program with PG & E and became a trusted vendor . PG & E and other well know businesses have continued to trust B . A . T . S . for their above and beyond services .
Today , 8 years later B . A . T . S . has over 300 employees , four offices serving all of California and generated over 30 million in revenue for 2016 . As , the President of B . A . T . S . Rafael is committed to safety first and providing above and beyond service .
Rafael is currently married to his long-time friend Maria De La Cruz of 18 years ; they have been friends since the early age of 11 . They have 2 sons and live currently in Fremont , CA . In his spare time , he enjoys spending it with family and friends traveling and boating .
Minority Manufacturer of the Year : United Mechanical & Metal Fabricators , Inc .
Gina Wang
President / CEO
United Mechanical & Metal Fabrication , Inc .
United Mechanical and Metal Fabricators , Inc . ( UMEC ), headquartered in the San Francisco Bay Area , is woman-owned , minority owned , metal machining and fabrication business . Established in 1982 , UMEC provides contract support to major manufacturers around the country . Additionally , UMEC offers local design and custom metal manufacturing using state-of-the-art machines . UMEC has two facilities : a 35,000-square foot facility in Hayward , and our new 18,000-square foot fiber laser cutting and CNC machine shop in Union City . Both facilities are perfect to support our customers ’ precision sheet metal production needs . Specializing in stainless steel work , UMEC continuously invests for the future and as such our facilities are equipped with the modern sheet metal fabrication machinery , like our 2 new fiber optic lasers , that affords us the capability to run both large and small orders . UMEC is capable of providing tight tolerance , machining services for ultra-clean solutions , including semiconductors , disk drives , medical devices , pharmaceutical and aerospace ; however , the majority of our work is for government funded transportation projects . UMEC works with a wide variety of materials and thicknesses , including mirrored stainless steel , titanium , aircraft-quality alloys , steel and copper .
ASIAN , INC . 10 2016 GALA