Efficiency Lessons with Jay Feng, from New Space Design
Two months ago Mr. Jay Feng was the first architect and Asian-American to join HCAC as a member. Mr. Feng had some interesting experiences to share with the Hispanic-American construction community regarding how to grow as a minority business and how to grow a customer base within the local community. Mr. Feng is the founder of New Space Design, an architectural firm based in Atlanta, Georgia. Mr. Feng’s contributes his success to a recipe of effectiveness, competitiveness, responsibility, and doing business in a close and personal way.
“We achieve this by maintaining a small and efficient organization,utilizing top-notched technology, by being able to handle different trades of design by ourselves, and by the fact that each member of us is capable of doing design, drafting, and project management at once. Our character gives us success in this harsh economic condition. People from different states come to us to draw their plans. We complete about 50 restaurant tenant-build-out plans a year, besides other type of projects. In Metro Atlanta area, Enterprise Rent a Car comes to us for many of their renovation projects”, Mr. Feng said.
For Mr. Feng, the minority business community faces two main important challenges today: to identify new business sources and to gain education on the process of obtaining licenses and permits. Jay has been particularly effective to find business opportunities inside the Asian-American community, designing and specifying restaurants for his community and he thinks Hispanic architects should be doing the same. He recommends that Hispanic business owners should hire Hispanic contractors to build their offices and restaurants; this way all the community would become stronger, with the contribution of all parties. “I see two barriers for the minority professional and contractor. First, people tend to utilize people from within their own community. Minority professional and contractors are not in the main-stream community, so they have less chance to be chosen by main-stream community. However, minority professionals and contractors have plenty of opportunities to perform in their own communities. Second, minority professionals and contractors may not have the required experience and education to take tests and obtain appropriate licenses.
Mr Feng supports memberships like the HCAC where members learn how to obtain licenses and network with other professionals. For this reason, Mr. Feng joined the HCAC with the objective of networking with several Hispanic contractors in the Carolinas, since he’s worked various projects in the region. His plans are to grow his architectural firm in the Carolinas as long as he finds new opportunities. He also encourages all the Hispanic construction firms to attend the networking events because they provide access to business relationships that in other cases would be hard to develop.
Perseverance and Self-Confidence, The Keys to Success: Millie Aguilar, from Red Rooster Contractors
Millie Aguilar, the General Manager at Red Rooster Contractors, sees herself as a person of challenges, positive thinking and perseverance. These elements have prepared her to be who she is, a business woman that today enjoys recognition and a good will among subcontractors and General Contractors.
Red Rooster Construction started in 2009 and since then has been specializing in roofing (commercial -shingle, metal- & residential), painting, insulation, gutters and siding. Among her clients are apartment complexes, restaurants and gas stations, but now the goal is to start winning public projects.
Millie had to work a lot to reach the place where she is right now. “At the beginning it wasn’t easy enter the construction industry. We started knocking at every door of every roofing company and I remember that many of them were about to bankrupt, but I never gave up. I knew everything was going to be all right if I continued with the same positive thinking. I didn’t rest until a company gave me the opportunity and then we worked very hard to comply with the requirements and showcase our work ethic. This opened several doors including one of a very large corporation”, Millie said.
Aguilar also mentioned something that is very important for any small business owner. Be aware of your professional weaknesses and figure it how to fix them. Millie shares advice with other small construction business owners and often states that she would encourage them to persevere, trust in themselves, never accept a NO as the final answer, and improve your communication skills to communicate properly with the main stream businesses. “Completing training is always important for contractors…as there are always new codes in construction”, Aguilar ended.
Millie Aguilar, the General Manager at Red Roaster Contractors, sees herself as a person of challenges, positive thinking and perseverance. These elements have prepared her to be who she is, a business woman that today enjoys recognition and a good will among subcontractors and General Contractors.
Red Roaster Construction started in 2009 and since then has been specializing in roofing (commercial -shingle, metal- & residential), painting, insulation, gutters and siding. Among her clients are apartment complexes, restaurants and gas stations, but now the goal is to start winning public projects.
Millie had to work a lot to reach the place where she is right now. “At the beginning it wasn’t easy enter the construction industry. We started knocking at every door of every roofing company and I remember that many of them were about to bankrupt, but I never gave up. I knew everything was going to be all right if I continued with the same positive thinking. I didn’t rest until a company gave me the opportunity and then we worked very hard to comply with the requirements and showcase our work ethic. This opened several doors including one of a very large corporation”, Millie said.
Aguilar also mentioned something that is very important for any small business owner. Be aware of your professional weaknesses and figure it how to fix them. Millie shares advice with other small construction business owners and often states that she would encourage them to persevere, trust in themselves, never accept a NO as the final answer, and improve your communication skills to communicate properly with the main stream businesses. “Completing training is always important for contractors…as there are always new codes in construction”, Aguilar ended.
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