SONOMA, CA (By Sierra Jenkins, SonomaNews) November 20, 2005 — Latino-owned businesses have been springing up across town the past few years, and nowadays the boss behind the bustling storefront is almost as likely to be a "jefa" as a "jefe."

This blossoming of businesses headed by Hispanic women is dramatic at the national level. Between 1997 and 2004, the number of Hispanic women-owned firms increased by 63.9 percent nationwide, according to a study by the Center for Women's Business Research. More than one-third of all Hispanic-owned firms are owned by women.

"The businesses that I've seen open are very successful," said Alexandra Baquero of the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Sonoma County. She said there is a great thirst from Latinos for business information, with more resources available each month.

Business owners speak varying degrees of English, said Yaquelin Alvarez, community outreach coordinator at the Sonoma Valley Chamber of Commerce. She helps translate chamber literature to Spanish and translates during business counseling sessions when needed.

Hispanic members of the local chamber include nine businesses headed by women, four headed by men and three businesses owned by married couples.

The businesses run the gamut from floral shops and vineyards to interior-design firms and eateries.

Silvia Jimenez, owner of Tortillería Jalisco, has much in common with many local Hispanic women who have opened businesses - she started out of her home, works hard, works with family (she and her adult daughter are the sole employees) and likes being her own boss.

"I don't like anyone telling me what to do," said Jimenez. "Especially when they're not paying me well."

She started out making tortillas with her small metal hand press, selling them out of her home for five years before opening her tortilla shop at 487 W. Napa St.

"We could do more here," she said of her kitchen storefront. Getting the necessary permits will allow her to expand her business and sell wholesale to stores, but the process is arduous. She's still waiting for one last city permit, pending some repairs.

Besides the chamber, the Banco de Sonoma in the Fiesta Plaza off Highway 12 has been an invaluable resource to prospective businesswomen since it opened in spring of 2004. Bilingual Banco employees don't just offer loans to new owners, but often lead people by the hand through the labyrinth of paperwork required by the city, county, state and federal governments. Banco de Sonoma employees have even accompanied new owners to Santa Rosa to help them file a fictitious-name statement.

"This is all new to them," said Branch Manager Paco Villaseñor.

He said that a husband's steady paycheck often helps women get started as entrepreneurs.

"The wife is out there to venture, to test - she has the flexibility and is out there for the challenge," he said.

He said minority women are so underpaid by most employers that becoming their own boss has a strong draw.

"Independently, they make three times what they would make in a regular job," he said.

Impressive gift baskets wrapped in crackling, shiny plastic line the walls at Yaneli's Decorations, which sisters Rosario Hernandez and Gloria Cuevas opened in March. They have decorations for festivities ranging from family parties to baptisms to quinceañeras and have already added jewelry and gifts to the offerings at their shop in Fiesta Plaza. They also have a display of natural health products, which Hernandez sells out of her home as her primary business. The money she makes from that she sinks right back into the decoration shop.

"It's not easy," punctuates Hernandez's description of dealing with paperwork, signage, maintenance and bills. However, her confidence that the business will continue to grow is unwavering.

She and her sister worked for others for about five years, then worked out of their homes, eventually saving up enough money for the shop. She much prefers working for herself.

"I don't like anyone telling me what to do," she said. Hernandez works from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. six days a week.

"I'm rowing with both hands," she said. "My only advice is that the one who perseveres, achieves it."

Latinas are at the helm of businesses both small and large. Vanessa Robledo is president of Robledo Family Winery. Amelia Ceja, president of Ceja Vineyards in Carneros, was recently selected as one of the 26 most influential Latinos in the Bay area by the San Francisco Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, the San Francisco Business Times and Wells Fargo Bank.

"Most wineries are owned and run by white males, so now just being able to have a wine production company that is woman-run, it's really a powerful statement and it's non-threatening and it brings a lot more people to want to try our wines, people from all ethnic backgrounds, people from across the board," Ceja said.

Ceja Vineyard's wine club is about 50 percent Hispanic, 55 percent female, and the median age is 30-something.

"We're not patronizing, we're embracing. People come to our tasting room and everyone becomes our friend and part of our family," she said. "The wine industry does not go by rules that other industries have made - it's all about relationships, your connections to others."

She says reaching out to others comes naturally, as well her willingness to change her schedule, which is how many of her connections have been serendipitously forged.

"I have to do that as a mother with three kids. I have to change my schedule practically hourly. I think women are more flexible, and in this industry, being flexible is an advantage," she said.

Amelia Ceja met her husband, Pedro Ceja, and his brother, Armando, her first week working in the fields, after her family came from Mexico. The three bought their first acres in 1983 and released their first wines commercially in 2001.

"Pedro is the secretary - I love it," she said laughing. He still has a day job and has assisted with developing the winery's image and packaging. Armando Ceja is chief financial officer, and Armando's wife, Martha Ceja, is vice president.

Amelia says the wine community has been welcoming.

For the Napa Valley Harvest Auction, she submitted a lot with three other women vintners called "Sex in the Napa Valley," including three magnums from each of their wineries and a dinner for 12 at Ceja Vineyards. The lot was one of only 57 selected from 300 submissions, and it sold for $75,000.

"I predict within the next 10 years there will be, minimum, 20 more brands owned by Hispanics. The faces of the wine industry are changing," she said.

Catalina Velasquez Wetzel, owner of Catalina's Skin and Body, is a power player in another local industry - spa and beauty. She's expanding her off-Plaza spa into the adjacent 1,000-square-foot space formerly occupied by Scizzors Hair Salon and is collaborating with a partner to open Spa Medica in January, Sonoma's first medical spa.

"In many Hispanic families, in a way, the parents raise their children to go into business for themselves," she said. She expects the number of Latinas running businesses to continue growing as more second- and third-generation Latinas go to college.

"I love that I can personalize it, that I can just give all of me to it," Wetzel said of her businesses.

While being her own boss can mean constant responsibility, it also gives a measure of flexibility to juggle work and family. Many of the other Latina owners agreed.

"If the school calls and says, 'Eddie's sick,' we say, 'OK, we're closed for 15 minutes,' and go and get him," said Adalinda Sandoval, who opened Las Adas Flowers a year ago with her sister Dolores. The pair simply bring their children to work if they need to, letting them play in the back room.

"You can still be a mom, still have your own business," said Sandoval.