Empowering Hispanic Contractors - PODCAST TRANSCRIPT

Editor's note: The following is the transcript of a live interview with Sergio Terreros of NAHICA Association. You can read the interview below or listen to the podcast.

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Hello everyone. My name is Megan Ellsworth here at Rooferscoffeeshop.com. I'm so excited. I am back again for a Roofing Road Trip podcast and today I'm road tripping over to see Sergio from the NAHICA Association, National Association of Hispanic Contractors. And I'm so excited to learn more about this new association and the great things you all are doing in the Expo Contratista. So hello Sergio, how are you?

Sergio Terreros: Hi everyone. Thank you so much Megan for inviting me. I'm glad for the invitation and being here and joining you guys and all the roofing industry in your audience. I'm very, very happy to be here.

Megan Ellsworth: Absolutely. Thank you for being on and being here as well. So I'll just start out by having you introduce yourself and tell us a little bit about NAHICA.

Sergio Terreros: Yes, definitely. Well, NAHICA, born in 2018, we are a group of contractors and people that want to make a difference in the Hispanic construction industry. And we develop programs, we develop resources, we find and partner with company and lead players in the industry to bring resources to the Latino community. They are good in doing the job and the head quality jobs. It's just a matter of the business size is where we participate and all the programs that we create is to help them out in this arena. I'm the president now and leading the association to the next level. We're the National Hispanic Contractors Association and we've been growing really fast because of the need of the industry. Few associations had programs like the one that we have and yeah, that's our participation in the community.

Megan Ellsworth: That's amazing. So what kind of programs and trainings do you provide?

Sergio Terreros: Yes. Well, we have different kind of programs. Let's say for roofers, actually we have a very popular program right now, which is commercial construction. Me, as myself, was working in construction and it was all good. I was making money, but I didn't know how to run the business.

So the program teach and give the resources to the Latino contractor in how to run the business, how to beat projects, where to find those projects, how to get the money to run those projects. And dealing with suppliers, right, because suppliers are a key factor in the equation in the commercial construction. And that is very popular. We travel around United States, I think we have next year, 2025, close to 75 seminars a year-

Megan Ellsworth: Oh, wow.

Sergio Terreros: ... schedule, and we like to stay busy and what else? And we bring information and we bring suppliers and we bring people that help us out to teach and help the Hispanic contractor.

Megan Ellsworth: That's amazing. Wow, 75 seminars. You guys do like to stay busy. That's amazing.

Sergio Terreros: Yeah, we do multiple cities at a time. We have three teams now that help me to spread the word.

Megan Ellsworth: That's great. So you all are hosting the Expo Contratista this year. Can you tell us a little bit about it and what it was like starting it?

Sergio Terreros: Yeah. Well, we started actually in 2018. The story behind Expo Contratista is I have an advertising agency, right? So we were working and helping companies to reach the Latino community and they already have a schedule of the trade shows and as they asked me, "Hey, find us an Hispanic trade show where we can go and showcase our products." I said, "Yeah, no problem." And guess what? There was none. I'm like, how in the earth is this possible? If the Hispanic community, 68% of the entire Hispanic community tend to work in construction and the roofing, in the roofing I think is 80% of the participation in the roofing industry is Latino Hispanic oriented. So it's like, okay, why we don't have a trade show? And it came up the idea, we implemented, I make a couple calls, I'm very well known in the advertising industry and I say, "Hey, you guys want to participate? You want to help me out to develop this show?"

And all my partners, Dejanine and we was able to create Expo Contratista. Now this Expo Contratista bring all the trades and it's on purpose because we find out the Latino community, they're multi-craft. They don't like to leave money on the table. So if they have a roof to do and you need help installing windows or siding, they will never say no, right? So I say, "You know what, let's do a multi-trade. We'll bring all the trades together." And the first year that we did it, we brought more than 7,000 contractors. So it was a complete success. It's like a mini concert. And for us doing it the first time, it was overwhelming. I had to give a three days vacation to all my team to really, really rest. And it was a lot of fun actually. There's things here and there. We had little explosions here and there, but nothing crazy no one was hurt. So things behind that what happened behind the organization of the event.
But yeah, that's what is Expo Contratista. Now, this is our sixth Expo Contratista. It is going to be in Atlanta, Georgia.

Megan Ellsworth: Awesome.

Sergio Terreros: We spend more than 5,000. We coming back from Covid still. And yeah, we have a lot of roofers. They connect with suppliers, they connect with contractors. We have a lot of events. Inside the event, Expo Contratista, like the Business Cave. I recommend Business Cave because we bring GCs to meet face to face with contractors.

Megan Ellsworth: That's awesome.

Sergio Terreros: And we have a lot of stuff going on. We're the National now Hispanic Contractors Trade Show, and it's going to be in October. October 4th and 5th in Cobb Galleria because we want to celebrate the Spanish Heritage month. So we aligned it, and now because it's in October, we're going to be able to an Hispanic Heritage month. We want to have a great fiesta to all these contractors in the construction industry.

Megan Ellsworth: That is incredible. I love that you bring all the trades together and it's not just roofing. I think that is really powerful. And like you said, 68% of the Latino community is in construction overall. That's huge. So it's not just roofing, it's bigger than that. That's incredible. I just didn't know that. That's amazing. How does this help bring all those different trades together? GCs, roofing contractors, window, wall gutter, how does it bring all these communities together at the Expo?

Sergio Terreros: Yeah. Well, it's a huge networking opportunity. For example, we have those seminars and we talk about IRE, we talk about other shows, World Concrete. We talk about a bunch of trade shows, and then we talk of course about Expo Contratista. And what happened, what we've been seeing is that they do are related to each other. Let's say a group of brothers, they have a concrete company, but their cousins, they're roofers. So we all connected. And I always make this joke about Latinos in my seminars. I always ask them, "Okay, when was the last time that you Googled a plumber?" And they say, "No, we don't, because we don't Google things. We have our cousins, we have our relatives." So we already have this connection. And what helps is they expand and we see this is small companies, mom and pops you can call them, growing because now they're referring each other business. And that's the goal. That's the complete goal of the Expo Contratista is invite every trade, connect, because in the end of the day, one project, one house, one commercial building or industrial, whatever it is, it needs multiple trades.

That's one of the benefit. And of course, being able to know the right people. I always tell our members of the association, it's good to know people, but knowing the right people and the right people know you is where the money's at. So be able to meet with the suppliers. Ones probably sign off for the lines of credits or knowing the latest technology. That happens a lot. These guys are out there installing stuff, but they spend none time preparing their self or knowing more about technology or new products. And that's one other benefits that they have.

Megan Ellsworth: Yeah, yeah. That's so important. What are some of the workshops and speakers that are going to be at the Expo?

Sergio Terreros: Well, this year we are very glad and honored that Owens Corning is our title sponsor.

Megan Ellsworth: Awesome.

Sergio Terreros: Owens Corning Roofing.

Megan Ellsworth: That's great.

Sergio Terreros: So everything is going to be pink at the Expo. Yes. We want to have the Panther and Octavio and the whole Latino team of Owens Corning going to be there-

Megan Ellsworth: They're so great.

Sergio Terreros: ... doing a lot of stuff. They are speakers, so they're going to talk about their capabilities and their benefits. We have people talking about taxes, because I tell my members again, "Hey, you are going to start making money. So you have to have a business strategy and taxes is one." And other people about insurance, they want to hear about insurance too. Technology. AT&T is going to be about talking about technology and the work in the job area and the fleet. So it's very complete show. And of course we have a competition. Have you hear about Maestro Ninja?

Megan Ellsworth: I haven't.

Sergio Terreros: Have you hear about Ninja Warriors, right? Competition. So we have that construction version of that.

Megan Ellsworth: Oh my God.

Sergio Terreros: So yeah, we're putting to compete as a speed, as a technique, is strength, is all those aspects. So we have a belt, like a champion belt and they give the recognition. So we have people flying from all the United States to compete and to be the best of the best. Maestro Ninja means the maestro of the job site is the ones that knows everything. And this year we have as well other competition, which is the Rufero Mayor. Rufero Mayor is the competition for roofers.

Megan Ellsworth: Amazing.

Sergio Terreros: Right? So the best crew, faster, quality. We want to have all the qualities, right? Speed, the technique, quality, all the stuff. And it's brought to you by Owens Corning. So we have those events inside the event. It's a very complete event. We have every single aspect. We have fun, we have relationships, we have business, we have seminars. All the stuff happening in those two days, October 4th and 5th.

Megan Ellsworth: Wow, I'm so excited for the Ninja Warrior. That is so exciting. And the roofing contest.

Sergio Terreros: You're going to love it.

Megan Ellsworth: Oh my gosh. So how do people sign up to be a part of those competitions?

Sergio Terreros: We have a Expocontratista.com website. They can find their information there to sign up. Also, they can sign up at the event. But mostly all the spots already taken.

Megan Ellsworth: Popular.

Sergio Terreros: For example, last year, we given a lot of tools, like 15,000 worth of tools.

Megan Ellsworth: Wow.

Sergio Terreros: The previous year we given a $10,000 cash.

Megan Ellsworth: Wow.

Sergio Terreros: The second year, I think we give away a truck.

Megan Ellsworth: Huge prizes.

Sergio Terreros: Oh yeah. This is serious business.

Megan Ellsworth: Serious business.

Sergio Terreros: Yes. The Hispanic community, they're already proud in what they do and they show off. They like to show off. They show up with those big trucks and wrapped and everything. So this is something that we understand as an Hispanic, they really want to show off and brag about what they do in construction. The roofer are one of the number one, right, showing off. As soon as they start getting some contracts, they start preparing their trucks, wrapped and big wheels and all that stuff. But this is fun. It's very competitive. And like I say, we have one guy that comes every year, I think he's from Oklahoma. We have people competing like two, three years in a row already. So it's very popular.

Megan Ellsworth: That's awesome. Wow. Well, I'm so excited. I'd love for you to talk a little bit about, I know you have awards that you give away, what are the Hispanica Awards and what's the deadline to submit?

Sergio Terreros: Yeah, I don't remember the deadline, but if you know someone, any company, I think we have three, I call it, sections, right? New construction, we have remodellation and I don't remember the other one, but we basically award top performers in the construction industry with Latinos, right? Why? Because one, they don't know that this is important for their business being awarded, being recognized, right? Two, they do a great job in their field and there's not too many recognitions. Sometimes someone else get the recognition of the project, but they end up doing it. And we said, well, we have to find them because they're the ones that are building it and doing it. And it's going to be October 4th and at the gallery, in the Cobb Galleria as well.

And yeah, we have already some nominations. We have our team for that event. Working in choosing the best candidates and to be honest, it's really tough. We had guys building with projects that two, three millions and we have guys with $250,000 projects. But the quality and the art of the projects are really interesting. And also we have another event. Like I say, it's an event with other events. We have the content creators meeting.

Megan Ellsworth: Oh wow.

Sergio Terreros: This is in... Yeah, because if you see all the social media platforms, there's content creators and they want to be recognized too and they want to connect with brands and brands, they want to connect with content creators to partner and work together, doing business together. I say, "Look, we have the audience. We know I would say 80% of the content creators or influencers in the construction industry for Hispanics. So let's create a meeting for them." Meet, hang out. It's by invitation only, this one, because this is a small event, but we try to help them as well in this arena. They're working construction, they creating the content. Hey, collaborate with brands, collaborate with companies, why not?

Megan Ellsworth: Yeah, absolutely.

Sergio Terreros: Very complete.

Megan Ellsworth: Yeah, it's huge. The amount of stuff you're packing into two days is incredible. I can't wait for this to go off. And so it's October 4th through the 5th in Atlanta, and people can go to Expocontratista.com, you said?

Sergio Terreros: Yeah, expocontratista.com. You're going to find all information there. You want to register? This year is free, thanks to Owens Corning Roofing. We normally charge entrance and this year, because they support the cost and we was able to give free entrance to contractor register, of course and is going to be those two days and Cobb Galleria. It starts at about 10:00 A.M. to 6:00 P.M.

Megan Ellsworth: Nice.

Sergio Terreros: It's going to be huge.

Megan Ellsworth: Perfect.

Sergio Terreros: We're going to have music, food and all those events happening.

Megan Ellsworth: Amazing. Well, Sergio, thank you so much for telling us about this amazing Expo and a little bit more about NAHICA. Everyone out there, if you want to register, go to the Expocontratista.com. You can also find all that information on the NAHICA directory on Rooferscoffeeshop.com, and you can also find their website there as well. This has been amazing and I hope it goes so incredible, and you have a blast.

Sergio Terreros: Thank you so much and for having me, and I'm going to see you there, right? Because we're going to have a Spanish competition as well, to all the exhibitors and people that help us out to spread the word, we want to throw some Spanish competition. We haven't decided what we want to give away, but it's going to be fun. We're going to make it fun for everyone.

Outro: Yeah, fun for the whole family. That's what it's all about. I love it. Well, we will hopefully, absolutely be there. I hopefully get to go. I don't know. We'll find out. Maybe I can pull some arms. But we will see you there, and thank you so much. Everyone out there listening, please go to Rooferscoffeeshop.com to learn more and we'll see you next time on Roofing Road Trips.

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