Hispanic Enterprise - October/November 2007 - (Page 34)

A MODEL FOR BUSINESS & CIVIC LIFE By Jeff Zbar THE MEASURED AND SUCCESSFUL GROWTH OF MARIA SUGRAÑES BUSINESS IBERIA TILES HAS EARNED HER THE 2007 HISPANIC ENTERPRISE BEST IN BUSINESS AWARD. he year was 1979, and Rosa Sugrañes arrived in Miami with plans to earn an MBA. But her father had plans of his own. A recent business graduate from the University of Barcelona in her native Spain, Sugrañes was prepared to enroll in the University of Miami. But Ramon Sugrañes needed a business manager for his tile business’s expansion into the U.S. “My father said, ‘You’ve already been to school enough,’” she says. “Instead of giving me the money for the MBA, he gave me the money to start the business.” Almost 28 years later, Iberia Tiles is a leader in the domestic tile market. And Sugrañes is a model of how a business can weave its way into a local market, becoming an important business and civic player. 34 T Sugrañes is the winner of the 2007 Hispanic Enterprise Best in Business Award, given every year to the most outstanding businessperson of the year. FROM HUMBLE BEGINNINGS Iberia Tiles has grown steadily since its modest beginning. The company is a $25 million-a-year business, and continues to show 5 percent to 10 percent annual growth, despite the softening real estate market. From one location, the company expanded in 1986 to open a showroom in Coral Gables, Florida. Two years later, it purchased its 70,000square-foot showroom, warehouse and executive ofﬁces along Miami’s bustling Palmetto Expressway design corridor. The building is iconic, featuring a signature ceramic tile mural by renowned artist Elisa Arimany. Within three years, the company opened a wholesale distribution subsidiary, Cypress Trading Company. In 1993, Iberia purchased an Atlantabased tile company with several showrooms. A year later, it added a second South Florida showroom to serve the Broward and Palm Beach county markets north of Miami. It’s no surprise that Sugrañes would ﬁnd herself in the business. Her father—and his father before him—held a passion for ceramics, tiles, terracotta, marble and stone, whether in homes, gardens or terraces. That the company has found success with its European tiles is equally of no surprise to Sugrañes. Spain and Italy continue to be leading tile producers. For its part, Americans have no signiﬁcant hold on the tile market—except as consumers, she says. October/November 2007 HISPANIC ENTERPRISE

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Hispanic Enterprise - October/November 2007

Hispanic Enterprise - October/November 2007 Contents BIZBUZZ: Business Briefs Trendsetters BIZTECH: Personally Digital BizLife - Travel: The Mobile Meeting Motoring: Is What You Drive, Who You Are? Q&A - Fact Tank for the Hispanic Population Hispanic Commerce Cover Story: Tiles with Style Success & Motivation: Grammy Whammy Finance: Talking Code Event: Masterminds NCLR Report - Improving your Triple Bottom Line Politics & Government: Keep on Truckin' Managing: Avoiding an Identity Crisis Franchising: Beyond the Brand Finance & Investing - Talking Money Movers & Shakers Regional Report - Louisiana, Louisiana Chamber Focus - On the Island of Enchantment

Hispanic Enterprise - October/November 2007

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