NBC 5, Telemundo 39 and Dr. Pepper, with the assistance of the Greater Dallas Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, the Fort Worth Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and the Irving Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, are proud to present the 2015 Hispanic Business Salute award to Beatriz Manetta, Claudia Mirza, and Nancy Galvan. This distinguished award acknowledges their outstanding business achievements and dedication to our local community.
BEATRIZ MANETTA
Born in Argentina, Beatriz Manetta grew up in Elizabeth, New Jersey. She has a Bachelor of Science in Marketing and Accounting from Rutgers University and holds a Master’s Degree in International Studies from Seton Hall University.
She worked for more than 20 years with ATT and Lucent Technologies in the telecommunications industry. With her experience, Beatriz founded Argent Associates in 1998. Argent is an award-winning systems integrator and Technology innovator. And in 2012, she also created Asociar LLC. Asociar provides logistics and advanced supply chain services to information, communications and technology companies.
Beatriz is truly a trailblazer and an inspiration in showing people that no matter where or how you start, education and perseverance are crucial to success.
Besides being a successful entrepreneur, Beatriz has received numerous awards from local, state, federal, corporate and nonprofit organizations for her leadership and commitment to community.
CLAUDIA MIRZA
Claudia Mirza grew up with her parents, who were agricultural workers in Medellin, Colombia. Despite growing up in poverty, she was able to obtain a scholarship to one of the best schools in the city.
She holds a Business Management degree from Cotecnova, Cartago, Colombia, and a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from the DeVry Institute of Technology.
In 2003, Claudia evaluated the market and realized there was a need for linguistic services that were backed by a solid business infrastructure and a customer-driven approach. So, she launched Akorbi a translation service company.
Under her leadership, vision and tenacity, Akorbi has evolved from a home-based translation business to a global provider of multilingual business solutions. Today, the company serves an impressive client base, including the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and many Fortune 500 companies.
NANCY GALVAN
Nancy Galvan takes great pride in being a first generation-born American citizen of an immigrant family from Mexico. She attributes her dedicated work ethic and strong understanding of small business to her parents, who resettled north of the border to pursue the American dream.
After obtaining her degree in Advertising and Marketing from the University of Texas at Arlington, Nancy started working as a contracts administrator at Bell Helicopter.
In 2007, after a bad divorce left her financially strained and on the verge of going into foreclosure, Nancy was prompted to reevaluate both her career and her life. She researched various business concepts before deciding on a janitorial services business. Nancy got a startup loan from one of her brothers, and with strong support from her parents, launched Unica Janitorial Solutions LLC.
Once she left Bell Helicopter in 2010 to work on a full time basis at Unica, the company’s revenue tripled. Today, clients include local, state and federal government entities as well as private corporations across Tarrant County.
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