The National Hispanic Landscape Alliance is proud to announce new additions to its board of directors following recent elections.
The NHLA welcomes Rafael Gonzalez Arnau of GALA Services, Inc. in Escondido, California, and Wilmer Ventura of Yellowstone Landscape in Atlanta, Georgia, who were elected for the first time and Jose Arroyo of Jose’s Landscaping in Lyman, South Carolina, Domenic Chiarella of 7 of 7 Best Business & Life Strategies in Southbury, Connecticut, and Ivan Giraldo of Clean Scapes Landscaping in Austin, Texas, who have been elected to a second two-year term.
“The growth of the NHLA over the last five years can be largely credited to the passion that our directors have exhibited for the NHLA’s mission and the engagement of leading manufacturers that have joined our association as Supporting Members. None of our young association’s achievements would have been possible without the positive energy these leaders have brought forward,” said Ralph Egües, NHLA’s Executive Director. “Our newly elected leaders have an incredible amount of personal experience, skills, passion for our industry, and a keen desire to help their colleagues achieve greater successes as industry and community leaders.”
The NHLA Board of Directors include:
President: Juan Torres, Next Step Solutions, East Haven, Connecticut
President-Elect: Pam Berrios, ALS Services, Inc., Alexandria, Virginia
Immediate Past President: Raul Berrios, Rulyscapes, Inc., Centreville, Virginia
Secretary: Jose Arroyo, Jose’s Landscaping, Lyman, South Carolina
Treasurer: Domenic Chiarella, 7 of 7 Best Business & Life Strategies, Southbury, Connecticut
Directors include:
- Omar Cordero, LC Landscape, Denver, Colorado
- Rafael Diaz, Diaz Group, LLC, Chicago, Illinois
- Josh Denison, Denison Landscaping, Inc., Fort Washington, Maryland
- Ivan Giraldo, Clean Scapes Landscaping, Austin, Texas
- Mari Medrano Mejia, CoCal Landscape, Denver, Colorado
- Rafael Gonzalez Arnau, GALA Services, Inc., Escondido, California
- Wilmer Ventura, Yellowstone Landscape, Atlanta, Georgia
- Ken Taylor, John Deere, Cary, North Carolina
- William H. Walton, Honda Power Equipment, Alpharetta, Georgia
- Executive Director: Ralph Egües, Cruz Fox, LLC., South Miami, Florida (ex-officio)
“As the NHLA’s president, I am proud of the accomplishments and contributions that our association has made, but I’m much more excited about our prospects for doing even more in the coming year and beyond. It is an honor to serve with such great professionals that are also incredibly caring individuals. I would also like to recognize the contribution of our Supporting Member companies to the NHLA which has greatly contributed to the professional development and success of Hispanics in our industry, helped to draw greater numbers of Hispanic Americans into the broader community of industry leaders, and enabled our association to successfully leverage Latino political power to advance industry positions,” said Juan Torres, NHLA President.
Briggs & Stratton, Cub Cadet, Echo, John Deere, Honda Engines, Hustler, Kawasaki, Kohler, Rotary and Toro have demonstrated their commitment to the success of over 500,000 Hispanic Americans in the landscape industry by joining the NHLA as Supporting Members.
The National Hispanic Landscape Alliance is an association that focuses on understanding and addressing the needs of the nation’s half-million Hispanic-American landscaping professionals, facilitates their advancement as landscape industry professionals and leaders, promotes their contributions, and provides them a voice in the national dialogue on environmentally responsible landscape practices, and a means through which to advocate on behalf of their businesses, the livelihood of their employees, and the quality of life in their communities.
