Suazo Business Center founder Gladys Gonzalez dies, but backers say her legacy will live on

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Gladys Gonzalez, a Colombian immigrant to Utah who spearheaded formation of the Suazo Business Center, died at the age of 79.
Her supporters praised her and her efforts, focused on promoting entrepreneurship in the Latino community, and say the woman's influence will continue.
Suazo is a non-profit organization that provides business education to would-be business operators.

SALT LAKE CITY — As an immigrant to Utah from Colombia, Gladys Gonzalez put a focus on helping other Latino immigrants trying to gain a toehold in Utah.

She ran a newspaper geared to the Latino community, later launched a marketing agency and, perhaps most significantly, spearheaded the formation in 2002 of the Suazo Business Center, which has helped thousands of would-be business operators get their start. Gonzalez died last week at the age of 79, prompting an outpouring of grief from her many backers.

But Suazo leaders say her impact will keep reverberating. They held a ceremony last March to formally name the structure housing Suazo in her honor, the Gladys Gonzalez Building, and issued a statement this week to celebrate her achievements.

"She was a savior and a hero to thousands of small business owners. She was my hero and an example of how to give a helping hand to those in need," said Scott Anderson, founding chairman of the Suazo Business Center Board of Directors. "While we will all miss her, her influence and legacy will continue to live on in the success of small businesses throughout our state."

Likewise, Silvia Castro Bennett, the Suazo president and chief executive officer, said the non-profit, Salt Lake City-based organization will keep up its efforts. Suazo initially focused on the Latino community and immigrants, and while it still provides assistance to the population, it now more broadly puts a focus on helping the "underserved" community pursue their business dreams.

"She taught us that entrepreneurship is about far more than opening a business. It is about dignity, self-reliance, family and the freedom to imagine a different future. Gladys gave people more than advice; she gave them confidence in their own ability to succeed," she said. "We will honor her by continuing to stand beside every entrepreneur who comes through our doors with a dream."

Gonzalez was living in the Dallas area, where she died, though she still has family in Utah. Castro Bennett said she died of Lewy body dementia, the second most common type of dementia after Alzheimer's disease, according to the Mayo Clinic.

'Seen, supported and equipped to succeed'

Gonzalez came to the United States from Colombia in 2001, finding numerous barriers to work despite her leadership posts in government and banking back in the South American country. She didn't give up, ultimately getting help from then-Utah Sen. Pete Suazo in her efforts to keep Mundo Hispano, the newspaper she then operated, afloat. The experience with Suazo, who died in 2001, ultimately spurred her to seek out help from leaders across Utah to create the Suazo Business Center.

Suazo's help "showed her what could happen when a determined entrepreneur had someone in their corner," reads a Suazo Business Center statement. Similarly, Anthony Mirabile of Goldman Sachs, a friend, said Gonzalez was an inspiration to others while Lorena Riffo-Jensen, chairwoman of the Suazo board, stressed the woman's ability to recognize talent.

"Gladys understood from personal experience that talent and determination exist in every community, even when access and opportunity do not," Riffo-Jensen said. She formed the business center "to make certain that entrepreneurs who had too often been overlooked could be seen, supported and equipped to succeed."

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