Hispanic-owned businesses show power of hard work

MOSES LAKE — Brothers Vincent and Ben Hernandez and friends Ulises Sanchez and Hector Guerrero all had pretty good jobs. They had different goals though, goals that required a willingness to take a risk and do some hard work. 

Sanchez explained why he and Guerrero decided to open Mattawa Fitness in 2022 in a building that had been vacant for about seven years. 

“I’ve always wanted to own my own business. So that idea, along with the idea of being an entrepreneur, that kind of caught my eye. And I always like to try something new to me. And so I kind of went all in, and I enjoy it more than my career. I’d rather do this,” Sanchez said.

“It started as an idea,” Guerrero said. “We’re both gym people; we go to the gym all the time. And everybody has that conversation, ‘Oh, we should just do a gym one day.’ And one thing led to another.”

Natives of Quincy, both Guerrero and Sanchez work in social services in Wenatchee and run the gym as a side gig, at least for now. That’s not the plan forever.

“We definitely want more businesses. We’re going to be doing this full-time eventually,” Guerrero said. 

The Hernandez brothers have lived in Bridgeport most of their lives, are graduates of Bridgeport High School and stayed around when they graduated. Both had extensive experience in the grocery business before they purchased Bridgeport Plaza in 2019. Vincent Hernandez said he knew almost from when he started working at a local grocery that he wanted his own business someday.

“When I started at Brewster Marketplace, I decided after three years, this was what I wanted to do,” he said. 

He explained it to a customer one day, George Chapman, the longtime manager of a Brewster apple processing facility. 

“He asked me, ‘Vincent, what are your plans? Do you have any plans for the future? And I said, ‘George, one day I want to own my own grocery store.’” Vincent Hernandez said.

A different perspective

Guerrero and Sanchez are working second jobs in addition to running their business. Vincent and Ben Hernandez gave up jobs they had worked for more than a decade to start their own business. Christian Barragan, membership director for the Wenatchee Valley Chamber of Commerce, said taking on challenges is not unusual for Hispanic business owners.

“The more you talk to people and the more you hear about where they’re coming from, their backgrounds, the challenges they’ve faced and the obstacles they’ve overcome — you’re always hearing that story about resilience and adaptability, that people are willing to overcome adversity, over and over,” Barragan said. 

The U.S. Small Business Administration estimated that Hispanic residents of Washington owned about 39,300 small businesses in the state in 2023. They made up about 6.5% of small business owners. 

“The entrepreneurial spirit that Hispanic communities in general have is, I think, something to be highlighted,” Barragan said. “They always bring innovative ideas. Coming from a different (perspective), you’re able to look at problems and bring different solutions.”

Challenge and opportunity

The owners of Mattawa Fitness said their families were a little surprised when they announced they were opening a gym, putting money into a building that sat empty for years. Guerrero said it was something new in his family.

“I think it stems from — we’re first-generation immigrants. No one from our families has done something like this. They just see it done by other people. So they kind of viewed it as impossible,” he said.

“Or out of reach,” Sanchez added. “Or you need something else to start that, like a degree or something.”

Vincent Hernandez didn’t make it to college, so he figured he would have to get his training on the job, which he did. He had 20 years in the business, and Ben Hernandez 14 years; they had reached management level by 2019, and Vincent said he thought the time was right.

The biggest challenge was money. They thought about tapping into their retirement savings, Vincent said, but he remembered that long-ago conversation with Chapman. When they talked Chapman had offered to consider a loan, Vincent said, if he found a good prospect.

“Then after 20-some years, when this came up, I went to George and I said, ‘George, do you remember?’ And he looked at me, and he (said), ‘You haven’t forgotten, have you?’ And I said, ‘George, I haven’t forgotten,’” Vincent Hernandez said. 

It was a lot of money, but Chapman liked their prospects, Vincent Hernandez said. He loaned the Hernandez brothers what they needed. 

Once they took over the business, Vincent Hernandez said they used their long experience and extensive network of contacts.

“When we landed over here, I started making phone calls, and people were willing to help us,” he said. “We had a lot of people — a lot of friends — who said, ‘Hey, you guys need any help, we’re willing to help. We know how hard it is to start a business from scratch.’ So we’ve been very lucky,” Vincent said. 

What is now Mattawa Fitness was a former ag supply store that had been closed since 2014. It was the first building they saw when they went looking for possible locations, but it didn’t seem like a real contender. 

“Since it looked abandoned we (said), ‘I wonder if the owner even lives in town.’ We didn’t know so we kind of forgot about it. We looked for at least six months for other locations,” Guerrero said.

But it had what they wanted, an open space that would accommodate a lot of exercise equipment and a garage door to make it easier to move things in and out. It just needed a lot of work, and with the help of some friends and family, they did a lot of that themselves.

“We did most of it. Like the sheetrocking, we did that with some friends,” Guerrero said. “The only thing we hired people to do was the electrical, the plumbing, the paint on the outside.”

Mattawa Fitness has been busy from the day it opened its doors. 

“The first day we opened people came in waves,” Guerrero said. “Initially we had a line.” 

The reception from Mattawa residents had them thinking about expansion almost from the start. The entire first month was very busy. 

“That’s when we started having thoughts of, ‘wow, we’re going to need to find somewhere bigger sooner than we thought,’” Sanchez said.

Bridgeport Plaza was an established business when the Hernandez brothers took it over, but it was in poor repair. Ben Hernandez said they’ve purchased a new heating-cooling system, a new case for frozen foods, new produce and dairy cases, installed new lights; they were going to buy a new meat display case, but the need for a new roof put that on hold. 

“All these things come at a cost,” he said. “But we’ve been blessed — this whole community knows us (and) we know them.”

Sanchez and Guerrero were new to Mattawa and said they are grateful for the community response.

“We’re pretty thankful because no one knows us - now they do, but they didn’t know us. They could’ve easily (ignored the business), but they decided to check it out. The response has been really good. We pretty much outgrew the location within the first month.” 

Ben Hernandez said owning a business wasn’t always his goal, but now that he does own one, it’s a good gig.

“There’s this calmness about not having to report to somebody or not having to have a meeting to talk about numbers,” Ben said.

Vincent Hernandez said the investment they’ve put back into the business is, in his opinion, money well spent.

“You have to put money back into it. And I’m a big believer that if a business is making you money, let’s put it back into (the business),” he said. 

It’s better for business, of course, but it’s also better for the customers - which is the point, Vincent said.

“It’s the community store, not ours. We just work for them. Without them, we wouldn’t have a grocery store,” he said. 

Cheryl Schweizer can be reached via email at cschweizer@columbiabasinherald.com.

    The Mattawa Fitness Club has proven so popular its owners are working on options to expand.
  

    Brothers Vincent Hernandez, left, and Ben Hernandez, right, used their knowledge of the grocery business when they bought their own store.
  

    Bridgeport Plaza co-owner Ben Hernandez fills the produce case.