(Editor’s note: This is the 30th installment in a monthly series speaking with minority business owners and leaders. Each will be asked their views on minority-business conditions in the state and for ways to improve those businesses’ chances for success. See previous installments here.)
Luis A. Torrado always had a deep, strong connection with Rhode Island’s Hispanic community, and a clear desire to support it.
That connection started with Torrado’s father, who, after the family moved to Rhode Island from Colombia in 1969, was a doctor in Providence and delivered most Hispanic children in the area between the 1970s and 1980s. Among them: former Providence Mayor Jorge O. Elorza, according to Torrado.
Even today, Torrado still gets asked about his father, Dr. Luis F. Torrado, who died in 1997.
“You would be amazed how many times I meet Hispanics and they say, ‘Wait a minute, Torrado, the doctor, he delivered me.’ To this day, I get messages on Instagram and LinkedIn,” Torrado said.
The younger Torrado took a different career path, becoming an architect. He started the Providence-based firm, L. A. Torrado Architects Inc., in 1996. It now has a staff of 17. Torrado’s yearning to aid the local Hispanic community through his profession burns equally as strong as his father’s.
Torrado serves as chairman of the Rhode Island Hispanic Chamber of Commerce’s board of directors. The Chamber represents, promotes and empowers the state’s growing Hispanic business community. Torrado also is president of the Providence chapter of the National Latino Contractors Association, which aims to establish Hispanic contractors as partners for all industries.
Torrado had an inside view of what has been happening in Rhode Island from a construction perspective. He joined the contractors association to make sure to integrate the Hispanic community in construction projects across the state, he said.
A seminal moment for Torrado was when he was asked by then-Gov. Gina M. Raimondo in 2017 to be part of the state’s Working Group on Diversity and Construction. The group was asked to review all aspects of construction laws and regulations on how they impact minority enterprises.
The group prompted a change in the state. Torrado said the group and state officials are now “totally focused” on ensuring minority-owned contractors be part of school projects being done in Rhode Island.
“I pointed out to the committee that there were relatively small state projects being done, but there were hundreds of millions of dollars of school projects being done, which were not being accounted for minority participation,” Torrado said.
One example Torrado provided was Pawtucket having approximately 20% to 25% minority business enterprise participation in the city’s school projects, which he describes as a “huge” increase.
“[Minority participation in Pawtucket] was in the low teens,” Torrado said. “Every community now cares about minority participation. That has been a game-changer.”
Torrado says more work is needed to further involve the Hispanic and Black construction communities. He said women-owned businesses, which are in the same category as minority-owned businesses, are four times more likely to receive state work than the minority community.
The Hispanic community also would like to see legislation that includes prompt payments for state contracting work, Torrado said, noting some businesses cannot afford to go months without payment.
“We want to ensure [equal] Hispanic and Black minority participation [across Rhode Island],” Torrado said. “The key to increasing minority participation is increasing the minority capacity.”
1. Do you believe racism is keeping minorities from starting businesses in the Ocean State or succeeding when they do?
I was one that came to believe that it was. I was not convinced at first, but I have seen it firsthand. When I pointed out to a school district that minority participation was required in every phase of the project, including the architectural and design phase, I was basically told to go fly a kite. I’m saying, “Oh, this is structural. It’s so rooted.” I know what impact this MBE participation [from the state] has had because without that, we would have no minority participation.
2. How dependent is your business on the support of other minority groups? Is that a sustainable business model? In my case, it’s the other way around. I give back to the community. I served on the Providence Planning Commission. I was chairman of the East Providence Design Commission. My main purpose is to make sure that integration of the Hispanic community takes place.
3. What one thing could Rhode Island do to boost the odds for minority-owned business success? I think that focusing on African American and Hispanic MBE consultants and contractors [for projects] would be very beneficial.
4. Have you had to turn somewhere other than a bank for a loan? Do you believe the state’s lending institutions generally treat minorities fairly? When I started out, I had help from my family to get capital. I don’t think a lending institution would have considered me.
5. If another minority entrepreneur asked you where they could turn for support for their business, where would you direct them? One great thing we’re doing at the Rhode Island Hispanic Chamber of Commerce is offering microloans that we give through the Papitto [Opportunity Connection]. We get grants from them, and we reward them to minority businesses as loans. So, I would ask them to get in contact with the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, and we will help you.
