|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
Linda G. Alvarado is founder and sole owner of Alvarado Construction, a commercial general contractor, construction management, and design/build firm in Denver, Colorado. She has changed the “male only” image of construction contractors across the US and has opened doors for women to enter construction and non-traditional fields of endeavor.
She is also the president of Palo Alto Inc. and is the co-owner of the Colorado Rockies Baseball Club—making history as the first Latino owner of a Major League Baseball team.
Born in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Alvarado grew up poor in a family of six children. Working her way through college, she earned money as a laborer for a landscape firm, later taking courses in estimating and computerized scheduling and began as a contract administrator on a construction project. Undaunted by construction site harassment she experienced a woman, in 1976, she started her own company. There were no programs to include women or minority-owned businesses and banks viewed women contractors as a high risk. Her parents mortgaged their small home and lent her $2,500 to start one of the most successful construction firms in the country. They started with concrete sidewalks and moved onto bus-stop shelters, schools, stadiums, convention centers, aquariums, hotels, and high-rise buildings.
In 1992, Alvarado became the first Latino owner of a Major League Baseball team (the Colorado Rockies) which also marked the first time a woman was in a bid for ownership of a major league franchise.
Alvarado and her husband, Robert, also founded Palo Alto Inc. which operates 150 franchise restaurants.
At the young age of twenty-seven, Alvarado was invited to join the board of United Bank and today serves on the board of five public companies. She sets high standards as a successful business owner and her accomplishments have created opportunity for women. Alvarado has given numerous speeches at business conferences and schools, motivating youth to excel and achieve their dreams.
Alvarado was honored as one of the 100 Most Influential Hispanics in America by Hispanic Business Magazine. She is also the recipient of the Horatio Alger Award, the Sara Lee Front Runner Award, and was voted American Latino TV Network’s Most Inspiring American Latino.
