Treasurer: Jorge Lanz, President, Jacobi Toombs & Lanz, Inc.

Mr. Lanz is President of Jacobi, Toombs and Lanz, Inc.  Aside from his business-related responsibilities, he is a Project Manager on civil and environmental engineering projects undertaken by the firm.  Professional responsibilities include engineering and planning studies, design, and construction supervision of airport, highways, bridge, storm water, potable water and wastewater projects. Mr. Lanz brings over25 years of professional experience in many different areas including:  Strategic Planning and Design; Storm/Sanitary Planning and Design; Wastewater Treatment Process Rehabilitation and Water Supply and Distribution.

Jorge was born in La Habana, Cuba, but was raise in Cali and Bogotá, Colombia,. In his teenager years, he moved to Ponce, Puerto Rico. Came to Louisville to finish degree on civil engineering

Jorge holds a B.S. Civil Engineering, in 1977 from Speed Scientific School, University of Louisville. In addition, he obtained a M.E. Civil Engineering in 1979 from Speed Scientific School at the University of Louisville. His professional Affiliations are the Kentucky Society of Professional Engineers; the National Society of Professional Engineers and the Indiana Rural Water Association

Economic Development Chair: Daniel Lira, Managing Member, Contracting Solutions, LLC - Who's Who in Latin Louisville

Daniel manages his own company, Contracting Solutions, LLC a small business that started with Daniel in a van with his tools going around offering his services as a handyman, to what it is presently after 8 years; staffing 13 employees; 3 staff and 10 field workers offering 5 different services within the interior finishes trade in construction. His work ethics and philosophies have made him a true entrepreneur. Finding new ways to create an enterprise is becoming a constant gratifying activity.

Daniel is originally from Caracas, Venezuela. He arrived to U. S. in 1995 in South Florida for two years he had a rough start, while searching for a job in a new environment and new country trying to support his mother and two young brothers. In April of 1997, he left South Florida and headed north in search of better job opportunities and the hope to improve his new language skills. It was a wonderful experience when for the first time he arrived and felt the pleasant Louisville weather in the springtime; it so happens he arrived the day after "Thunder Over Louisville" in 1997.

 Within a few months as a new resident in Louisville, he found a church in St Matthews he identified himself with and to this day, he remains a faithful member of that church family. A family that took him in and he love dearly. Daniel's family is another large piece of his life. He met Jan at the same church, and he has been married to her for 12 happy years, along with the joy of his life, Jan's youngest daughter, Mary, the one he considers his own.

Meeting other successful Hispanic and Latino business owners and community leaders in Louisville, have given him the next level of his life, where he believes is time to come together share the knowledge and experiences he has acquired over the years, and together learn from each other and make the a new generation of successful business people worthy of national recognition, right here in Louisville

Education Chair: Tom Masterson, Owner, President, T.E.M. Electric Co. Inc.

In January 1999, Tom started T.E.M. Electric Co., Inc. (a minority owned electrical contracting company) from his home with 5 employees.  T.E.M. brought in $450,000 that year and has continued to grow for 11 years.  Within that time, a Lexington Office was established in early 2001 and a Louisville Office in late 2002.  Using his knowledge, networking skills and hard work, Tom has guided the company to what is now T.E.M. Group, Inc. with 65 employees and bringing in $11 million.

What sets Tom apart from others in this industry is his continuous effort to achieve and exceed high expectations.  In May of 2009, he was recognized as the Small Business Person of the Year along with leading T.E.M. in receiving an award for the Pace Setter Business Recognition Program.  The Pace Setter award honors companies who set the pace/trend for their industry.  Messer Construction also recognized T.E.M. in an article for the Minority/Women Business Enterprise Spotlight in the spring of 2008.

Through all of the growth and success, Tom has never forgotten where he started and continues to use his experience and knowledge to "coach" and mentor other small businesses as well as dedicating his time to organizations in which he strongly believes.  He currently serves as Vice Chairman on the Board of Directors for Bluegrass Community and Technical College; he serves on the Board of Directors for Associated Builders and Contractors Education Foundation and is part of the executive committee of the Greater Louisville Hispanic Latino Business Council serving as the Education Chairman.  

Tom is very proud of his Hispanic heritage. His grandmother's family is from Colombia and Grandfathers from Spain. Tom's mother is from the Island of Taboga, Panama. She came to Kentucky in 1953. Unlike his two older brothers that were born in Panama, Tom was born and raised in Kentucky. He continues to have a very close relationship with his family in Panama. Tom has brought and helped a number of family members from Panama to go to college here.

Tom has a Bachelors of Science in Finance from the University of Louisville and an Associates degree in Architecture from the University of Kentucky. He holds a Masters and Contractors License in the state of Kentucky as well as being a certified electrical estimator

Marketing Chair: Francisco Abril, Regional Plan Consultant, The Hartford Retirement Plans Group 

Francisco works as Retirement Plan Consultant for the Hartford Financial Group. He is responsible for supporting the Hispanic Market for the Mid-Atlantic Region. He held this position from October 2007 to present.

Prior to join The Hartford Francisco worked for US Bank Corp as Multicultural Marketing Coordinator where he was responsible for developing the Hispanic Market in the Metro Louisville area and Southern Indiana.

Francisco was born in Bogota, Colombia where he spends most of his life. He has been married for 4 years to a wonderful Colombian woman. He moved about six years ago to Louisville, KY when he decided to work in the financial industry focusing in developing strategies for the Hispanic Market.

Membership Chair: Jaime Gonzalez, Aircraft Maintenance Quality Assurance Division Manager, UPS

Jaime works as the Aircraft Maintenance International Division Manager at UPS. Currently responsible for all ACMX activities in Anchorage and Asia. Also held ACMX Division Manager Positions on Next Day Air, International ( Worldwide) and Second Day Air based in Louisville KY since 2004 to present. He has been with UPS since 1993 were he has held several positions from ACMX Manager for Miami and the Americas 2000-2004 based in Miami FL; ACMX Supervisor Dallas TX responsible for Next Day Air 1999-2000 and ACMX Supervisor Portland OR responsible for 6 Northwest Gateways 1995-1999

Prior to joining UPS, Jaime served as Aircraft Maintenance Shift Manager at America West in Phoenix, AZ where he was responsible for all activities system wide and of mechanics coordinating aircraft acceptance, repair and dispatch. Jaime is a former Staff Sergeant with the United States Air Force

Jaime was borne in Sabana Hidalgo, Nuevo Leon, Mexico. His family moves to Chicago, Illinois when he was 5 months old. He is fluent in Spanish and English. Jamie graduated from Breyer State University from Birmingham, AL Alabama State University with a B. S. in Aviation Management.

Programming Chair: Joseph Carvajal, USA Latino Marketing Manager, Jack Daniel's Family of Brands, Brown Forman Corporation

Coming soon

At-alrge Member: Eileen Pickett, Senior Vice President, Community and Economic Development, Greater Louisville Inc.

As Senior Vice President of Community and Economic Development, Eileen leads a team of professionals who help existing companies expand in Louisville and Jefferson County. Her team coordinates site visits and serves as liaisons between clients and key individuals in the public and private sectors. The key areas of emphasis include the attraction and retention of professionals to the area, development of community recruitment programs, outreach to existing industry regarding workforce issues and the development of collaborative partnerships among the community, companies and classrooms to positively impact the future workforce.

From 1993 to 1999, Eileen was Vice President of Operations and Chief Financial Officer for Ohio Aerospace Institute - a non-profit consortium of government, university, and industry partners. Throughout her 12-year career at General Electric, Eileen held a variety of management positions within the appliance division. Eileen holds a B.A. from Baldwin-Wallace College in Business and Psychology and has completed additional graduate work in Business and Organizational Structure.

At-large Member:Verna Goatley, African-American Business Alliance; Manager, Louisville Metro Government Economic Development Department.

Verná C. Goatley is a Manager with Louisville Metro Government, Economic Development Department.  In that role she works to improve Louisville business climate by working with others to create jobs, improve infrastructure, develop new amenities and assist with business start-up and development projects.  Internally she, serve as a backup to the Business Manager for the department and monitors the daily operations of the Airport Relocation Office.

For the past 15 years Verná has worked in the field of economic development and has been very involved with program facilitation with several area service providers.   She has also been instrumental in assisting several area small businesses during their development and expansion stage.  In addition to economic development, Verná has several years experience with the banking industry with retail services, consumer credit, training and development, compliance and audit.

A graduate of Bellarmine University, she received a Bachelor of Science degree in Commerce and a Master of Arts in Human Resource Management from Webster University.

A staunch believer of applying her skills to community service, Verná uses her business capabilities to help enhance a corporate image, coordinate fund-raising events and promotions for non-profit organizations, and facilitate community outreach activities.  Her efforts earned her to be recognized as the Regional Minority Champion of the Year 2009 for SBA's Region IV, 2009 Minority Small Business Champion of the Year for U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) Kentucky District, 2005 Louisville Defender Minority Business Achievement Award recipient, 2004 Ferda C. Porter Advocate of the Year award winner with Kentuckiana Minority Business Council, 2003 Minority Business Advocate of the Year, with Louisville Minority Business Development Center, 1990 Chestnut Street YMCA Adult Black Achiever's Award and membership of the Honorable Order of Kentucky Colonels.  Other community service organizations that Verná dedicates her skills to are the, Chestnut Street YMCA Black Achievers Steering Committee and Cluster Leader, the Salvation Army Boys and Girls Club Advisory Board, Jefferson County Public School Head Start - Early Head Start Policy Council-Community Partnership Ambassador, Jefferson County Public Schools Long Range Plan Committee, and Kentucky Center for African American Heritage Foundation Volunteer