AS A CHILD in the first Hispanic family on his Fairhill
block, Luis Torrado had to street fight to end the ethnic taunts from neighbor
kids and gain their respect.
As owner of Torrado Construction in Port Richmond, he's
spent his adult years fighting negative attitudes toward hiring minority contractors
by proving himself over and over again.
It's been a long, tough journey since he grew up on
Mascher Street near Tusculum in the '70s.
"You had a choice," Torrado said. "You
could bow down or you could fight. I used to fight. I was scrapping out there.
"Win or lose, it's usually over fast and they won't
bother you anymore," he said. "You have to fistfight first and then
you become friends."
When the family moved to Oxford Circle, Torrado
experienced more of the same prejudice as a teenager, overcame it and still has
friends from those days.
Torrado, 47, has always been a real Philly guy.
"I used to go to Eagles vs. Flyers charity softball
games that they played at Max Myers Playground in the '70s," Torrado said.
"I'd draw pictures of Ron Jaworski, Bernie Parent
and Bobby Clarke, and take them to the game so they could sign them," he
said. "I sure wish I could find those pictures today."
Torrado learned drafting at the Swenson Skills Center in
Northeast Philadelphia when he was 16, then studied architecture at Community
College of Philadelphia and Temple, and learned construction management at
Drexel.
He spent the '90s working for contractors on home
building and remodeling, then started Torrado Construction in a former Port
Richmond bottling plant in 2002.
Torrado has spent 15 years renovating high-end residences
and partnering on city projects including the masonry and stonework for
Dilworth Park at City Hall and for Gorgas Park in Roxborough.
But despite his years of experience, Torrado often ran
into an under-the-radar residue of those long-gone childhood battles - an
unspoken wall of reluctance among major developers to hire minority
contractors.
"I realized a lot of the people didn't think I was
big enough or thought I didn't know enough," Torrado said.
"Basically, I was being typecast. I've been in construction all my life,
but I always found myself explaining where I came from and what I've done.
"I just kept knocking on doors and I didn't
quit," he said. "I kept bidding, kept letting them know I'm around.
Over the years, I built the business up to the point where we changed
perception.
"I think we broke that barrier," Torrado said.
"I still have to work harder than the next subcontractor. I still believe
we have to prove ourselves all the time."
Last year, Torrado returned to CCP for the Goldman Sachs
10,000 Small Businesses program, which he said has been a godsend.
"It's like a business boot camp," Torrado said.
"I was kind of in my own little bubble and pretty tough on myself. I had a
tendency to hold myself back because I didn't think I was ready. This gave me
more confidence.
"Our revenues went from $3 million to $4 million a
year to almost $9 million last year to being on track to do over $10 million
this year," Torrado said happily.
His company, which has more than 50 percent minority
employees, is partnering on construction of the second Comcast tower, the
rebuild of the Gallery at Market East and the installation of huge stainless-steel
doors in City Hall for the pope's visit.
Those barriers that Torrado's battled since his Fairhill
childhood are at long last broken.
The lifelong Philly guy has won the hard-earned respect
of the city he's always loved.
Source: Philly.com
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