Olaf Growald
Rosa Navejar did not start out as an entrepreneur, but after a local career spanning nearly 45 years, the Fort Worth native now runs her own $10 million company in her hometown.
The 63-year-old has been a solid fixture in Fort Worth business since she graduated from Diamond Hill High School, the youngest of 10 children in her family and the daughter of a butcher. “I was always told as a Latina woman that I was going to be a housewife and a mother, and that if I wanted to get I job, I should go work at Tandy on the manufacturing line,” she said. “I kept asking why can’t I get another job? So, I took the bus and went downtown and knocked on all the doors and applied at different places.”
First of Fort Worth (now Bank of America) gave her a try, and she started her 25-year banking career in the proof transit department, ending up as the first bilingual housing lender in DFW, focusing on the low- to moderate-income mortgage market. Her father, a former migrant worker, was a great source of her ambition, Navejar said. “My father told me [that] if you have the will, you can do anything,” she said.
An active member of the community, Navejar has served on numerous boards, including as the former chair of Fort Worth’s Race and Culture Task Force and on the board of the Fort Worth Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. “My father always told us to give back to your community,” she said.
Turning Point
It was while she was serving on the committee to replace the Hispanic chamber president that Navejar was approached to take the position. So she switched gears and became the first female president and CEO of the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, growing the organization from 250 to close to 1,400 members by starting a host of programs, including an eight-week course in business development, mentoring programs, and ESL classes for business to teach them to read a contract. When the Barnett Shale boom hit, she worked with TCC and gas producers like Devon Energy to create training for roustabouts. The programs attracted African-American and Anglo small business members as well.
Opportunity Knocks — Twice
Then in 2012, opportunity knocked again. This time, a friend, Brad Gorrondona, was splitting off a branch of his company, an engineering firm specializing in identifying subterranean utilities in construction development. He wanted her to take over the company so much that he was willing to finance the deal. Navejar again was conflicted over whether to once again delve into an area in which she had no background. But after running into an old banking friend after church, she was reminded of what a risk-taker she was.
Today, as president and CEO of The Rios Group in Fort Worth, Navejar has expanded her company to 60 employees from 23, with offices in Dallas, Houston, San Antonio and Austin. She more than doubled revenues to $10 million, partly through establishing Lunch and Learn programs to educate developers, and last year, she paid off her loan to Gorrondona. Working almost entirely in commercial construction, the Rios Group’s clients include TxDOT, DFW Airport, numerous municipalities and railroads. They also act as a subcontractor to major engineering firms like Freese and Nichols and Kimley-Horn.
