Victoria Varela Negrete

The 9th annual HISPANIC Magazine’s Entrepreneur Awards luncheon will honor the outstanding achievements of Victoria Varela Negrete, CEO of San Antonio-based The Cartel Group, one of the top multicultural, independently-owned advertising firms in the U.S. Rent-A-Center (RCII) selected The Cartel Group as the company’s Hispanic market agency of record in April, 2004 following a nationwide search (see story). Victoria is the only woman, among a select group of six Hispanic business leaders, who will be honored and garners the recognition from HISPANIC Magazine itself.

Every year, HISPANIC Magazine conducts a national search to identify Hispanic men and women who have distinguished themselves for their entrepreneurial prowess, opening or expanding new business opportunities and contributing to build what is widely regarded as the “back bone” of the U.S. economy: small and medium-size enterprises. Past recipients of this award include marketer and publisher Alberto Vilar, telecom innovator Fernando Espuelas, motivational speaker and author Deborah Rosado-Shaw and publisher Jorge E. Cano of Urban Latino Magazine.

“It is indeed an honor for HISPANIC Magazine to recognize Victoria Varela Negrete, a woman who arrived to this country with no money in her pocket but a spirit full of dreams,” said Sam Verdeja, Publisher & CEO of Hispanic Publishing Associates. “Through her work, Victoria has enlightened and informed Corporate America on the power and relevance of the U.S. Hispanic market,” he added.

A native of Mexico City, Varela Negrete arrived to the United States in 1990 and quickly found a place in the advertising industry. In 1994, she and partners Jesús Ramírez and Sean Salas, founded The Cartel Group. Celebrating its 10th anniversary this month, Cartel projects annual capitalized billings of $100 million this year.

Varela Negrete looks back at the last 10 years of her life and is both humbled and challenged. “As a Latina, I am certainly overwhelmed by what we have achieved in the last decade. Certainly, my partners Jesús and Sean have been instrumental in our agency’s success. And yet, the opportunities for growth are still tremendous, especially because U.S. Hispanics deserve more attention from Corporate America. We are still underserved in terms of advertising and communications campaigns geared towards us.”

The awards luncheon will take place at the St. Regis Hotel, New York City, (Two East 55th St. at Fifth Ave. [212] 421-5699) from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Thursday, December 2nd, 2004.