David Saucedo, a chairman of the Empire Builders -- Jovenes Empresarios Program, is a business developer for his father's locksmith business, The Saucedo Co. (Victor Calzada / El Paso Times)

Vincent Castro and David Saucedo want to help El Paso’s young entrepreneurs and young executives build their businesses and at the same time help build El Paso and its next generation of leaders.

They are the chairmen of the El Paso Hispanic Chamber of Commerce’s new Empire Builders — Jovenes Empresarios Program, aimed at cultivating a new generation of business owners and business professionals. Participants must be younger than 40.

“I think El Paso has a lot of work to do to be friendly to young professionals. We need to foster the attitude that they are here to stay and will be the next community leaders. Let’s try to engage them now,” said Saucedo, 26, business developer for his father’s locksmith business, The Saucedo Co.

“We want to give them (people in the program) a quasi mandate to go out and build this community and make it how they want it to be,” Saucedo said.

Castro, 35, who operates two of his father’s 22 El Paso McDonald’s franchises, said the main idea is to have a pool of young leaders who can “help develop the community and take it to the next level, and beyond. Sometimes young people just need a little encouragement or know-how to go to the next level.”

El Paso Hispanic Chamber CEO Cindy Ramos-Davidson said the program will be entrepreneurial focused and will “teach young adults about the school of business from real world business people.”

The program will provide support, resources and networking for people younger than 40 who own a business, who are running a business or who are key executives in a business, Ramos-Davidson said.

The chamber has received applications from 15 people and wants to have 25 people in the program, Ramos-Davidson said. The application deadline is Nov. 4. It costs $400, which can be paid during the program’s nine-month term.

It will revolve around monthly three-hour sessions featuring successful business operators talking about their experiences and experts who will speak on various business topics, such as financial systems and technology strategies, Castro said. It also will have sessions on serving on boards and volunteerism, he said.

Program participants also will have to attend the chamber’s monthly board meetings, Ramos-Davidson said.

Castro said that when the program begins in January, the first guest speaker is likely to be be his father, Richard Castro, who has built a McDonald’s empire in El Paso as well as a commitment to help the community.

“My father has been everything with my development,” Vincent Castro said. “He keeps me on my toes, but he also keeps me grounded. He makes sure I don’t lose sight of what we are trying to achieve: To just keep the business rolling, always give the best value to customers, and in business, you always want to keep making money — keep the bottom line as healthy as possible.”

Vincent Castro said he’s wanted to run his own McDonald’s ever since his father bought his first franchise in 1983 at Hawkins Boulevard and Interstate 10 and moved his family from Del Rio, Texas.

“My father has always encouraged us to make our own choices and do what we love,” Castro said. But he also said it’d be nice to have his sons involved in the business, Castro said.

Vincent, who has two brothers, is the only one who’s elected to stay in the business, and he hopes to take over the franchises one day, he said. His older brother, Richard, is a basketball coach and teacher at Eastwood High School, and his younger brother, D.J., is in college.

Castro grew up working at his father’s McDonald’s franchises and now has the business flowing in his veins, he said.

Saucedo graduated from Notre Dame University with an accounting degree in 2007, and was headed on a road toward a job with a big corporation in Chicago.

“I was at Notre Dame, going to school, and all of a sudden I was at a career fair selling myself, and I thought there’s more to life than this. I have a family business, and I love El Paso. So, I decided to bring my talents back to El Paso. I’m here to stay.”

Saucedo said he and his brother, Mauricio, who has a degree in hotel management from Cornell University, had to convince their father that it was a good idea for them to come back and help run the business.

He thought that once we finished college, we would go out and do our own thing, Saucedo said.

“He didn’t want us in the locksmith business. I think now he appreciates our contribution,” Saucedo said.

His father, David Saucedo Sr., is the third generation of the Saucedo family to operate the business started in 1917. He took ownership when the young Saucedo’s grandfather died in 2008.

“I think eventually me and my brother will take it over,” Saucedo said. But his 51-year-old father is not leaving soon, he said.

“We Saucedos don’t understand the word retirement. My grandfather was at work the day before he died,” Saucedo said.

Both Saucedo and Castro said that even though they went into established, family businesses, they still have to face many of the hurdles that any entrepreneur faces.

“We have our core business. But I have been charged with going into new avenues,” Saucedo said. “I’m experiencing the struggles of bringing new ideas to El Paso.”

Castro said, “Even though I didn’t have to build a business, I still have to maintain the business, I still have to keep it going. There are just as many challenges in keeping a business as starting a business.”

Beginning in January, the two entrepreneurs will take some of their lessons to the Empire Builders program.

“I think they will get a lot out of other people’s experiences,” Castro said. “For me personally, learning and meeting and interacting with other (young) people will be awesome.”

Vic Kolenc / El Paso Times may be reached at vkolenc@elpasotimes.com; 546-6421.

Program details

• Empire Builders — Jovenes Empresarios Program is a new El Paso Hispanic Chamber of Commerce program to cultivate the next generation of business operators and business executives.
• It’s open to people younger than 40 who own a business, are running a business or are key executives in a business.
• The nine-month program costs $400.
• To apply for the program, contact Rebeca Rodriguez at the Hispanic Chamber, 566-4066 or email rrodriguez@ephcc.org .