Caterers shine as small-business success story

MONTEZUMA CREEK, Utah, Jan. 31, 2008

For Vincent Eli Hernandez, head chef for Taste of the Four Corners, the hardest part of starting a business on the Navajo Reservation was the language.

Hernandez, 31, is a Hispanic from Phoenix whose primary language is English. So he relies on his wife, Lourdes R. Long, to translate when he deals with Navajo customers.

Long, 28, is also Hernandez's boss because technically she owns the catering business, which is based in her hometown of Red Mesa, Utah.

Long, who is Tl'ízí Lání (Many Goats Clan), born for Bit'ahnii (Within His Cover Clan), said they've been caterers since 2004 but didn't officially become a business until 2007, when they became clients of the Aneth Community Development Corporation.

The nonprofit corporation is located in Montezuma Creek, Utah, about 20 miles north of Red Mesa, and its mission is to help Navajo entrepreneurs incubate their business ideas.

Hernandez said he and wife had attended a workshop of the corporation where he met the director, Cliff Tohsonii, and the idea was planted to start a full-fledged business.

Hernandez had the basic skill - he graduated from the Scottsdale Culinary Institute in 2005 - and a job working for the Red Mesa school district. Long, who met her husband when she was a student at Scottsdale Community College, had a nose for business.

Once they settled in Red Mesa, the informal catering business they had started got busy, and they saw a potential for more.

At the workshop, Hernandez recalled, "Tohsonii wanted to know who we were, what we did, who we catered for, who our contacts were. And then he asked if we'd consider making (Aneth CDC) a financial partner." They would, and did.

Malcolm Benally, a counselor at ACDC, became their "success coach" and helped them create a business and marketing plan, an individual development account, business loan proposal, and a lot of new ideas, Hernandez said.

Over the next two years, Taste of the Four Corners became an example of small-business success and Benally now says, "They are pretty much on their way to becoming one of our big customers." Long said that what started with a bottle of her husband's homemade salsa is now a catering business that serves schools, health clinics, chapter houses, federal agencies, and other businesses, including trading posts.

Following Benally's advice, they rely on word-of-mouth to expand their market instead of spending money on newspaper and radio ads. It works just fine in their area, she said.

"We go to a business and talk about the business we provide," Long explained. "It really works. When we go out of town, we're recognized and people ask for our menus. We have jobs set up for next year." Long, who manages the business end of things, is now looking to expand into Window Rock and possibly Gallup.

"You have to think outside the box," Hernandez affirmed. "If they can do it, why can't I? But you have to have passion and drive for what you do. And encouragement." They get a lot of that from the local school district, the Montezuma Creek Clinic, and the Teec Nos Pos and Red Mesa chapters, Long noted.

In return Hernandez said they hire local people, especially high school students, as temporary help.

"To me, it's better to get high school kids that are ready to get out into the open," he said. "They'll get a taste of responsibilities and being an adult. It'll help them think about a career and working for themselves, instead of someone else." Hernandez learned to cook from his grandmother, who would rise at 5 a.m. to begin preparing fresh salsa and homemade tortillas.

Now the couple's menu includes Mexican specialties such as nopalito salad (made with baby cactus pads), tomatillo sauce, and his signature salsa.

But he, in turn, has developed a taste for Navajo food - "I love mutton," he gushed - and especially for the way Navajo people enjoy themselves around food.

"It brought back memories of my family," Hernandez said. "How we'd barbecue and never exclude anyone. To me, getting everyone together and cooking is my passion." And, he said, there's so much opportunity on the Navajo Reservation for small businesses.

"Being born and raised in the city, I've experienced how corporations can intimidate small businesses," Hernandez said. "Here, small businesses are a community thing. To me, it seems like there's heart here. The community helps each other. The help may not be big but it's something." Information: 928-656-3279.