Although Ruben Ramos was born in the United States, he moved with his family to their village in the Sierra Madre Mountains in Mexico when he was a baby. When the family moved to Grand Rapids in 1990, the Hispanic population was small. Ramos was 10 years old. “I consider myself an immigrant because I basically had to learn the language and the culture and felt like an outsider,” he says.
Now, 33 years later, Ramos runs a business in Grand Rapids with his twin brother that trains and hires dozens of tradespeople. R & R Mechanical Services, launched in 2008, installs and services heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems in residential and commercial buildings, and has 30 full-time employees with benefits.
“There hasn’t been a year that we haven’t grown,” says Ramos. One of the biggest challenges has been finding qualified applicants, as workers in the trades are in short supply across the nation. The brothers found a solution by providing entry level on-the-job training. Not only does the model create a pool of dedicated workers, but it also gives the brothers a chance to invest in their community. “We give back by providing a career path for a lot of people,” he says. “They give back to us because they stay for longer.”
The Ramos brothers have stayed longer, too, in Grand Rapids, which has developed a reputation for welcoming immigrants from around the world. The Hispanic community has grown over the past three decades, and Ramos says he appreciates how the community and local government acknowledge Hispanic Heritage Month. He encourages the city to empower immigrant communities by supporting programs that give entrepreneurs access to funding. “A lack of capital is a hurdle for new startups,” he says. “Finding ways to connect investors with entrepreneurs would make Grand Rapids a stronger hub for development.”
