Greenville entrepreneur speaks up for Hispanic community

Ramon Nieves-Lugo wants to ensure that Greenville's growing Hispanic community has a voice.

So the 28-year-old entrepreneur speaks on behalf of the community through his involvement with A Child's Haven, South Carolina Children's Trust, the Greenville Health System Children's Hospital Development Council, the Greenville Chamber and other organizations.

Nieves-Lugo is also vice chair of Latinos United, a nonprofit organization of young Latino professionals that are seeking to make a difference through mentoring and service.

This year, he became part of the Upstate Transit Coalition "because I believe the Hispanic community should be part of future transportation project in the Upstate region."

The CEO of Greenville-based UniComm Media Group, a full-service Hispanic advertising agency, Nieves-Lugo got his first taste of volunteerism locally by providing marketing and membership services to the South Carolina Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, which his mother, Evelyn Lugo, founded.

"That's kind of where I saw an increase in the desire to reach the Hispanic community," he said.

"I was interested in being involved because I knew the Hispanic community needed more people like us that would be open to help them out, that would get them resources when they needed them," Nieves-Lugo said.

The Hispanic community in Greenville, he said, is largely young families. Many want to better themselves and get educated, he said.

"I can make a difference here and help others make differences," Nieves-Lugo said.

A native of Puerto Rico, Nieves-Lugo said he wasn't as driven as a teenager as he is now. He said his parents helped him see his gifts and encouraged him to excel in those.

He said they saw potential in him that he now sees in others and that's partly what drives him to do what he does.

"Those that don't have a great support system, I want to be there for them because it's a struggle for some of the Hispanic families that are broken up because of immigration issues and fathers out there in Mexico, Guatemala, South America. Families separated need that support system," he said.

Nieves-Lugo said his volunteerism with the Hispanic Chamber helped open doors for him to other nonprofit organizations.

It was his high school in Puerto Rico that gave him the opportunity to come to Greenville.

He attended an American Christian school in Puerto Rico that used the Bob Jones University curriculum.

During his junior year in high school he and his family visited Bob Jones University.

"My parents and I liked it. It was the direction God gave us," Nieves-Lugo said. "We're not rich. We didn't come from wealthy families or anything like that. It was a provision that God gave us for that. He just opened the door for me to go there."

Nieves-Lugo said it was also God who gave him a heart for Hispanic families and children in particular.

He said his father, Ramon Nieves-Aponte, worked in the special victims unit of the police force in Puerto Rico for 30 years. He saw a lot of really bad, difficult cases of child abuse.

"He never brought the cases home, but I knew what he did. When I was very young, he let me meet the guys that worked in that department and just shared with me what's going on in the real world," Nieves-Lugo said.

"It was a huge influence," he said.

Nieves-Lugo graduated from Bob Jones in 2008. His mother and brother, Gustavo, came to Greenville in 2006 and made it their home.

He was finishing his MBA in marketing when he noted that companies needed help reaching the Hispanic market. Thus, he and Gustavo formed UniComm.

He's found that when companies reach Hispanic demographics, Hispanics patronize that company or organization. That leads to companies hiring bilingual people, he said

"That's going to create jobs and opportunities for Hispanic or bilingual candidate," he said. "I've seen that already with clients I work with."

Another very important partnership in his life is his wife, Alicia. She's a pediatric nurse at the Children's Hospital of Greenville Health System, he said.

"We're just seeing how God is using us to help children," he said.

At the end of the day, Nieves-Lugo said he wants to be an influence, one that helps others push through and achieve their dreams even when they don't know they can.

"No matter what faith you're in, put that faith and trust in God that you can achieve those goals," he said. "It's an example that others can follow and say, 'He did it. We can also do it and help others get there, too.' "

Angelia Davis

Greenville entrepreneur speaks up for Hispanic community