Sonoma County business leaders share advice at Latinos in workplace forum

Bridging language and cultural barriers and preparing for the “sea-change” impact of President Barack Obama’s executive move to grant 5 million undocumented immigrants deportation relief and work permits were among the key topics at a conference Thursday morning addressing the local Latino workforce.

Held at the Flamingo Hotel in Santa Rosa, the 10th annual Latinos in the Workplace conference brought together community leaders and businesses to discuss challenges and opportunities around the North Bay’s growing workforce.

The conference featured a panel of representatives of three local businesses that have been successful in building strong employer/employee relations: William K. Seppi, president and CEO of Costeaux Bakery in Healdsburg; Angel Lechón, director of people and culture for Straus Family Creamery; and Dough Hamilton, owner of Oak Grove Construction.

Seppi said that cultural and language barriers should not get in the way of treating employees with the same respect shown to non-Latino workers.

“Get to know people and get to know their families,” he said.

Hamilton said he’s tried to address a history of bias and discrimination against Latinos in the construction industry.

“Unfortunately, there is still a residual bias in my industry,” said Hamilton, adding that discrimination and “rudeness” must appropriately addressed immediately.

“I’ve spent my entire career trying to unwind some of those biases,” he said.

Lechón asked employers to take a close look at immigrants’ resumes. In some cases, she said, immigrants vying for entry-level jobs actually have substantial education from their native countries. Such employees, after they’ve improved their language skills and become more comfortable in American society, could make excellent candidates for future advancement.

Earlier in the conference Bay Area immigration attorney Christopher Kerosky, who has an offices in Santa Rosa, gave a talk on the status of President Barack Obama’s executive action that would grant the undocumented parents of U.S. citizens and legal permanent residents a temporary reprieve from deportation. The policy, known as deferred action for parental accountability, or DAPA.

The policy mirrors a similar immigration initiative Obama previously launched for young undocumented immigrants who were illegally brought into the country by their parents. That policy is known as deferred action for childhood arrivals, or DACA, and it would also be expanded under Obama’s recent executive action.

DAPA would benefit about 5 million undocumented immigrants in the country and would result in a “sea-change” in the local Latino workforce, as these immigrants would also be granted work permits, Kerosky said.

The conference was organized in partnership with the John Jordan Foundation, Santa Rosa Chamber of Commerce, Vantreo Insurance Brokerage featured a keynote and the Northern California Engineering Contractors Association.

The keynote speaker was Jaime Peñaherrera, global director of sales and marketing for LightGuard Systems and former director of diversity and community partnerships for Queen of the Valley Medical Center. Michael Lopez, vice president of Vantreo, moderated the conference.