Business
Loya Named Hispanic Male Entrepreneur of the Year
By Bruce Phillips
Feb 26, 2003, 19:17

Javier Loya, president and CEO of Choice Energy and a limited partner of the NFL's Houston Texans, recently was named Hispanic Male Entrepreneur of the Year by the Houston Chamber of Commerce. The award recognizes Hispanic business leaders who "through their contributions, innovation, and civic responsibility" have helped Hispanic business thrive in Houston.

Choice is an energy brokerage that focuses on securing long-term natural gas and electric power contracts for clients, which include BP, El Paso Energy, and Morgan Stanley Dean Witter. The company's two-year-old retail division, Choice Energy Services, works with businesses to lower their energy bills through negotiated price and supply agreements. Choice Energy Services' clients include The Home Depot and the City of Houston.

Loya told HispanicEngineer.com that he hopes to expand soon into long-term crude oil futures. The company earned $8 million in 2002, and Loya expects overall revenue to double to $16 million this year.

"People are looking for suppliers they can trust, and our role as brokers has become more important...." he says. "Energy consumers try to mitigate risk, and that's our role."

Loya is proud of his Hispanic heritage and of his family. His grandparents were displaced during the Mexican Revolution, and his parents came to the U.S. from Mexico. His father climbed the ranks at Farah Manufacturing Co. in El Paso, from truck loader to plant supervisor. Neither of Loya's parents attended high school, but they were adamant that their children view education as a priority.

Loya, now 33, attended Columbia University, where he was a four-year member of the varsity football team, earning All-Ivy League honors as a linebacker in 1990.

"I grew up like most kids in Texas, dreaming about football," he says. He was on his way to law school until an internship with a fast-paced energy brokerage firm in Connecticut, United Crude Oil, changed his plans.

"I was immediately attracted to the business," he says.

During that internship, the Gulf War broke out, and he quickly moved from assisting brokers to becoming one. After graduating from Columbia in 1991, with a degree in political science, he went to work for the company full time. After the natural gas industry was deregulated in 1993, he saw an opportunity to return to Texas and start his own business.

Loya and two partners founded Choice Energy in 1994. Starting with a staff of 11, the Houston-based company today employs 45. Loya looks for employees who are well-rounded and flexible, he says: "We do have brokers with technical backgrounds, but if they can't communicate, they are no good to us."

His parents have reason to be proud of all of their children. Fernando, the second oldest, was an all-star wide receiver in high school. He then was recruited by the University of Nuevo Leon in Mexico, where he won the Mexican equivalent of the Heisman Trophy as a free safety. He is now a dentist in Austin. Raul started as an offensive tackle for the Rice University Owls and is now an attorney in Dallas. Yet another brother, Mario, was an All-Ivy League teammate of Javier at Columbia, as a tight end. Mario is a financial analyst for a pension fund in Connecticut. Oldest son Mike has an M.B.A. from Harvard and owns Vitol, a London-based oil-and-gas trading company that is among the world's largest. Anna is a teacher in El Paso. Irma, a Notre Dame graduate, was honored as the small-business person of the year in Alabama this year. She is president, CEO, and founder of Analytical Services, Inc., an engineering, IT, and management consulting firm.

Loya's advice to students is based on his own experience: "I wish I had taken more business and technology courses. I've learned not to take things for granted.... You never know what will help in your career. As much as time allows, expose yourself to as many courses and opportunities as you can."

Besides his family (He and his wife are expecting their first child, a girl, this February.), Loya has two major interests, he says: "I want to see Choice Energy become a total energy services company, and I want to see the Houston Texans in the Super Bowl."

Bruce E. Phillips can be reached at BPhillips@ccgmag.com