Arizona Bilingual Newspaper: A Media Bridge Spanning the Border

[quote]Jorge González-García, Tech Writer[/quote]

When Alma Gallardo looks at the U.S. – Mexico border, she sees a region of people, languages and cultures that mix and mingle. And do a lot of business. Not two countries divided by a line on a map.

It’s this regional perspective that fuels her drive to use her publication, Arizona Bilingual Newspaper, and ad agency, Global Multi-Media Group, as a media bridge to promote engagement and commerce across the border. “We want to empower our community, educate them, and offer positive messages, “Gallardo says.
The bridge also serves her Arizona clients by providing a way to reach Latino customers in Tucson and southern Arizona, and their counterparts in Nogales and Hermosillo, Sonora.

Gallardo, is an animated 47-year-old CEO. She is a native of Magdalena, Sonora, and operates the business, Arizona-Sonora-Bilingual, LLC with her husband, Jesus Rodriguez, 51. Walk through her offices in central Tucson and you hear friendly greetings, and see staff clearly enjoying their work. “We’re a small, family-owned business,” Gallardo says. “I handle sales, marketing and content. My husband is in charge of administration and production.” The company has nine employees, and has operated for 12 years.

Her company does business in a lean, no-frills way. “We don’t have any loans, operate on cash-flow, and we’ve been growing every year,” she says. But there’s a challenge: How best to grow? And when to make the expansion push? So two things to consider: Approach and timing—both equally important. Gallardo already had a working plan developed. What she needed was an expert second opinion before pushing ahead. From someone familiar with the growth challenge all small businesses face. Luckily, she knew exactly who to call.

Gallardo had heard about Thryve Scale-up from Felipe Garcia, a colleague at Visit Tucson. “He told us there was a great opportunity,” she recalls. “Startup Tucson had received a grant from the SBA to advise small businesses. Being a minority business owner and a woman, I’m familiar with the SBA.” She got the Thryve application, filled it out and sent it in. “They called me, and I went in for an interview,” Gallardo remembers. “A week later they told me I was accepted into the program. And, I was like, oh my God.” “We’ve wanted to expand for years now,” Gallardo says. “I think Thryve ScaleUp gave us confidence to explore new markets like Phoenix. So we can grow from a small regional media company to one with national and international clients.” Talking with Thryve advisors Justin Williams, Greg Teesdale and Tony Ford also gave her a different perspective. “I changed some of my ideas. And the approach we used before,” she says.

“We’re setting up a new board of directors, and creating a new look for Arizona Bilingual Newspaper.”

Gallardo wants Arizona-Sonora-Bilingual, LLC revenue to grow to $775k next year. Can it be done? She thinks it can. If the digital media revenue continues to grow, and the Phoenix move is successful. Not sure things, of course, but the confidence is clearly there. It comes from knowing her revamped business plan includes a clear path to growth in 2016. Thanks to the growth hackers at Thyrve ScaleUp.
Not exactly concrete and steel, but plenty strong enough to reinforce Alma Gallardo’s ambitious bridge.
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