MBN USA

August 29, 2024

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Santana discusses unique long-term relationship with Toyota

Ask Rosa Santana the difference between supplying human capital to companies and fully assembling truck beds and you’ll get a knowing glance.

Santana, a staffing industry professional and entrepreneur for over 40 years, is founder and CEO of Santana Group, a top-tier minority- and woman-owned workforce solutions, manufacturing, contract assembly and BPO organization based in San Antonio, Texas. Besides providing staffing services and call center solutions, she is the first female Hispanic direct Tier I supplier in Toyota Motor Corp.’s history, delivering fully assembled Tacoma truck beds.

Her ventures have brought thousands of jobs to the United States and Mexico.

“It used to strictly be about helping companies find the right people,” Santana said. “Did I ever think I would grow? I knew we could grow exponentially. Prior to becoming an entrepreneur, I ran a large division of an international staffing company. I knew how to do business on a larger scale. What I didn’t foresee us doing was diversifying like we have. Now we are in automotive manufacturing and assembly. It was totally out of my wheelhouse. We seize the opportunities, right? Each time we diversified into a new industry; it was because we listened for a client’s need.”

Santana Group was formed in 2002 and now includes six companies: Integrated Human Capital, Workforce Management Mexico, Diversa, Oveana, Forma and Forma Automotive. In 2004, Santana began providing staffing services to some of Toyota Motor Manufacturing Texas’ Tier I suppliers. A great relationship developed and, 10 years later, the Japanese auto and mobility giant contracted Forma Automotive to assemble Tacoma truck beds.

Santana worked in corporate America for more than 20 years before deciding to go into business for herself. Her eldest daughter, Lisa Navarro-Gonzales, was by her side.

“Working for someone else, you are building success for someone else,” Santana said. “The greatest motivator for me was when I decided this is time to do this, to leave the corporate world and start my own company.”

Today, Navarro-Gonzales is vice president of Santana Group and general manager of Forma Automotive, which was launched in 2014 as Toyota’s first Hispanic, woman-owned direct Tier I supplier. Santana’s other daughter, Nicole Navarro Velesiotis, oversees Integrated Human Capital and Oveana. (See Volume 4 of MBN USA, the NMSDC conference edition, to learn more about Santana’s succession planning).

Building relationships and providing solutions

Santana lives near her daughters and six grandchildren in San Antonio, and maintains a home in El Paso, her hometown.

“I’m an immigrant, born in Mexico and my mom was a single mother with five children. I was five when we came to the U.S.,” she said. “My drive comes from my mother, Josefina. I always thought if she could accomplish what she did, so can I. I married young, had my two girls and soon after became a single mother. For the next 22 years, I worked in corporate America and was fortunate to have a great career doing what I loved; putting people to work.”

That was in 2002, when she launched Integrated Human Capital, a staffing company, based in El Paso. A few years later, the company expanded to other metro markets in Texas. Santana worked to build relationships with numerous companies and delivered staffing solutions to many companies including Toyota’s Tier I suppliers at Toyota Motor Manufacturing Texas.

Santana participated in a mentoring program with a large international organization. That led to her traveling to Michigan for mentoring sessions, where she learned that

Toyota was building a plant in San Antonio and would be seeking minority and local suppliers. She quickly opened an office in San Antonio and got the word out to Toyota and their already selected Tier I suppliers that she was open for business. Then she participated in Toyota’s Opportunity Exchange, an annual event that attracts 1,500 minority- and woman-owned companies that hope to do business with the auto and mobility company.

 “I started to meet a lot of people at Toyota — HR, [human resources] supplier diversity leaders, procurement leaders, they held local and corporate positions,” Santana said. “We provided professional talent initially and many of Toyota’s suppliers came to us for all types of talent. It wasn’t until 10 years later in 2014, after building relationships at all levels, that Toyota came to us and said, ‘we have an opportunity for you.’ I’m thinking this is my big opportunity to provide tons of staffing for them.”

With a chuckle, she added, “They said it was to assemble truck beds for them. I said, ‘you want me to do what?’ They said they liked us and trusted us and the rest they would teach us. Immediately, I said yes. So here we are, almost 10 years later. We have grown tremendously here and also followed them into Mexico. The ultimate goal was to grow our business on both sides of the border and provide opportunities for employment.

“When Toyota hired us, they wanted us to provide fully assembled truck beds, with us buying all the parts and doing the assembly,” she continued. “It’s great to be of service to them. We started assembling 500 truck beds a day. Today, we assemble upwards of 800 truck beds a day on the Texas side and 600 a day on the Mexico side.

“I believe in building relationships, but I also believe in providing solutions to client challenges,” Santana said. “One thing they saw in us was our ability to run a business and identify talent and they believed we could do more than just provide people to them. It’s very exciting.”

After launching our BPO company, Oveana to provide contact center solutions, “we began pursuing business with other divisions of Toyota and they eventually gave us an opportunity to provide contact center services to Toyota Financial Services,” Santana said. “That business has grown nicely, and we now have a couple of other Toyota programs we manage through Oveana.”

 Added Navarro Velesiotis: “Toyota took a chance on us. They believed in us, and we have learned so much from them and continue to do so. Without that trust and vision on their end, we would not have been able to grow these businesses and create all the jobs that we have. We took the opportunity we were given and put everything into it.”

Toyota emphasizes how to deliver the best customer experience possible when selecting its contractors, said Bonnie Clinton, vice president and chief procurement officer, Indirect Procurement Shared Services, Toyota.

Santana and her companies are “emersed in always improving and delivering value to Toyota,” she said. “Her way of thinking and developing her team is so strategic, especially her succession plans. She is ahead of the curve. Our partnership is mutually beneficial.

“I have known Rosa and her leadership team for over 10 years,” she continued. “We connect regularly about future opportunities and the current work under contract. She checks in to understand how satisfied Toyota is with their performance and if there are opportunities to improve. Rosa also is proactive in bringing new or improved business opportunities to us.”

The can-do attitude is something Santana has taught both of her daughters.

“It’s pretty bold of us, but I always tell people we can do it,” Santana said. ‘’I always knew I could do anything I set my mind to do. I thrive on making deals happen, but it is more important to deliver results! This means professional growth for my team members because it means more job opportunities and more opportunity to impact our communities. It’s a whole package. And yes, ultimately, we’re in business to create wealth.”

Aside from impacting communities through job creation, she gives back to the community through mentoring and volunteering with a long list of organizations that includes the United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, Latino Business Action Network and Women’s Business Council Southwest as well as Greater SATX and San Antonio Greater Chamber of Commerce.

“I always tell people it’s not about luck. It’s about hard work,” Santana said. “The harder we work, the luckier we become. It’s about showing up, being at all the events. That phone is not going to just ring. You have to make it ring! Also, we have tremendous teams. We work hard to hire the right people and develop them appropriately.”

She advises other minority-owned businesses to be patient and persistent.

“Don’t give up,” she said. “Toyota said I was patient. I waited 10 years. Don’t ever lose contact with those companies you are pursuing. The follow-up is critical. When you’re an entrepreneur, you’re the primary salesperson for your business. Big companies don’t make decisions quickly and easily but be consistent with your pursuit of those companies.”!

To learn more about Santana Group, visit santanagrp.com.