Chamber honors minority business leaders

Chamber honors minority business leaders

Manny Barajas, left, Malisa Bryant and Leo Barajas. Courtesy Michigan West Coast Chamber of Commerce

Three minority business leaders have been honored by a chamber of commerce in the region.

The Holland-based Michigan West Coast Chamber of Commerce presented this spring the Minority Business of the Year award to twins Manny Barajas and Leo Barajas of MI Home Group, a real estate agency powered by Coldwell Banker.

The chamber also presented this spring the Minority Business Champion award to Malisa Bryant, SVP of North America and global sales at Herman Miller.

Manny Barajas and Leo Barajas began their real estate careers with Coldwell Banker in 2003 and started MI Home Group in 2015. Since then, their agency has grown to nine realtors, six of whom are bilingual in Spanish and English.

The business that receives the award must be a member of the West Coast Chamber, must be a minority-owned business, must have been in business for at least three years and demonstrate “strong financial stability.”

Bryant joined Herman Miller in 2013 and is accountable for building and coordinating sales teams and creating training and development curriculums to complement the sales strategies.

The award recipient must work for a West Coast Chamber member firm, “promote or positively impact” the minority business community and “value diversity and promote appreciation of differences.”