La Gaceta Newspaper

Anthony Perez

By: Tiffany Razzano

As a first-generation American, Anthony Perez doesn’t take for granted how hard his family worked when they first moved to this country. In fact, he leans on their story and their early struggles as inspiration for his banking career and his work with Tampa’s Hispanic community.
His family were milk distributors in Cuba when Fidel Castro took control of the government. He was told by his parents that for a while, they went about their business, delivering milk. But one morning, in the mid-1960s, they were greeted by men with rifles outside their home. They were told they could either work on a government-run farm or leave the country. A plane sponsored by Catholic Charities was about to take off.
His family – his young parents, just teenagers at the time, and his maternal grandparents and uncle – chose to leave. Going back into their home with just enough time to pack a bag, they were rushed to the plane that was heading for Spain.
After two years living in Spanish homes sponsored by the Catholic Church, eventually they were placed permanently in the United States and immigrated to Chicago.
When they arrived, they didn’t have much money. But they were able to purchase a single car jack and used that to start a company fixing flat tires. For years, they focused on roadside assistance, but their business grew into an auto part distribution company, Garcia’s Auto Parts – named after his maternal grandfather – which at one point had 11 warehouses throughout the city of Chicago.
Perez especially recalls one childhood conversation with his uncle that shapes him to this day. When he was about 8 years old, his uncle took him for a drive and parked on the side of a street at one of Chicago’s busiest intersections. For a while, they watched people drive and walk by. Then his uncle said to him, “I want you to look around you. See all these beautiful people – he called them beautiful people. You know why I’m covered in oil and why I’m dressed like this? So you don’t have to be.”
Perez said, “That stuck with me. It’s always inspired me, always encouraged me while growing up. I had the freedom to be what I wanted to be. I’m grateful for that kind of upbringing.”
His parents lived modestly, sacrificing to send him and his sister to private school. When he was about 10 years old, they moved to Daytona Beach because he had severe asthma. His uncle ran the auto parts company day to day, while his father helped from afar and his mother went back to school to become a nurse.
From a young age, Perez dreamed of a career in the hotel industry. “I always wanted to own my own hotel,” he said. “I wanted to be the largest franchise owner of a Marriott hotel.” Growing up, many of his birthday parties had been held poolside at Marriott hotels, his parents renting space for him and his friends to play.
So he earned a full ride to the University of Central Florida, where he earned a degree in hotel management. His parents stressed the importance of education, he added. “Education was always super important. Education is something they can never take away from you.”
While attending UCF, he was awarded a coveted four-year internship at Marriott’s Orlando World Center. He hoped this would parlay into a permanent position after college, but after the 9/11 World Trade Center attacks, the hospitality industry took a hit, he said. “So it wasn’t moving at the pace I was hoping for.”
Instead, he said, “Bank of America found me.” The company held annual hiring events at the Marriott. So the recruiter asked Perez if he had ever considered a career in banking.
At first, he told them he wasn’t interested. But when Bank of America returned to the Marriott the following year, he had a different answer for them.
He was chosen as one of 15 for a selective training class, and was the only one of this class hired as a branch manager and given the keys to a bank – the other trainees were hired in different roles.
After several years with Bank of America, he returned to Chicago to work for the family business. “I thought, I have a degree. I’m a banker. I know what I’m doing,” he said. “But it’s very difficult to go from your feet in the sand to your feet in the snow. On top of that, I grossly underestimated what it takes to be a business owner.”
Still, he wanted to pay his dues and help his family. But work anxiety kept him up at night and distracted him from life. Eventually he had to tell his uncle that he didn’t think the family business was a good fit for him.
His uncle, understood, and told him, “Go back to Florida, kid. This was never meant for you.”
Perez took a job as Tampa branch manager of BMO Harris Bank. He had been looking for the right company to join. “I wanted to find an organization that would invest in me,” he said, and BMO Harris not only supported his earning an MBA, but funded his education at the University of South Florida.
After 11 years with BMO Harris, he left in October, as assistant vice president, to join the Bank of Tampa as vice president of commercial relationship management. “Everybody in Tampa knows, as a banker, that if you get an opportunity to be with the Bank of Tampa, you take it,” he said.
What he has come to appreciate most about banking is the community involvement. “Each bank touts this,” he said. “But I’ve been experiencing it now more than ever with the Bank of Tampa. I’ve got to give this bank tremendous credit, because they really put their money where their mouth is.”
Last year, the bank donated more than $700,000 to 200 local nonprofit organizations. So while other banks donate funds and services to charities, Bank of Tampa has more of an impact in the Tampa Bay area directly, Perez said.
While interviewing with Bank of Tampa, he was surprised by the accessibility of the company’s CEO, founder and other higher ranked employees. He was also surprised that much of the interview process focused on his passions, rather than his resume. “They were more interested in Anthony as a person than what Anthony can bring,” he said. “Instead, it was about what can we do for Anthony to make him the best he can be.”
When hired, he was given a budget to use to contribute to community organizations and events, and has been encouraged to give his time – even if it cuts into his work hours – to participate with these groups in a hands-on capacity.
Perez has always been interested in community work. “But now I get to do it at a much higher level,” he said.
Even before joining Bank of Tampa, he became a member of the city of Tampa’s Mayor’s Hispanic Advisory Board nearly three years ago. He’s currently in the midst of his second year as the group’s chair.
The group’s signature event is the Latinos Unidos luncheon, which drew nearly 550 people last year and since its inception has raised more than $1.4 million for college scholarships awarded to local Hispanic students to attend USF, the University of Tampa and Hillsborough Community College. This 20th annual event will take place May 8 at The Hilton hotel in downtown Tampa.
Through the help of the Vinik Foundation, the advisory board will launch a new event, Cafecito 813, April 11 at the HCC campus. The event will bring together leaders of various Hispanic serving organizations for networking and collaboration. “The problem in Tampa is there are so many organizations – so many of them – and none of them collaborate together. They’re very cards to the chest,” he said. “So we’ll all come together [at Cafecito 813] and take three to five minutes to share what each organization is doing, and then see how we can work together.”
He also sits on the board of USF’s Latino Foundation, and spends his time mentoring college students. After his grandmother, Olga Garcia, passed away in January, he and his cousins established a USF scholarship in her name.
“I can barely get my family out of the house in time for church,” Perez said, “and she took the family out of Cuba, to Spain and then Chicago. She took two trains and a bus to work every day for years. I guarantee you she was never late and never missed a day. So I said, you know what? We’re going to continue her legacy through this incredible, incredible program.”
Married for five years with three children of his own, supporting local youth has become one of his biggest passions. “Now that I have children myself, I’m kind of seeing the importance of this whole inspiration for kids,” he said. “People go on about this youngest generation – they’re entitled; they’re this; they’re that; they’re connected to their cell phones.”
But this couldn’t be further from the truth, he said. “Listen, I don’t know what young generation you’re looking at, but the generation I see every day that I work with through my mentorships are amazing people who are going to change this world in ways you’ve never dream up.”
While the scholarships for these young students are important, so, too, is the connection they have with older, successful individuals who can provide one-on-one insight and assistance. “I genuinely care about these young people,” Perez said. “It’s one thing to say they’re our future. But that’s bullshit. You can’t just say that. You need to take some kind of action. The scholarships are great. The information they need – they’re in the information age. They’ll find a way to get what they need. What they need is someone to tell them they’re amazing and give them that support.”