Pueblo has a new claim to its moniker as the “Home of Heroes” after a new report found the Pueblo metro area has the fourth most veteran-owned businesses in the country among cities of similar size.

According to the report by hireahelper.com, approximately 9.3% of Pueblo businesses are owned by veterans, which amounts to 216 businesses employing 1,195 workers. Nationwide, about 5.7% of businesses are owned by veterans.

U.S. Marine Corps veteran Ray Romero, a Pueblo native who served in the infantry from 1984 to 1988, became one of those veteran entrepreneurs when he returned home from the service and set a goal to start his own business.

“I learned printing in high school at Centennial and took graphic arts all four years,” Romero said. “When I got out of the military, I worked at a small print shop in Colorado Springs for a couple of years.”

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After learning the ropes of the printing industry, he and two business partners opened My Friend the Printer, 410 W. Fifth St., in 1990.

After 32 years in business, he said he’s proud the print shop has grown to seven employees and been able to survive “a recession, COVID and the after-effects of COVID.”

“It’s a challenge but we are working through it,” he said.

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Another local business owner, Darius Goshay of Pueblo Wireless Doctor, 301 N. Main St., No. 112, was serving in the U.S. Army at Fort Carson when his wife told him about a little town nearby with reasonable housing costs and good educational opportunities for their six children.

“I had never heard of Pueblo,” Goshay said. “My dad said, ‘It’s got a steel mill. You could work there.’

“I told him, ‘No offense, dad, but after 30 years of watching you work at the Chicago steel mill I don’t think I want to do that,’ ” he recalled.

At first, Goshay worked for a large cellphone corporation that offered few options for service plans and fixing old phones.

“I saw an opportunity to have a cellphone repair shop for someone like a grandma who is on a fixed budget and can’t afford a new phone,” he said.

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Goshay opened Pueblo Wireless Doctor 10 years ago and said there have been good days and bad days being a business owner.

He said the COVID-19 pandemic had a domino effect on businesses but local resources like the Southern Colorado Business Development Center, SCORE Pueblo and Pueblo Economic Development Corp. have helped his business survive.

“It’s been fun, and I like Pueblo,” Goshay said of his time running Pueblo Wireless Doctor. “I am a people person and I have enjoyed getting closer to the community.”

Researching Latino business impacts keeps former Marine busy

Another Marine Corps veteran, George Autobee, started his World Demographic Research business nearly 30 years ago after getting involved with the U.S. Hispanic Chamber and finding his niche tracking the impact of Latino businesses.

He now helps chambers throughout the country track the number of Latino-owned businesses, the number of employees they hire and the gross receipts they bring into their communities.

The work has “been a dream come true,” he said, as it has enabled him to travel across the country to make presentations and train staff.

He grew up in Pueblo and finds it an ideal location for his business, most of which is done on the computer. Because Colorado is in the middle of the country, he said he can easily travel to either coast for presentations.

Autobee was wounded twice in combat during his tour with the Marines from 1968 to 1969. He returned to civilian life, obtained undergraduate and graduate degrees and returned to the reserves, serving 10 years in the medical corps.

His work has led him to meet former President George H.W. Bush and host programs on Telemundo Spanish Television in Denver.

“I grew up on the lower east side of Pueblo and in my mind, I never thought I would be shaking hands with a U.S. president in the White House,” he said. “I love working with the U.S. Hispanic Chamber and seeing the impact we’ve had.”

Autobee also has taught Chicano studies at Colorado State University Pueblo on the same campus he once led a student demonstration to insist Chicano studies be added to the university’s curriculum, ,back when it was Southern Colorado State College.

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Why Pueblo is popular among veterans

Veteran Ernesto Montoya — an entrepreneur who sells New U Life products — said he moved from Colorado Springs to Pueblo because he’s found Pueblo “to be more military-friendly and giving.”

Montoya served in the Colorado National Guard and Air Force Reserves before going to work with a Colorado Springs computer chip factory in the 1980s. He got tired of being laid off from jobs in the industry and decided to join the U.S. Army in 1986.

Montoya, who retired after 19 years in the army, said the military affairs group he attends each Friday through the Pueblo Military Affairs Committee of the Greater Pueblo Chamber of Commerce has been particularly helpful in his journey as a business owner.

The group is run by Ava DeHerrera, military affairs coordinator for the chamber.

“There is nothing comparable in Colorado Springs and it is very informative,” Montoya said. “Ava really helps a lot and I am so thankful for everything she has done.”

“They are a great group,” DeHerrera said. “It is awesome and I think it is great,” that Pueblo has such a large number of veteran-owned businesses.

Latino Chamber of Commerce President and Chief Executive Officer Noah Commerford said he was unaware Pueblo had so many veteran-owned businesses and his office is seeking to track veteran entrepreneurs more closely.

“That is a really good stat to showcase for Pueblo,” Commerford said. “We recently just added a line on our membership application for veteran-owned status, so that we can start highlighting veteran-owned businesses in the future.”

Chieftain reporter Tracy Harmon covers business news. She can be reached by email at tharmon@chieftain.com or via Twitter at twitter.com/tracywumps.

This article originally appeared on The Pueblo Chieftain: Pueblo ranks fourth in nation for number of veteran-owned businesses