One-on-One
Ernie C’de Baca, the new president and CEO of the Albuquerque Hispano Chamber of Commerce, is an optimistic person.
Although he sees many challenges facing his city and state, he prefers to focus on solutions and positives — while at the same time acknowledging “we can’t turn our backs on (the negatives).”
For C’de Baca, who took over as president and CEO in June, the biggest challenge in his position is informing the public. He wants to get the Hispano chamber’s name out into the community and notify small businesses that it is available to help and be their advocate.
He says his predecessor, Alex Romero, did “an amazing job,” which has made his transition much easier.
Looking forward, C’de Baca hopes he can help change the perception of New Mexico both in and out of state. “So often we focus on these negative things, and we don’t market all the good stuff we have: these beautiful mountains, 310 days of sunshine, the air isn’t muggy, no big ol’ bugs ... its a great place to live and do business.” Can you tell me a bit about your family growing up?
I have four older sisters, so I was kind of the miracle. It was like, “Ah, man, we got a boy finally.”
But I had the umbilical cord wrapped around my neck and I was in the incubator for about six or seven days because they didn’t think I was going to make it. So my parents, I was born on St. Timothy’s Day, and so my middle name is Timothy... don’t ever call me that (laughs).
But yeah, I was born in Los Alamos, (which) to me was Pleasantville. I lived between two doctors in government housing. I didn’t know the difference except that they had bigger cars.
I had a great education in Los Alamos, which I didn’t take full advantage of. But I was the captain on the basketball team. People still like to dig me about it because we were the No. 1 team in the big division and (sigh) we choked. (It was a) lastsecond shot in the first game of the state tournament to our coach’s alma mater, Hobbs. What about after high school? Then I went to UNM. I’ve been married 41 years. We dated in high school. The first time I saw her we were in junior high, and I thought she was the most beautiful girl in the world and I’d marry her one day, and sure enough that happened. And she still is. She is better-looking now than she was then. Way too good-looking for me, I’ll tell you that.
We have a great family. We have two sons. They both played professional soccer. My oldest son played in Monterrey, Mexico. And my youngest