How the Valley’s SBA business owner of the year built a 300-employee caregiving company

About four years ago, Blanca Elina Perez started a home health company from scratch after seeing her daughter’s arduous recovery from surgery following a chronic illness in high school. 

That company, Amor Eterno Provider Services LLC in Brownsville, now employs more than 300 people. 

Perez was honored Wednesday as the Small Business Person of the Year by the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Lower Rio Grande Valley District.

The designation was part of the SBA’s celebration of National Small Business Week, an event hosted in Weslaco by the Rio Grande Valley Partnership. 

Perez, who said the award belongs to her employees, was inspired to get into the healthcare industry after one of her daughters spent years requiring extensive caregiving. Her daughter was temporarily bed-bound following a surgery, but she has since recovered. 

“My daughter had a major change in condition when she was 15 years old. And so I saw different caregivers and medical professionals come to her aid, and from there I felt a calling to do better and to serve,” she said. “And I’ve been serving since.”

Perez, who was trained in business administration, previously volunteered as a Court-Appointed Special Advocate (CASA). Under the court-sanctioned program, adults offer unbiased expertise on the best outcomes for children in the foster care system.

For decades, Perez also ran Boogedy Bear’s Partyland, an event company in Brownsville. But the serial entrepreneur sold her stake in the party business when her daughter became ill. 

Today, Amor Eterno offers in-home caregiving services to older adults, individuals with disabilities, and veterans across the Valley. 

There’s no nursing or physical therapy, but caregivers help with daily living tasks. Sometimes that means the agency also provides respite care, a program in which outside caregivers can relieve relatives responsible for providing most of the patient’s care. 

“So when you are caring for a loved one, you do need a break,” Perez said. “So we’re able to place a vetted caregiver in your loved one’s home so that you’re able to minimize caregiver burnout.”

The company has secured contracts with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, the Texas Health and Human Services Commission, and the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, among other agencies. 

“Starting a home care agency is definitely a challenge. To be able to get state contracts and federal contracts, there are protocols, and it is tough,” Perez said. “But with the great team that we have, we were able to navigate the credentialing, then of course have the team members out in the field who just do a great job with our clients.”

She believes her biggest challenge is making sure that patients receive the quality care that her company promises. 

“I think that for the future I would like to be able to cover the entire Rio Grande Valley and serve with compassion and dignity in all the homes,” Perez said. 

Her biggest piece of advice to other business owners was to understand themselves and dedicate their lives to a purpose.

“Have passion and perseverance…when you have a mix of those, you’re going to do big things,” she said. 

The SBA’s Lower Rio Grande Valley District, which covers 14 counties across South Texas, also recognized several other small business owners in different categories.

For example, the home-based Small Business of the Year was awarded to Luis C. Castro of TXQ Rubs in Brownsville. The company is already on H-E-B shelves and is in discussions with big-box retailers to expand its South Texas barbecue spice mix. 

Lorena Montiel, owner of 956 Coffee LLC in Brownsville, was named the Young Entrepreneur of the Year. Montiel has grown her specialty coffee roastery into an operation that employs 30 people. 

The other honorees included: Blue Collar Small Business of the Year: David Navarro of Soil Tech Advance Inc. in McAllen; Family-owned Small Business of the Year: Erica Marie Ortega of Heavenly Angels Christian Daycare in Harlingen; Veteran-owned Small Business of the Year: Gilbert Morin Perez, of Fresh Coat Painters in McAllen; Women-owned Small Business of the Year: Angelica Cardoza of Dance Time LLC in Weslaco; and Small Business Manufacturer of the Year: Randi Laine Hamlyn, of Indigo Laine & Co. in Stinton.