BUSINESS SECTION

By Karen Mahabir

The Herald Mexico/El Universal
August 17, 2005

How does Larry Rubin at age 30 become CEO of the American Chamber of Commerce of Mexico, charged with representing foreign companies who have invested US100 billion here?

He starts off, at age 9, by racing through airports, collecting and renting pushcarts to travelers. At 18, he's running a network of 1,000 clients for Amway, a direct sales company. Years later, while in college, he's tapped as general manager of a major U.S. commercial airline's operations in Mexico.

"I always knew I wanted to go into business," says Rubin, from a windowed office at the chamber's building on Lucerna, in Col. Juárez. In fact, he said, he found his calling as sophomore class president at the American School, when he organized a prom that actually earned a profit.

It also helped that Rubin was exposed to the travel industry at an early age. His mother, who is Mexican, worked for American Airlines and his father, from Cleveland, Ohio, ran a travel agency, as did Rubin's grandfather. As a result, the family was always traveling.

"We were all over the map," said Rubin, who's hit all but two continents: Australia and Antarctica.

Even at 13, Rubin was traveling to foreign cities by himself. His parents, he recalled, once sent him to London to pick up travel brochures, leaving him to find a hotel and get around, all on his own.

Three years later, he began working for Amway a company that brands its own products after his parents became involved in the business. In just two years, he had amassed 1,000 sales distributors in Mexico and was teaching others to build their own networks. He then joined the travel industry as a check-in and baggage agent for USAir.

Promoted to lost baggage agent, and then supervisor, he was then named the airline's general manager in Mexico City in 1996. He spent his evenings working toward a business administration degree at Anahuac University, and over the next seven years oversaw the airline as flights through Cancun, Cozumel and Mexico grew from 800 to 30,000 seats a month.

In 2003, when the airline filed for bankruptcy, Rubin switched gears. For a short while he worked for his uncle's corporation, Garcoa Labs, which produces private label products for big-name retailers like Walmart. Rubin started operations in Mexico City, and quickly built several clients.

Having served as voluntary chairman of the American Chamber's membership committee, as well as a vice president, over the past seven years, Rubin also continued to remain active within the organization. Then, in February of this year, Rubin took over its top full-time position: CEO and executive vice president.

Today Rubin heads one of the largest business chambers in the world, with 2,000 corporations that are responsible for about 2 million jobs in Mexico. In addition to U.S. investors, the chamber includes European and Japanese companies, as well as Mexican businesses ranging from small entrepreneurs to corporate giants like Telmex and Mexicana Airlines.

Through the chamber, corporations have the opportunity to network and lobby for shared interests. "Our golden rule is to lobby for what our members need," said Rubin.

The chamber also offers a job bank for people seeking positions within corporations, as well as an information service in which the chamber's staff will conduct research on behalf of a company's specific needs.

Rubin now hopes to encourage more corporations to the organization. He also wants to expand the chamber's breadth, attracting investors to areas like Queretaro, Puebla and Hidalgo. Since taking over, he's also changed the direction of the chamber's magazine, "Business Mexico," to include more trade and investment information, which better reflects the needs of the chamber's members, he said.

He wants the magazine to "become a vehicle and a voice for our members, and for the nonmembers … to know about investment and trade," he said. "We want to make sure that we're letting everybody know what we're doing."

As the country looks to the next presidential election, he said he also hopes that the candidates will recognize the importance of foreign companies in Mexico. Rubin who last year gained wide media attention as president of the Republicans Abroad chapter here said the chamber is apolitical, and doesn't favor a candidate.

"We're not for or against any of them, but we want to make sure that the three of them understand the importance of the role that American companies play in Mexico," he said, referring to the eventual candidates from the country's three main political parties. The more investment, he explained, the more jobs that will be created.

On a typically busy weekday afternoon, Rubin had plans to meet with the governor of the state of Hidalgo to discuss how to encourage foreign investment to the area. In the last month alone, he's also traveled to Guadalajara, Monterrey and Puerto Vallarta, as well as to Orlando, Fla. to strengthen the chamber's business ties.

Last month, he also made a special trip to Philadelphia to celebrate his girlfriend's 30th birthday. On it, they took a morning hot-air balloon ride, and Rubin proposed.

"The fog was just coming up, it was really romantic," he smiled.

Rubin and Nuria Vidal, a graphic designer who's halfSpanish and half-Mexican, plan to wed next year and to honeymoon in Australia. They were introduced by Rubin's mother, whose gym locker is next to Vidal's.

"I saw her coming down the steps and said, wow, she's beautiful," he said. "And my mom was right behind her, and that's when my mom introduced me."

The couple enjoy swimming together and Rubin is now trying to incorporate a bit of yoga into his schedule. In the little spare time he has, he also enjoys reading.

He's currently reading "The World is Flat," a look at globalization, by Thomas L. Friedman. And, when he's not picking that up, he's delving into "The Da Vinci Code," a best-selling mystery novel by Dan Brown.

"I actually like to read two books at a time," he said.

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Herald Mexico/El Universal article at: http://www2.eluniversal.com.mx/pls/impreso/noticia.html?id_nota=11604&tabla=miami

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