Cox Announces Latina Entrepreneurs of the Year

For the sixth year, Cox Communications is honoring two outstanding Valley Latina entrepreneurs, Sandra Flores and Rosie Magaña, whose talent and leadership are perfect examples of the ever growing women-owned businesses here in Arizona.

Sandra Flores

Rosaura Rosie Magaña

According to a 2015 White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanics study, Latinas own more than one million businesses in the U.S., and one in 10 of all women-owned firms in the United States is owned by a Latina. Latina owned businesses are also growing at a much faster rate than businesses for all women—over 200 percent versus 32 percent between 1997 and 2014.

“Cox Communications has a long tradition of supporting businesses here in Arizona not only by providing communication services throughout the southwest, but by being a true partner and resource for business success. We salute the successes of Latina entrepreneurs like Sandra and Rosie. They are great examples of local business leaders who are contributing to our thriving economy,” said John Wolfe, Senior Vice President and Southwest Regional Manager, Cox Communications.

Cox has partnered with the Arizona Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, Azteca America Phoenix, Prensa Hispana and Urbana Magazine to honor Latina business owners Sandra Flores and Rosie Magaña.

The honorees will be featured in 30-second spots produced by Cox Media in English and Spanish and will run on air on Azteca America Phoenix and across the Cox channel lineup during July. In addition, they will also be profiled in Prensa Hispana and Urbana Magazine as well as through the Chamber’s communication vehicles.

“One of Arizona’s most vibrant market forces is its Latina entrepreneurial sector,” said Monica Villalobos, a small business owner and vice president of the Arizona Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. “With more than 50 percent of the 120,000-plus Hispanic-owned companies statewide owned by women, the Cox Latina Entrepreneurs of the Year initiative taps right into the vanguard of state economic trends.”

Sandra Flores: owner of Azukar Coffee

Sandra Flores opened Azukar Coffee in 2017, the first locally owned coffee shop in the South Phoenix neighborhood in which she grew up. Azukar Coffee has become a true meeting place, filled with neighborhood locals enjoying specialty lattes like Agave Mesquite (made with locally crafted agave and mesquite syrups), Cafe Con Leche, and the Caramelo Mio, a velvety drink made with cajeta, a traditional caramel-like Mexican confection.

Rosaura “Rosie” Magaña: owner of Palabras Bilingual Bookstore

Palabras provides the Phoenix community with a unique selection of books in Spanish and English, representing a diverse cultural representation of authors and topics. Palabras is much more than a bookstore. It is a safe and encouraging environment for inter-cultural community exchange, providing the community with opportunities to share literary, visual and musical art through workshops and events held at Rosie’s store.

Cox Communications Arizona
Cox Communications is the third largest cable provider and a multi-service broadband communications company serving nearly 3 million residential and business product subscribers in Arizona (a product subscriber represents an individual service purchased by a customer). In metro Phoenix, Cox serves approximately 2.5 million product subscribers. In Southern Arizona, Cox serves approximately 400,000 product subscribers. Cox’s 15,000-mile hybrid fiber coaxial cable network throughout Phoenix and Southern Arizona provides homes and businesses with digital television, high speed Internet, home networking, high-definition television and digital telephone service over its own nationwide IP network. Cox is the third largest private for-profit employer in Arizona.  During the past nine years, Cox has topped numerous J.D. Power and Associates’ studies of customer satisfaction, most recently receiving top honors for residential telephone & high speed Internet, and business data services and has received PC Magazine’s “people’s choice” award for the sixth time. Additionally, Cox High Speed Internet has been ranked #1 for the past seven years on the “Ranking Arizona-Best of Arizona Business” list. Cox Media is responsible for the sale of cable advertising throughout Arizona. Cox Communications is a wholly owned subsidiary of Cox Enterprises Inc and serves approximately 6 million customers nationwide. Additional information about Cox in Arizona is available at www.cox.com/arizona.