A builder of enterprise

Alice was already Alice Eduardo of Sta. Elena Construction & Development Corp. when she and I first met. She made her name in the construction industry as the go-to for difficult and demanding structural work long before we had the honor of having her as one of Go Negosyo’s mentors and supporters.

I recall this because I would have very much wanted to have known her when she was building her business. Her journey should be held up as an example of how entrepreneurship skills can go a long way in any industry, and it would have been fascinating to have followed her rise to the top of the construction business.

I don’t think she minds that her online popularity has been eclipsed by her sister, Small Laude (also one of our more popular Go Negosyo speakers). She commands much respect in her quiet yet commanding presence among businessmen. Even the MSMEs who come to our events are awed when we introduce her and her accomplishments. In fact, next week, her alma mater, the University of Santo Tomas, is conferring on Alice a Doctor of Commerce degree, honoris causa.

Alice was fortunate to have grown up in a family that ran several businesses, including rice milling and trading. Although her family was relatively well-off, Alice was tasked with several roles in running the business, and it was here that she was mentored from an early age in the basics of entrepreneurship.

She had a knack for spotting opportunities. According to the story, her first venture into the construction business began when a client, whom she was supplying rice to, mentioned that they needed steel splices for their construction project. Although she knew little about the business, she tried to find out everything she could about these parts used to extend beams and columns, and what needed to be done to procure them. Through sheer grit, the construction newbie was able to deliver the items to the client.

Many years later, she was deep into doing structural work when she noticed a demand for cranes. She had enough capital for only one crane (courtesy of a loan from her mother), so she decided not to buy but instead rent the other three cranes she needed to secure a contract for building the foundation for a power plant in Batangas.

When the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis hit, many companies, construction firms included, folded. Here is where Alice’s negotiating skills made all the difference. She restructured her loans and appealed to her US creditors’ patriotic pride by emphasizing that she used only American-made equipment. Her positive attitude gave her the strength to stick it out even as her competitors in the business were packing up their cranes and selling their companies.

So what accounts for such dogged determination? Alice has a passion for what she does. For example, one would think that the person behind one of the country’s largest and most successful engineering and contracting firms would be an engineer. Alice studied business administration but had a lifelong fascination for all things property and construction, especially the big ones. It’s no secret that she admires such grand structures as the Cultural Center of the Philippines and the San Juanico Bridge, and it speaks of her vision.

That she happened to be a woman also surprised many in a business dripping with machismo. She relied on mentors, learned on the ground and saw that she could use her skills in business as her advantage over the formally trained architects and engineers. She nevertheless respects the rigors of engineering enough to maintain the quality of her company’s work.

Her company’s reputation for delivering on time and on such complex requirements soon earned her large clients, most notably the SM Group, which entrusted her with key projects for their massive SM Mall of Asia development, including the MOA Arena and SM condominiums. Landmark projects in Entertainment City followed, and her portfolio now includes Solaire Resorts, City of Dreams, Okada Manila, and Resorts World (now Newport Resorts World) Manila.

Maybe it is because she knows what it’s like to build a business, literally from the ground up, that she has become such a big supporter of Go Negosyo. I recall that during one of our events for Filipina entrepreneurs, she was able to help a canteen operator from Leyte, who was at our event hoping to get some advice on how to restart her business after it was destroyed by Typhoon Yolanda. Alice offered not just advice, but an actual opportunity for the woman to take on the cafeteria requirements for Sta. Elena’s construction site in Parañaque City.

Her view is also quite far from insular. She was a big factor in the success of our ASEAN Business Advisory Council (BAC) chairship in 2017, helping us champion the cause of MSME development as a crucial growth factor for inclusive regional economic prosperity. At our OFW entrepreneurship event last 2022, Alice was also there to support our call for our overseas Filipinos to become entrepreneurs in the Philippines.

Our women-entrepreneur events are also never without Alice. At our most recent gathering in preparation for putting women entrepreneurship on our agenda for the ASEAN BAC chairship next year, she was there alongside us to add her voice to empowering women entrepreneurs across the region. And as the Philippines once again chairs ASEAN in 2026, I am sure we will see more of Alice in the months leading up to this important event.

Source: Go Negosyo - www.philstar.com