Carmen Camacho:
Energizing Silver Spring

By Melissa Pachikara

After serving her community for three decades, Carmen F. Camacho has been welcomed as chair of the Greater Silver Spring Chamber of Commerce. Carmen is the Vice President of Bud Miller Associates, Inc., based in Silver Spring.

"Carmen Camacho is the right chairperson, at the right time," says Jane Redicker, president of the Greater Silver Spring Chamber of Commerce. "Here is a Latina woman who has operated a successful small business in downtown Silver Spring for some 30 years."

Nominated in April of this year and having served as chair of the fundraising committee the year before that, Carmen has been chair since July and will continue through June 30, 2006. Carmen brings to the position her experience working in the community and in business, her ability to work with diverse groups, and her love for Silver Spring.  

"It's an incredible time to be in Silver Spring," she says.

Carmen and her parents immigrated to the D.C. area from Cuba when she was seven years old.   She remembers arriving in the U.S. in winter and that the snow "looked like coconut flakes."   Her family settled in Adelphi.

Back then, there were no ESOL classes to help with acculturation, and only a very small community of Latinos lived in the area. Carmen picked up the English language on her own, realizing she needed to become Americanized very quickly.

Carmen began her first job as a social aide at the Spanish Speaking Community of Maryland, a job that came naturally to her.  

"I'm a social worker at heart," she says.  

Since then, Carmen's career has taken multiple turns. As part of her social work, she became a certified housing counselor.   She also worked in economic development, helping Latinos to set up businesses.   Later she began publishing In Flight magazine.   In the 1980s, she worked for a trade association, the Communications Fraud Control Association. In 1990, Carmen joined Bud Miller Associates, a company that sells awards and promotional items to trade associations, American embassies overseas, and the government.   The company was owned by Joe Camacho.

The two had much in common.   They were both single parents--Joe had two children (Michael who is now 25, and Lauren, now 22) from a previous marriage, and Carmen's two children from a previous marriage, Robert and Carlos, were the same ages as Joe's kids. Michael and Carlos became best friends. "And we also became best friends," Carmen said, speaking of herself and Joe.   The couple married in January 1999.

Carmen Camacho (second from left) celebrates with the community at the first Silver Spring Bike Race in July 2005.

"I married her because I think she is a wonderful person," Joe says.   "She's intelligent, compassionate, and very energetic.   She is a very social creature.   She's incredible with her social skills."  

Carmen mentors three young people who are all the first in their families to go to college.   She speaks with pride about all of them.  

"I love working with youth. That's one of my passions," Carmen says.  

Carmen is also on the executive board of Centers for Handicapped,   Inc. (CHI) which helps mentally and physically challenged individuals by providing them with day care, training, and group homes.      

Joe also offers his time to youth.   He refurbishes computers to donate to after- school programs for low income children.  

"We feel very strongly that successful business people need to give back to their communities.   We're both very active with youth programs," Carmen says.

Carmen describes her role models as women who succeeded and wonderful female friends.   In high school, she looked up to the single working mothers of her friends.  

She also has been influenced by Sally Sternbach, the first female to head the Chamber of Commerce and now Executive Director of Rockville Economic Development Inc.  

"She's a great feminist and just a sweetheart of a person," Carmen says.   

In giving advice to others who want to go into business, Carmen's first tip is "Research, research, research."   A lot of people like the idea of being their own boss, but they don't know what cash flow or marketing is, she says.  

Carmen also thinks that people from other countries may also not be accustomed to the rules here, because often in their native lands, they merely needed to start selling their goods.  

"Some people don't understand the concept of permits and licensing, or zoning and inspections," she said.

The county has some great programs for potential small-business owners, and many non-profits can help people to start or continue businesses, Carmen says.  

The Chamber of Commerce's web site, www.gsscc.org includes a "Help for Businesses" section as well.   

Carmen is enthusiastic about the redevelopment and growth in the area. She points to the Silver Spring Transit Center as a needed improvement, and believes that the Veteran's Plaza Civic Center, as originally planned, would be an asset. But she acknowledges that Silver Spring's flourishing has not been positive for all, given rising property costs in the area.

"We do have businesses that have been displaced that can no longer afford it here," she says.   "At the same time, we do have some small businesses that have moved in and have done extremely well," she says.    

She sees a very bright future for Silver Spring. Over the past decades, when commerce had slowed in Silver Spring and when businesses were boarded up, few young people were in the city, she says.   Now she sees much diversity.  

"Not just in ethnicity," she says, "but in age, also. Silver Spring is alive!"

And as Silver Spring's revitalization continues, Carmen herself will continue enlivening the community.  

"She's smart and savvy and can relate to and connect with chamber members regardless of their size or outlook," Redicker says. "As a leader of this business community, she's without peer."