YPAC salutes young business careers

Jorge Parra, 24, is co-owner of Taqueria Jalisco on Rossville Avenue.

Tiffanie Robinson

Jorge Parra didn't start with an eye on a career in the restaurant business.

Parra had attended the Paul Mitchell School of hair design in Atlanta when he was summoned to enter the family venture.

"I went into it out of college. The family business was calling. I had to take over," he said Friday after winning the Entrepreneur of the Year award from the Young Professionals Association of Chattanooga.

Tiffanie Robinson, director of operations for Lamp Post Group, was named Young Professional of the Year by the Young Professionals Association. About 200 people attended the eighth annual YP awards program.

Parra, 25, is co-owner with his mother of Taqueria Jalisco, an eatery with locations in the Southside and Miller Plaza downtown. He took over day-to-day operations at the restaurants about four-and-a-half years ago.

He quipped Friday that he has done it all: take orders, sweep floors, clean bathrooms. Parra said he came to Chattanooga from his native Mexico about nine years ago.

"Family brought me to Chattanooga, and my father's job," he said.

His mother has lots of experience in the restaurant industry, and she is the mastermind of the Chattanooga restaurants, Parra said. The business was born out of a food truck that he and his mother, Maria, used to operate at the Chattanooga market.

The Southside location opened more than four years ago serving "authentic Mexican food," he said. The Miller Plaza location is nearly a year old.

"She's not as involved as she was, but pretty involved," he said.

Parra declined to give financial information about the eateries, but said business is doing well and increasing. By the end of the year, he hopes to open a tequila bar in the Southside.

Also, there's the possibility of franchising the business at some point, the restaurateur said. In addition, he'd like to expand to other cities. Atlanta and Nashville have been mentioned.

However, he cited Chattanooga as "an inviting city."

"It's where young people want to come and invest money and start new businesses," Parra said. "They feel like there's a lot of community support."

Robinson has a degree in communication from Lee University, and she previously worked with The River City Co. Lamp Post is a venture incubator that provides capital and mentorship to growing start-up businesses.

A founding member and former president of YPAC, Robinson said the group helped kickstart her career.

"It helped me dive into the community," she said. "I figured out I really loved leadership and to be in a leadership role in a city I absolutely adore."

Contact Mike Pare at mpare@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6318.