| Strictly Business Magazine |
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| Strictly Business Magazine Copyright 1990-2003 A division of S&S Enterprises, a Floyd Snyder Production. Santa Maria, California. |
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| Biography Abel Maldonado is the son of immigrant field workers. Like many other immigrants, his father had come to this country with little more than the shirt on his back and a belief that this country could provide him and his family the opportunity to share in the American Dream. As a child, Abel worked the fields, picking strawberries alongside his father to help support the family. The Maldonado family was a family of sacrifice, saving, planning, and investing for the future. After graduating from Santa Maria High School, Abel attended Cal Poiy San Luis Obispo, where he majored in Crop Science. Maldonado took the business ideas he learned in college back to the small family farm. Because of his family's dedication and commitment to hard work, Maldonado has seen that small farm grow into a company that now farms over 2,000 acres and employs over 250 people. Frustrated by the bureaucracy of local government, Abel ran for and was elected to the City Council at the age of 26. Two years later, he was elected Mayor by defeating a two-term incumbent. After guiding the city out of a financial crisis, Maldonado took his leadership style to Sacramento when he was elected to the State Assembly in 1998. He has since been re-elected twice by overwhelming numbers. While in Sacramento, Maldonado has proven himself an independent voice for his constituents on the Central Coast. He has worked with members of both parties to do what's right for California. He has helped enact legislation to raise academic performance in our schools, make schools and neighborhoods more secure, and improve the quality of health care. He has been a strong voice for the environment and for the protection of our coast. He remains committed to the fundamental values he was raised on - fiscal responsibility, personal accountability, and a strong work ethic. These guiding principles have allowed him to partake of the American Dream and he continues to work hard to provide others the opportunity to share in that dream. |
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