Push Admin

Filipina CEO in NJ pays success forward with scholarship

The Filipina CEO of a leading specialty building materials distributor in the U.S. is paying her success forward with a scholarship program in New Jersey.

Article (news)

Don Tagala

TFC News

<div><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/hb8NBgrhP7U?&amp;ab_channel=ABS-CBNNews&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe> </div>At 72 years old, Lita Marcelo-Abele is at the helm of a multimillion-dollar enterprise in South Jersey.She is the president and CEO of U.S. Lumber, a building supplies business established by her husband in 1974.Today, U.S. Lumber is an industry leader in specialty plywood and building products in the tri-state area. Its clients range from state colleges and casinos in New Jersey, stadiums in Philadelphia, to skyscrapers like the World Trade Center in New York City.&quot;I always wanted to be a boss, or [have] my [own] business,&quot; said Marcelo-Abele. &quot;I never thought my dream would come true.&quot;After finding success as a woman and minority-owned business – Marcelo-Abele is giving back by helping young women achieve their dreams with an initial $10,000 endowment scholarship to Rowan College of Southern Jersey.“Instead of us being the recipient of an endowment or scholarship, here is a Filipina giving the scholarship to her community,” said Philippine Consul General Senen Mangalile. “I hope it inspires other Filipino-Americans who are in that position.”Said Rowan College president Fred Keating: “What we hope will happen is other businesses, other women who lead businesses, will speak to, mentor our students, encourage them.”The educational institute also named its new Women’s Institute for Business Studies after Marcelo-Abele.“It is amazing to be able to name this institute after someone who’s overcome so much and has shown what it takes to be a successful woman in business,” said Lauren DeMarco, a board member of the institute. Marcelo-Abele was a high school teacher in the Philippines before she came to the U.S. in 1981. She worked as a housekeeper and babysitter so she could provide for her family back home.Little did she know that she would be serving a family in three different households in New York. Marcelo-Abele recalled working more than eight hours a day without overtime pay while her employer treated her like their personal slave.After pulling off an escape, she left her employer and found a better one who employed her as a nanny.But it was meeting and marrying her husband Merrill Leslie Abele that changed her life forever. Together, they formed a formidable team in business.“My husband and I [would] go out on the road,” she said. “He will be driving. I will be soliciting. I will be soliciting the business and then when they call to get prices, I give it to my husband because that is his forte. That&#x27;s how I became the CEO of U.S. Lumber.”Today, her husband owns 46% of the business. Her daughter, Romilett, owns six percent, and Marcelo-Abele has 48. This, then, qualified U.S. Lumber as a woman-owned, minority-owned business.

The Filipina CEO of a leading specialty building materials distributor in the U.S. is paying her success forward with a scholarship program in New Jersey.