CLEANING UP; VALLEY MAINTENANCE FIRM MAKES LATINO `FORTUNE 500'.

Byline: Enrique Rivero Daily News Staff Writer

Fernando Real learned Tuesday that his Sun Valley building maintenance company was in this year's Hispanic Business magazine list of the nation's 500 largest Latino-led firms - and only then got the news from a relative.

``My brother-in-law called,'' said Real, the 46-year-old chief executive officer of Professional Building Maintenance Co. ``And then he asked me for a $100,000 loan.''

The $6.2 million-a-year firm is one of four San Fernando Valley-area companies in the magazine's 15th annual list, which appears in its current issue.

This year was the first time on the list for Professional Building, which delights Real to no end. The company came in at No. 467.

``We never expected the company to grow to the present size - it's exciting,'' said Real, who bought the 40-year-old company in 1984 with a partner who has since become a Sacramento-area pastor. Since buying the company, revenues have grown more than 20-fold.

Others in the list are Valencia-based aerospace electronics distributor RAM Enterprises Inc., the highest-ranked of the local group at No. 112 with $29.7 million in revenues; Burbank-based Trans-National Motor Cars Inc., an $8.9 million-a-year automotive sales and services company that ranked No. 376; and Pre-Con Products, an $8.8 million concrete products manufacturer in Simi Valley that came in at No. 378.

It's not an easy list to compile, said Alisha Diaz, senior research associate for the 200,000-circulation magazine.

The magazine received 1,000 responses from some 14,000 questionnaires sent out. Diaz called the response rate ``a good sample'' and an accurate reflection of the nation's most successful Latino-owned companies.

``It has a good reputation,'' Diaz said of the list. ``It's kind of like the Fortune 500 of Latino-owned companies - that's how we explain it to a lot of people.''

RAM, Trans-National and Pre-Con have appeared on the list before. In fact, RAM and Pre-Con are used to it, having popped up several times in the past.

Each time RAM has moved further up the rung, according to company President Richard Monstein, whose Mexican-born wife, Maricela, is the majority shareholder in the privately held firm.

Maricela, chief executive officer of RAM, was not available for comment.

Richard Monstein credited the company's 36 employees with pushing RAM ``up the pole.''

``Any company as a company is the sum of its parts,'' he said. ``We have a lot of good parts.''

Though Pre-Con didn't appear last year, the company has been on the list at least six other times, said chief executive David Zarraonandia.

``We're certainly happy to be on it, but it doesn't really change how we operate the business,'' he said.

Professional Building Maintenance counts as clients CBS studios in Studio City, Blue Cross in Woodland Hills and, as it happens, the Daily News, according to Real.

Real, who has been in the maintenance industry 31 years, bought the business with a partner in 1984, when it had $280,000 in annual revenues. That partner left in 1987.

Those initial years weren't easy. Revenues could not keep pace with costs, in part because a client whose own business was in trouble couldn't pay his bills. But Real and his former partner kept at it.

``We did a lot of the work ourselves just to keep our cash flow going,'' Real said. ``We did the work in one of the buildings just to put food on the table.''

In 1987, Professional Building merged with a profitable, $25,000-a-month firm in the city of San Fernando. That merger made all the difference in keeping Professional Building afloat.

``It took us six months to turn Professional around,'' Real said. ``At the end of six months, after 16-, 18-hour days, we were able to make both companies profitable, and we've never looked back since.''

AT THE TOP

Below are the area companies that made Hispanic Business magazine's 15th annual listing of the nation's 500 largest Latino-led companies. The companies are listed by their rank. To be included, a company must be at least 51 percent Latino-owned by United States citizens, and must be based in one of the 50 states or in Washington, D.C. Companies were required to submit revenues as listed on their tax forms.

NAME (Ranking): RAM Enterprises Inc. (112)

ADDRESS: 24940 Ave Tibbitts, Valencia

TYPE OF BUSINESS: Aerospace electronics distributor

CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER: Maricela Monstein

ANNUAL REVENUE: $29.7 million

NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES: 36

NAME (Ranking): Trans-National Motor Cars Inc. (376)

ADDRESS: 1827 N. Keystone St., Burbank

TYPE OF BUSINESS: Automotive sales and services

CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER: Marc A. Castro

ANNUAL REVENUES: $8.9 million

NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES: 2

NAME (Ranking): Pre-Con Products (378)

ADDRESS: 240 W. Los Angeles St., Simi Valley

TYPE OF BUSINESS: Concrete products manufacturing

CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER: David Zarraonandia

ANNUAL REVENUES: $8.8 million

NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES: 65

NAME (Ranking): Professional Building Maintenance Co. (467)

ADDRESS: 8523 Lankershim Blvd., Sun Valley

TYPE OF BUSINESS: Building maintenance services.

CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER: Fernando Real

ANNUAL REVENUE: $6.2 million

NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES: 450

SOURCES: Hispanic Business magazine; Daily News

CAPTION(S):

Photo, Box

PHOTO (Color) CFO Paul Newman, left, and President and CEO Fernando Real of Professional Building Maintenance Co. traveled a long road to success.

Hans Gutknecht/Daily News

BOX: AT THE TOP (see text)