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Immigrant businessman from Lawrence to attend State of the Union

E-mail|Link|Comments () January 27, 2010 12:26 PM

By Martin Finucane, Globe Staff

An immigrant businessman from Lawrence will be one of four people with Massachusetts ties who will be President Obama's guests at the State of the Union address tonight, the White House announced today.

Juan Yépez, with his brother Luis, immigrants from Ecuador, have over 10 years built a successful commercial real estate company, as well as Mainstream Global, a worldwide distributor of computer products, consumer electronics, and electronic components, the White House said.

The Yépez brothers received a 2009 Small Business Administration award for recovering from a major flood that destroyed almost $400,000 of inventory and managing to flourish in the midst of an economic downturn, the White House said.

"They believe that doing business in an area hit by 17 percent unemployment is more than just giving back and that hiring first generation Americans like themselves who want to work and contribute to society is the cornerstone of long-term success," the White House press office said in a statement.

The others who will be sitting in first lady Michelle Obama's box are Janell Holloway, a Harvard student from Washington, D.C.; and Army Sergeant First Class Andrew Rubin, who joined the Army in Boston in 1997 and leads a Ranger rifle company platoon.

Kim Munley, the police officer who responded to the Fort Hood, Texas, shooting and who once worked at a Newton bar, will also be sitting in the box.