Hector Romero, CEO and President of Sanesco International, was named “Entrepreneur of the Year” at the 31st Annual Minority Enterprise Development (MED) Awards. A natural-born leader and savvy businessman, Romero built Sanesco from the ground up with the vision of improving global healthcare and optimizing clinical outcomes for individuals and families worldwide.
Hector Romero was instrumental in bringing the first-ever urinary neurotransmitter test for clinical use in the United States and founded the first company in the world to offer a complete clinical model specialized in arming physicians with non-invasive laboratory testing for neurotransmitters and non-drug treatments to rebuild neurotransmitters naturally within the body. He was specifically interested the patient-driven demand for natural options and the growing need for healthcare practitioners to identify the underlying root causes of their patients’ symptoms and conditions aside from treating or masking symptoms solely with pharmaceuticals.
A native of Venezuela, Romero planted roots in Western North Carolina over 16 years ago with his wife and son as he accepted a position as Director of International Business Development at Great Smokies Laboratories (now Genova Diagnostics). His passion for furthering the knowledge and understanding of the body’s communication system and his determination the address the underlying root causes of chronic symptoms and conditions, such as depression, anxiety, insomnia, ADD/ADHD among many others related to neurotransmitter and hormone imbalances, led to the incorporation of Sanesco International, Inc. in December of 2004.
For nearly a decade, Sanesco has specialized in furthering the knowledge and understanding of the HPA Axis (Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal Axis) and improving patient quality of life worldwide. By developing innovative clinical tools for clinicians to improve patient outcomes, Sanesco has emerged as a leader in assessing, monitoring and correcting neurotransmitter and hormone imbalances. Hundreds of clinicians and more than 120,000 patients worldwide have reaped the benefits of Sanesco’s NeuroWellness Program™.
“Hector is the epitome of integrity and passion,” said Amy Shaffer, project manager at Sanesco. “I am so honored to work with him each day and have the opportunity to learn from the best.”
Ironically, the Western North Carolina MedWeek Award ceremony was held at Homewood Castle in Asheville, a very familiar venue for Romero, as his office at Great Smokies Laboratory once occupied space in this historic building.
“Everything came full circle,” stated Romero. “I couldn’t be more honored to accept this award as a living testimony and inspiration to entrepreneurs to challenge the status quo, persevere and follow their vision.”
Romero added, “In the future, I believe medicine will no longer be segmented or confined into ‘mainstream’, ‘integrative’ or ‘alternative’ boxed-in approaches, but rather become fully encompassed and accepted as just medicine. Similarly, I am hopeful that exceptional business owners, regardless of being among a majority or minority, will be simply that, just exceptional business owners.”
About MED Week: Celebrating the outstanding achievements of minority-owned businesses, MED Week honors entrepreneurship and the development of minority businesses in Western North Carolina. Since 1982, the U.S. President has proclaimed a National MED Week to recognize the achievements of minority businesses and to honor those corporations and financial institutions that support minority business development. The national MED Week conference is held in Washington, DC each year and is the largest federally sponsored conference for minority entrepreneurs.
