Susana Maria Chavez
Vice President and Southeast Regional Manager
As vice president and Southeast Regional Manager of Parking Company of America, Inc. (“PCA”), Susana Maria Chavez oversees a facility development and management operation 38,000 parking spaces and 450 employees.
Susana’s ability to create and grow successful businesses was evident early on. After graduating from the University of California Berkeley in 1977 with a Bachelor’s Degree in English Literature, she spent two years traveling and working throughout the United States, Mexico, and Central America. But then came a turning point: upon returning to the United States to study business finance and marketing she joined her sister, Andrea, in renovating a historic building in Albuquerque, New Mexico and launching Sante, A Health Spa for Women. It was here that Susana’s acumen for business and customer service truly began to blossom.
In 1980, Susana joined Parking Company of America, Inc. and moved to Atlanta, Georgia where she was promoted through the ranks to her current position as vice president. Her engrained customer service focus, management skills, and “go-the-extra-mile” attitude were essential elements underlying the consistent growth of the parking operations under her team’s control.
Then in 1998 came a monumental challenge: Susana was named general manager of PCA’s Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport parking operations. With 31,000 parking spaces and a staff of 550, PCA’s Hartsfield-Jackson facilities generated annual revenue exceeding $77 million dollars. Under her direction, the management structure was reconfigured for greater efficiency and cost savings, while adding 5,000 parking spaces. Most impressively, during her tenure as general manager the Hartsfield-Jackson parking operation won two “Top of Flight” customer service awards from the City of Atlanta’s Department of Aviation.
The achievements by PCA’s Atlanta office were recognized again in 2002, with Susana being assigned responsibility for growing the company’s presence throughout the Southeast. Moving from the responsibilities of managing day-to-day operations to developing new business created a new set of personal and professional challenges, which Susan tackled eagerly.
The results achieved by her team of experts since then have been impressive. They aggressively expanded the company’s operations in Dallas, Texas. They also added 14 new properties to PCA’s Atlanta portfolio. One of her most visible accomplishments: completing her first from-the-ground-up development in Atlanta - a 300-space parking facility in Midtown.
Susana’s interests in growing successful businesses and sharing her knowledge and experience have led her to various forms of service in the business community.
She was appointed to the Atlanta Commission on Women in 2003, where she founded and chaired the “Women Doing Business in the City of Atlanta” annual conference. The event has grown from a simple, three-hour reception to a full-day conference promoting and educating women entrepreneurs in the City of Atlanta about procurement process as well as providing a variety of business classes. Susana was named chair of the Commission in January 2008.
Susana also serves as the treasurer on the executive board of HACED (the educational arm of the Georgia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce), and in 2007 received the chamber’s “Business Woman of the Year” award. She is the current co-chair of the Commercial Real Estate Women (CREW) Leadership Class of 2008, and a graduate of CREW Leadership Atlanta. She is a graduate of Leadership Atlanta 1998.
Going beyond business interests is also of vital concern to Susana, inspiring her to devote significant time to serving the philanthropic community.
She is immediate past president of the board for the Anti-Prejudice Consortium, and actively serves as a board member of the Metro Atlanta Arts Fund and the Atlanta Women’s Foundation. She has served on the board of directors of the International Family Center, The Georgia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and The Mexican Center of Atlanta.
Susana was nominated in 2006 for the “Woman of the Year” award by Atlanta Woman Magazine.
Happily married to “Enoah” John Cook, Susana has two children (Alegra, 22, and Salvador, 20), three stepchildren (Jeremiah, 28, Alicia, 26, and Julie, 24) and two grandchildren (Jayde, 9, and Emily, 2).
