Alfred Burgos
President & EA
Burgos Income Tax, Inc.
Rochester, September 29, 2005 –Over the years, the Hispanic Business Association has identified people in different areas of the community, such as family-run business owners and upwardly mobile professionals. And, we’ve had many excellent candidates for this award. This year we’d like to honor a Hispanic businessperson who has well-earned his reputation as a hard-working entrepreneur, as well as a very dedicated community volunteer.
Alfred Burgos truly epitomizes the title “community servant.” His passion is not just growing his business but also assisting his community in growing. “To give back to our community in the form of jobs and involvement with community projects,” is actually part of his mission and vision statements.
However, he did not start out as a community entrepreneur. Alfred Burgos, the middle child of a family of seven children, was raised in the inner city of Rochester by parents, Jose and Liduvina (Lee-Doo-Vee-na) Burgos, who came to Rochester from Puerto Rico in 1954 looking for economic opportunity.
Burgos began his professional career with General Motors. Although he continues to work a full time job with Delphi Automotive (formerly the Rochester Products Division of General Motors), his dream had been to own his own business.
For years, his sister Vilma, had been doing his income taxes but when she moved away from Rochester, Alfred tried his hand at tax preparation. He got a part-time job with a national tax firm and soon realized that this was something he enjoyed and did well.
Burgos’ next venture was volunteering for the Internal Revenue Service and began a Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program at the Puerto Rican Youth Development and Resource Center.
He contacted local colleges, family, and friends to volunteer. His goal was to help the low-income families in the Clinton Avenue area with their income tax returns at no fee. Alfred did this for seven years.
In 1991, Burgos started Burgos Income Tax out of his home. By 1998 his clientele grew to 400. His small home office couldn’t accommodate his growing business, so he decided to lease a commercial location. His first location, which is his corporate office today, is at 1765 N. Clinton Avenue. Business continued to increase, demonstrating a real need in the community for tax and financial services.
In January 2002 Alfred opened his second location and a third office opened in January of 2005. Burgos now employs 29 individuals during the tax season, and the company has grown its client base to over 1,600 by 2005. His corporate office, with a small staff that works year round, is available to his customers 12 months of the year. His staff is very diverse; among them they speak Spanish, English and Laotian. In 2003, Burgos expanded his office space by 1,300 square feet for education, training and financial services.
Burgos gives credit to the success of his income tax business to his great team of employees and the systems he has in place.
Alfred Burgos has received numerous awards and citations for his commitment to the community, including the HLDP Role Model for Leadership Award. He was honored by the US Dept of Treasury for his years of service as a VITA coordinator. He also was recognized by PRYD for his contributions to the Good Grades Pay program.
He is married to Ana Colon-Burgos and is the proud father of three children, Aliana, Melissa and Luis.
