COVER STORY : ULISES DIAZ
Horizon BCBSNJ Top Lobbyist “ A Force to be Reckoned With ”
Career built on hard work
By Diane C . Walsh Acting Editor
Regardless of what Ulises Diaz believes , luck was only been a backdrop in the career he built as one of the most influential lobbyists in New Jersey .
It began back in 1991 when he was “ lucky enough ” to get a call from North Bergen Mayor Nick Sacco ’ s chief of staff . He was recommending Diaz for a new government affairs-business development division that a former freeholder , Joseph Simunovich , was developing for the Hackensack Water Co .
Diaz equivocated because even though he didn ’ t like his job at Bankers Trust in Manhattan , he was unsure of the new position . “ I was making good money ,” he recalled , adding , “ the only thing I knew about Hackensack Water is the guy who read the meters .”
Simunovich grew up in West New York , like Diaz , and was willing to mentor him . “ I didn ’ t know a damn thing about politics ,” Diaz admitted . But with Sacco and Simunovich ’ s help , Diaz made contacts and learned the business .
“ I found my calling — I got lucky ,” said Diaz . He talks a lot about luck and fate . But the explanation falls short for a career that catapulted him over the last 30 years from Hackensack Water to Verizon and now senior leadership at Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey , the state ’ s oldest and largest health insurer .
“ He ’ s a force to be reckoned with and everybody in New Jersey knows it ,” said Kevin McArdle , who worked with Diaz at Horizon as a public affairs manager . McArdle said Diaz inspires loyalty in his staff with his credibility and character . “ He works behind the scenes . He ’ s not interested in the recognition . He ’ s just interested in the results .”
Dennis Bone , the former president of Verizon who recruited Diaz , said luck had nothing to do with his success . Bone saw how Diaz built trust and confidence with the regulators and lawmakers in Trenton . The former telecommunications executive described Diaz as constructive and insightful . “ He was really good a coming up with new strategies ” to solve a dilemma , Bone said .
Many of Diaz ’ s attributes are rooted in his Latino heritage which emphasizes hard-work , loyalty and determination . He was only 4 when his family fled Cuba after revolutionary Fidel Castro came into power . The Communist regime confiscated his father ’ s thriving business
“ To me , they made the sacrifices that any ethnic group or immigrants coming to this country makes , whether it ’ s Ethiopia , South America or Central America . We all go through a similar indoctrination ...”
forcing him to flee to Spain . A year later Diaz and his mother followed .
“ I remember a lot of it . But it ’ s like snapshots , not a consistent fluid memory ,” he said . At the airport , his mother was distraught over leaving her relatives in Cuba but he was elated because he missed his dad and was eager to see him . They moved into a tenement flat with about six other Cuban families because there was no place else to go .
Soon his dad emigrated to New York because friends said jobs were there . He worked as a common laborer to send money to Spain to support his wife and son . “ They were tough times , but as a kid you don ’ t realize it ,” Diaz said .
“ To me , they made the sacrifices that any ethnic group or immigrants coming to this country makes , whether it ’ s Ethiopia , South America or Central America . We all go through a similar indoctrination . There ’ s uncertainty , some degree of poverty and with hard work you either fulfill the dream or not ,” Diaz said .
Unlike other immigrants , however , Cubans do not have the option of returning home . “ We felt this is our country . We adopted it . This is our second country and we treat it as such ,” Diaz asserted .
Diaz was about 6-years-old when he and his mother finally came to the United States in November , 1971 . They settled in West New York , which along with neighboring Union City , has the second largest Cuban-American population in the country behind Miami .
He went to public grammar school , dropped off at 7:30 a . m . even though the building was still locked . “ My mother had to get to work ,” Diaz recalled . “ Things like that you never forget . They make up who you are .”
Ulises Diaz , Senior Leadership , Horizon BCBSNJ
In 1982 he graduated from Memorial High School . Jobs were plentiful in the local factories but his parents pushed him to attend Rutgers University . After earning his degree in business administration , he landed a job as management trainee and later assistant branch manager at Hudson United Bank on 32nd Street in Union City .
Retail banking was not the right fit , however . Diaz moved on to Bankers Trust at its Park Avenue office trading derivative products now commonly called hedge funds . A few years later he was lured into government affairs by savvy industry veterans who recognized his abilities .
At United Water he was vice president of external affairs at a pivotal moment in the company ’ s history . He persuaded Assemblyman Rudy Garcia , a former mayor of Union City , to sponsor legislation that allowed for the privatization of the wastewater systems in Rahway , Jersey City and Hoboken . His success led United Water to tap him for a special assignment in Puerto Rico , where he privatized the island ’ s water and waste water concessions — a project valued at $ 5 billion .
“ It was an absolutely phenomenal experience ,” Diaz said . His fluency in Spanish gave him the opportunity . But without the determination and drive instilled by his parents , Diaz knows he would not have succeeded . “ I got lucky . I got a break and I was able to do something with it .”
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Photo : Anthony Ruggiero
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