<\/p>\n
Jane Gonzalez, co-founder and CEO of MEDwheels, was honored by friends and\u00a0family members on March 21, a week before her death at age 66.<\/p>\n
Luis Vasquez<\/p>\n
Jane Gonzalez, shown in a 2020 file photo, was co-founder and CEO of MEDwheels, a San Antonio supplier of medical equipment. She was also an advocate for small and minority-owned businesses. She died March 28 at age 66.<\/p>\n
Billy Calzada<\/p>\n
Jane Gonzales, co-founder and CEO of MEDwheels,\u00a0loads boxes of face masks, disinfectant and other supplies into a van on Nov. 12, 2020, for the Neighborhoods First Alliance in San Antonio. During the pandemic, her company donated protective equipment across the city.<\/p>\n
Billy Calzada<\/p>\n
Jane Gonzalez, co-founder and CEO of MEDwheels, stands in her company’s warehouse in a 2010 file photo.<\/p>\n
EDWARD A. ORNELAS\/SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS<\/p>\n
San Juanita S. \u201cJane\u201d Gonzalez<\/a>, a San Antonio entrepreneur who made a career of providing life-saving medical equipment, sometimes for free, and who spent decades advocating for small and minority-owned businesses, has died after a battle with cancer. She was 66.<\/p>\n MEDwheels, a company she co-founded and ran, supplies wheelchairs, walkers and other equipment to hospitals, schools and public agencies. She was also a force in the city\u2019s business and civic circles, pushing to expand opportunities for smaller firms. Many who knew her described her as strong and fearless \u2014 a \u201cchingona,\u201d or champion.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u201cShe wanted to make sure that our local dollars were being spent on local businesses,\u201d said Julissa Carielo, a San Antonio developer and business leader who met Gonzalez 20 years ago through the San Antonio Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.\u00a0<\/p>\n “I don\u2019t know anyone like her. She fought to make sure they had a chance,” Carielo said.<\/p>\n Gonzalez, who died March 28, was the oldest of four siblings and a\u00a0graduate of Brackenridge High School. She earned a bachelor\u2019s degree in accounting from Our Lady of the Lake University and a master\u2019s degree in finance from St. Joseph\u2019s University in Philadelphia. After working in Houston and on the East Coast, she returned to San Antonio and in 2005 founded\u00a0MEDwheels with her brother, Rolando Gonzalez.<\/p>\n The company began with durable medical equipment before expanding into automated external defibrillators and related equipment.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u201cOur products save lives. This isn\u2019t just a business, this is a calling,\u201d she once said.<\/p>\n That mission extended beyond the company.<\/p>\n \u201cShe did everything she could to help the underprivileged,\u201d her brother said.<\/p>\n During the COVID-19 pandemic, Gonzalez and her team donated thousands of pieces of protective equipment \u2014 masks, gloves, gowns and sanitizer \u2014 across San Antonio\u2019s East Side, at one point giving away about 15% of the company\u2019s inventory.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u201cI became emotionally connected to it,\u201d she said at the time. \u201cI made it my mission.\u201d<\/p>\n READ MORE: East Side business owner donates life-saving equipment<\/a><\/p>\n Her business advocacy focused on \u201csecond-stage\u201d companies poised to grow beyond the startup stage.<\/p>\n In a 2021 commentary published in the San Antonio Express-News<\/a>, she urged local leaders to support such businesses.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u201cInvesting in second-stage companies is the answer for true organic economic growth,\u201d she wrote.<\/p>\n By 2023, the City of San Antonio had launched a Second Stage Company Grant Program<\/a> aimed at helping such businesses expand, enter new markets and add jobs.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n