Andy Unanue

Infobox Person
name = Andy Unanue
occupation = President & CEO, AU & Associates, LLC. Chairman, TRUFOODS, LLC.former COO, Vice President, General Manager of Goya Foods

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image_size = 170px
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birth_place = New Jersey, United States
nationality = flagicon|USA American
ethnicity = Spanish American
spouse =
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parents = Joseph A. Unanue , Carmen Ana Casal de Unanue
names in other languages =
religion = Roman Catholic Church

Andy Unanue is a former Vice President, General Manager, and COO of the family-owned Goya Foods, the largest Hispanic-owned food company in the United States. In 2008, he flirted with candidacy for the Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate seat in New Jersey but after further deliberation and realizing he did not have the time needed to dedicate to such a campaign he quickly ended his candidacy.

Biography

Andy was born and raised in New Jersey, where he attended St. Joseph School in Bogota, Alpine Public School and Bergen Catholic High School.The grandson of Goya Foods founders Prudencio and Carolina and son of Joseph A. Unanue.

Unanue received a bachelors degree from the University of Miami and an MBA from Thunderbird, the American Graduate School of International Management. [Business Wire, July 18th, 2000] He began working in his father's company in their Miami office, working his way up to President of Goya de Santo Domingo. Following his brother Joseph F. Unanue's unexpected death, [New York Times, December 4, 1998] he became Executive Vice President. Unanue became Goya's COO in 2000, at the age of 33. [Business Wire, July 18th, 2000]

In February 2004, Unanue left the family business to pursue other interests. Unanue now owns his own business (AU & Associates, LLC) which has advised or made made investments in companies such as Opt-Intelligence, Inc., BigFish Games, Inc. and holds majority interest in the restaurant Bagatelle and the club Kiss and Fly, both located in New York City. He also is an Operating Executive of Palladium Equity Partners (http://www.palladiumequity.com/) a firm that has seen much success in reaching out to investments in the Hispanic Market.

Candidacy for United States Senate

After the withdrawal of moderate Republican Anne Evans Estabrook, who was initially the New Jersey GOP establishment's choice, due to a mini-stroke [Margolin, Josh, [http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2008/03/anne_estabrook_quits_gop_us_se.html "Anne Estabrook quits GOP U.S. Senate race, citing health problem"] , "The Star-Ledger", 5 March 2008. Retrieved on 2 April 2008.] , Unanue announced his candidacy in a letter to the party chairman on Easter Sunday, March 23, 2008, while on holiday in Vail, Colorado. [Mulshine, Paul, [http://www.nj.com/njvoices/index.ssf/2008/03/unanue_fiddles_while_byrne_roa.html "Unanue fiddles while Byrne roams] ", "The Star-Ledger", 28 March 2008. Retrieved on 1 April 2008.] He was reportedly considering dropping out of the Senate race to make way for Princeton biotechnology executive John Crowley, but after Crowley signaled that he would not run, Unanue announced that he had filed petitions for the race on April 7, 2008. [ [http://politickernj.com/max/18207/unanue-race-and-new-jersey-says-spokesman "Unanue in the race - and in New Jersey - says spokesman"] . PolitickerNJ.com, April 7, 2008. Accessed April 8, 2008.] However, on April 11, Unanue dropped out of the race, and his committee on vacancies designated former Congressman Dick Zimmer to enter the race under the Unanue petitions. [ [http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2008/04/former_congressman_dick_zimmer.html "Former Congressman Dick Zimmer to run for U.S. Senate"] . "The Star-Ledger", April 11, 2008. Accessed April 11, 2008.]

Residence Controversy

When a political Web site reported that Unanue might not actually live at home with his parents in Alpine, New Jersey, Unanue campaign manager Mark Duffy proclaimed:

Andy Unanue lives in New Jersey, he votes in New Jersey, his car is registered in New Jersey, he pays New Jersey auto insurance, and his business is in New Jersey. Andy Unanue is New Jersey. [ [http://www.politickernj.com/unanue-lives-new-york "New Jersey GOP Senate candidate lives in New York"] , "Politicker NJ", 27 March 2008. Retrieved on 1 April 2008.]

Unanue openly admitted to reporters that he has resided in New York City since 2004, although he plans to move back to New Jersey as soon as possible. Which is well within the boundaries of the law. [Jackson, Herb. [http://www.northjersey.com/news/njpolitics/17121111.html "GOP rival urges probe of Senate hopeful"] , "The Record (Bergen County)", March 29, 2008. Accessed July 3, 2008. "Rival Senate candidate Murray Sabrin on Friday seized on Andy Unanue's admission that he lived in New York City since 2004 while continuing to vote and register his cars using his parents' address in Alpine."] [Schwaneberg, Robert, [http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2008/03/nj_senate_candidate_actually_l.html "NJ candidate for US Senate lives in NY"] , "The Star-Ledger", 27 March 2008. Retrieved on 1 April 2008.] Unanue is registered to vote at his parents' New Jersey home, and has voted in New Jersey elections at least four times since moving to New York City in 2004. [Jackson, Herb, [http://www.northjersey.com/news/njpolitics/17121111.html "GOP rival urges probe of Senate hopeful"] , "The Record" 29 March 2008. Retrieved on 1 April 2008.]

References