Because Don Haas was a prominent figure in Sinaloa state, President of Mexico Francisco I. Madero invited him to become state governor in 1912, a political post that he turned down due to his numerous business responsibilities. Among other things, he owned "El Roble", a Sinaloa sugar cane hacienda and village founded by him (the famous mariachi song "El Sinaloense" is dedicated to El Roble and the Haas Canalizo family), and the Mazatlán Central Hotel (the largest and finest in town), as well as his silver mines, his two department and hardware stores (the only ones in the city), his farming haciendas in Navolato, and his company "Northwestern Liquors", and he held posts as co-founder of the Occidental Bank of Mexico, chairman and president of the Mazatlán Chamber of Commerce, and co-founder and vice president of the Mazatlán Water Supply Company.