Entrepreneurship Success Stories

Entrepreneur:  Robert Rivera

Company:  Spectrum Communications, MeshworX

Year Founded:  1984

Description of Business:  Spectrum Communications sells communications products and services that help companies transmit voice, data, and video information.  MeshworX Inc. provides Active Server Pages, Internet Service Provider, and filtering services to K-12 schools.  These products allow schools to provide students with educational materials on the Internet while blocking access to inappropriate websites.

The Story:  Rivera founded Spectrum Communications in 1984 in Corona, California when he was only 21.  The business has grown from two employees to more than 150 today.  Spectrum has received the Inc 500 Fastest Growing Companies in America Award each year for six consecutive years.  The company also has won Hispanic Magazine’s 2000 Entrepreneur of the Year Award, and is a three-time recipient of the Fastest Growing Hispanic Company in America Award.  In 1999 and 2000, Rivera was named first-runner up for the Ernst & Young Inland Empire Entrepreneur of the Year Award and was nominated by Business Press for its Innovator of the Year Award in 2001.

Rivera founded Spectrum Communications with only $1,500.  Spectrum quickly found a niche providing high-tech services, including communications technology, consulting, and computer sales, in the California area.  Spectrum’s customers include the Air Quality Management District, the California Department of Motor Vehicles, Coldwell Bank, Carl’s Jr. Restaurants, as well as many school districts in California.  Rivera later founded MeshworX Inc. in 1999 to provide educational software to the state’s K-12 schools.  Recognizing the importance of speed and efficiency of communication technology in the business world, Spectrum Communications provides clients with the technology they need to stay ahead of competition.  Spectrum specializes in infrastructure, equipment, wiring, and connection of data communications systems.

Rivera believes it’s important for businesses to be involved in all aspects of the communities in which they operate.  Both Spectrum Communications and MeshworX support a number of California social service organizations, including Olive Crest Homes & Services for Abused Children, the Settlement House, Alternatives to Domestic Violence, and the Salvation Army Circle of Hope Shelter and Kitchen.  Rivera also puts a percentage of Spectrum’s monthly earnings into an account specifically for charities. Spectrum employees, by committee, choose the amount and which charities to contribute to. They do this voluntarily, and on their own time.

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