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Founded in 1990 in the garage of company president Gerald D. Medina's Southern California home, Platinum Industries was based on a simple plan: buying and remarketing office equipment. "You always hear about the company that started out of someone's garage, but this is the real thing," jokes CFO Rick Ahumada, "the American Dream."
Today, Platinum is among the world's leading distributors of business telecom equipment, having grown into a 16,000-square-foot facility in the heart of San Diego's "Telecom Valley," with a multimillion-dollar inventory and more then 30 employees. "We focus on buying and selling new and used business communications systems," explains Ahumada, "and staying focused on that one business has worked well for us."
Most clients are internal IT departments and independent communications consultants who order wholesale hardware for their own companies and clients, but Platinum also designs, builds and installs custom systems. "We buy equipment, recondition it and resell it all over the world," says Ahumada. "We focus on the products that hold the majority of the market share: Northern Telecom, AT&T/AVAYA, Toshiba, and a handful of others, and we offer them at savings of about 30 percent. These are the same high-end brands and products you'll find in just about every office."
Even in this age of wireless gadgets and electronic gimmickry, there's still no substitute for the good old hard-wired telephone, but -- as Ahumada is quick to point out -- phones themselves have come a long way. "We love technology. The technologies used in voice systems and data systems are converging, and video will be the next big thing. Some of our clients have really sophisticated communications needs, like hotels, where the phones have to interface with voicemail, billing and other systems, all run by stacks of computers."
Ahumada is proud of how Platinum Industries has grown and where it's heading. "although we do business throughout the country and the world," he says, "all our operations are still based here in San Diego, and all our employees are local. We support local programs that send underprivileged youth to college. I think this company is really just getting started; we're always thinking five steps ahead, and the opportunities in this industry are just going to continue to expand."
- As seen in San Diego Magazine Feb. 2002 |
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