The Small Business Association San Diego District Office announced its 2023 Small Business Award winners, with the local awards event taking place on May 9. A Chula Vista business owner, Francisco Rivera, Wepa Commercial Cleaning president earned the Veteran-Owned Small Business of the Year Award, nominated by the North San Diego Small Business Development Center team.
The awards coincide with National Small Business Week which is celebrated each year during the first week of May.
Rivera is a combat disabled veteran minority who served in the U.S. Navy for 16 years. During that time, he also pursued his MBA in marketing, honing his skills by supporting various soccer teams.
Beginning his journey with the SBDC in 2017, he said that it all came together organically as he was looking to start his business, leverage his veteran status, and knew he had to find a way to grow Wepa, wanting to learn more about government contracting strategic planning, and funding. In 2018, Wepa expanded into the government sector, creating a virtually recession-proof business model and increased gross revenues by more than 200% in three years. Wepa has won and performed on several government contracts and recently added another for over $1 million.
Rivera said he “stumbled” into the SBDC.
“I was watching the movie “War Dogs” and they were talking about government and state contracting and I was thinking on how I would go about getting those types of contracts,” he said. “My wife came in with a flyer literally the next day and said they had a seminar in North County the following Thursday. I went to North County and met Cheryl Brown and went through her five day Introduction to Government Contracting course.”
Rivera said if there is one thing that contributed to Wepa’s success, besides himself and the hard work they put into the business, it has to be the SBDC, particularly Cheryl Brown.
“She was not only a great mentor, but I would also say she was an angel that came to us because originally when she started the class, there were around 50 people in that class. As we went through the course, she mentioned that 15 to 20 percent of the people attending the course would actually make it to government contracting. There is a lot of paperwork, many other things you must do, and many times people just make excuses. I was going to be one of the 15% that make it through.”
Rivera said he took it as a challenge, just as he has done in his life and his time in the military.
“I took it on,” he said. “I am happy to say that I was the first one out of the 50 people who got certified in less than 30 days. It was awesome, but within 30 days of receiving my certification, I got my first contract. My first government contract was in 2018.”
Rivera said he did not have the money for his purchase order for supplies from the California Department of General Services, so he sold one of his cars, and with his business being fairly new he had no business credit, so he borrowed money from some family members.
Rivera said as he was doing his certifications, Brown kept telling him not to only be a general janitorial company and to think outside the box. So, he researched other services the company could provide, so he partnered with another company and created their janitorial supplies line.
“I had a contract with Harriet Tubman Village Charter School, and they were going through a flu pandemic in late 2018,” he said. “They asked if there was anything he could do to help, because many teachers and students were missing class.”
After investigating, Rivera found a course he could take through the Center for Disease Control, an electrostatic disinfection course. He was able to purchase his first electrostatic gun and got certified.
“And low and behold, when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, we were one of the few companies registered through the city of San Diego with the certification to do electrostatic disinfecting,” he said. “We kind of became the face in San Diego for COVID disinfecting. We did the entire Alpine Union School District, and then we were hired to become instructors for all its custodians. Not only were we disinfecting, but we were also teaching the tactics of proper science version of disinfecting.”
Rivera said during the height of the pandemic, the Port of Long Beach contacted him, and received the contract from the Port.
“We did a lot of running around and hiring,” he said. “That was the way we were able to stay in business with those certifications, but also by planning outside of the box to be more than a janitorial service. Especially when it came to doing things people were not doing before.”
During the pandemic, Wepa disinfected around 60 homes for free for people who contracted COVID-19.
“I created these flyers and dropped them off at the church, and told anybody who needed any disinfecting, since we are local here, and we have multiple electrostatic guns, we would disinfect their homes. At that time, many companies could not get the disinfecting guns, but because of our rapport with Victory Innovations, they sent us two electrostatic backpacks with two heavy-duty guns. It was more about helping the community, so if anyone needed help, we would go in and disinfect the house. We did houses in Chula Vista, National City, and in Alpine, along with a few local businesses that were shut down from the pandemic.”
Rivera said he did three campaigns in his time with the Navy, Operation Noble Eagle, Operation Iraqi Freedom, and Operation Enduring Freedom.
“I like to mention that because much of the discipline that we implement to our employees and the company is based on everything I experienced in the military,” he said. “You join the military at the age of 17, three years later it was 9/11 and we were going to war. Many of the disciplines I learned in the military transpired into operating my business. I have to contribute the business structure to the military as well.”
Rivera said Wepa now has 30 employees, and recently winning a contract with the San Diego Housing Authority, he expects to hire an additional 10 to 15 employees. He said he is now waiting for the contract for the Del Mar Fair grounds, which should be coming out shortly.
