About Mainstream Global

Luis Yépez

Luis was born in Brooklyn, NY from Ecuadorian immigrants. He grew up in Worcester where he participated in local sports, scouting and was an altar boy at St. Andrews Church. Growing up, he attended boarding school at Valley Forge Military Academy in Wayne, PA. At Valley Forge, Luis found his passion in academics and athletics. Upon graduation, he had become a two time academic and athletic All-American and a two time Wrestling State-Champion. He was awarded the Order of Anthony Wayne, the school’s highest honor.

Following high school, Luis attended the Naval Academy Prep School in Newport, RI and subsequently received an appointment to the U.S. Naval Academy. Luis graduated in 1993 as a Systems Engineer. After graduating, Luis reported aboard the USS VINCENNES, an AEGIS Cruiser, stationed in San Diego, CA. For the next six years, Luis excelled as a Naval Officer being ranked the top Junior Officer in the wardroom, and selected as the ship’s Navigators. He sailed on VINCENNES through two deployments that ranged from the Far East to South America through the Panama Canal and the Caribbean. Luis describes his most memorable experience while on active duty to his participation in Counter Narcotic Operations, which successfully intercepted two drug smuggling operations that resulted in the seizure of over three tons of cocaine and the arrest of several traffickers.

Luis returned to school and earned a Masters in Management from the University of Redlands in 1999. After leaving active duty in 1999, Luis stayed affiliated with the Naval Reserve and moved with his family to Minnesota to work as a Manufacturing Engineer for an implantable pacemaker company.

In 2000, Luis’ brother, Juan, started Mainstream Global. Early in 2001, Juan asked Luis if he would be interested in moving back to Massachusetts to be a part of the company. Luis and his family made the decision to quit their jobs, place a “For Sale by Owner” sign in front of their home, and move back to Massachusetts.

That same year, Luis joined Mainstream Global and became partners with his brother, fulfilling a life-long dream to own a business together. Starting with very limited capital, a solid business plan and a sincere commitment to developing long term relationships based on the simple concepts of being truthful, honest, and delivering what you promise, they began their journey.

This journey has not been without challenges. In 2003, as a Naval Officer in the Reserves, Luis was recalled to active duty to support Operations enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom. At the time, Mainstream Global had a total of three employees: Juan, Luis, and an assistant. Despite Luis’ absence, Juan bore the full responsibility of running Mainstream Global and ensuring it stayed afloat until Luis returned. Upon Luis’ return, the Small Business Administration was able to step in and assist the young profitable company though the Military Reservist Economic Injury Disaster Loan program.

As the company experienced continued growth, Luis and Juan decided to move the company to Lawrence, MA and ultimately purchased a boarded-up, run-down 100,000 square foot mill on the Merrimack River. In 2006, the Merrimack River would ultimately flood to 100 year storm levels and destroy hundreds of thousands of dollars in inventory and equipment. Many businesses along the Merrimack were affected as well as Mainstream Global.

Today, Mainstream Global has grown to sales and profit margins that exceed eight million in revenue, vendor and customer relationships across the globe, offices in Lawrence, Massachusetts and Bogota, Colombia, along with over 30 employees. Its business is in a Lawrence Renewal Community Zone and has focused on hiring many of its employees from the City of Lawrence and the surrounding towns. In addition to growing its business, Mainstream Global has invested time, energy, and resources in the purchase and redevelopment of over 200,000 square feet of mill space in Lawrence. Buildings that were run down boarded up and abandoned are being converted to medical and professional office space.

Luis belongs to a long line of cheerleaders for the City. Whether being part of the Annual Spicket River Clean Up or participating in community development projects, he sees a bright future for the City of Lawrence and has enjoyed being part of the solution.

Luis is a board member on several organizations such as Groundwork Lawrence, Merrimack Valley Chamber of Commerce, and is the President and founding member of the Association of Ecuadorians of New England (AENI), a non-profit organization dedicated to helping underprivileged children in Ecuador. In his spare time, Luis enjoys coaching his children’s sports team. Luis is married and has two children ages 12 and 10.

Juan C. Yépez

After graduating from Bentley College in ’95 with a Bachelor’s degree in Marketing and a Minor in Spanish, Juan worked as a Computer Sales Representative as well as a Product Manager at Mass Storage for five years before he left Corporate America to branch out and start his own business. The company for which he previously worked had gone through some ownership changes and had begun to change the atmosphere and culture of the company. Juan was no longer happy going into work and founded Mainstream Global in 2000. He originally opened up Mainstream Global with two other friends, both of whom decided for family reasons to work for a more established company less than a year into the project. Juan knew that he had been successful in the industry and was confident that he possessed the desire, commitment and dedication to create a successful company over time.

In 2001, his brother Luis joined the effort and in November of 2003, the business moved its headquarters to Lawrence, MA. The decision was made to move to Lawrence because the company was growing and needed space at a reasonable rate. All the places they had sought out within the Rt. 128/93 intersection were close to double the rate they would be paying in Lawrence. Juan came to the conclusion that it did not matter where the business conducted its operation so long as the space was clean and secure. The move to a Lawrence Community Renewal Zone brought many opportunities for community involvement and town residents. Unfortunately, the Merrimack River brought with it a flood which would ultimately destroy hundreds of the thousands of dollars in inventory and equipment, a catastrophe that the company would eventually make its way out of with the help of a Disaster Relief loan from the Small Business Association.

Juan describes one of the biggest challenges the company has faced over the last nine years to be dealing with creditors in extending the company larger lines of credit in order to grow their business. They have been fortunate to develop relationships with vendors and lenders that see and understand their business, but from time to time have to buy inventory for stock even though it has not been pre-sold. Juan believes some of their lenders understand the business they are in and have realized the need for larger lines of credits in order for the business to continue to grow.

For the future, Juan hopes to expand their relationships with more OEMs, contract manufacturers, and customers. They have relationships with vendors that offer up some opportunities, but do not yet have all the channels they would like to move the product quickly and efficiently. He would like for Mainstream-Global to grow to 50 million in sales and have two to three offices throughout the world to target different regions. Currently, Mainstream-Global manages another office in South America, but Juan believes they will need offices in more regions to gain a larger presence on the continent.

In his spare time, Juan enjoys spending time with his family to whom he dedicates all of his weekends. He also likes to attend sporting events, enjoy a glass of wine with his wife, Yarisie, after the kids have gone to bed, or relax and watch a movie together. Juan has been married for seven years and has four children, Andiana 18, Xavier 5, Dante 3, and Jaselle 2.