When computers are put out to pasture, Juan Yepez makes a profit.
Yepez, chief executive of Mainstream Global in Lawrence, recycles used computers and other electronics, wiping their memories and reselling them overseas. His company has 100 workers in Massachusetts, Colombia, and Peru, selling computers “to people who maybe couldn’t afford a new system, but can afford a system at half or a third of the price,’’ said Yepez, 38.
Mainstream Global and four other Massachusetts businesses will be included on the annual Inner City 100 list, which honors 100 successful urban firms throughout the United States. The other Bay State companies joining Mainstream Global on the list are architectural firm Fennick McCredie; ice cream chain J.P. Licks; travel shipping company Luggage Forward; and TPR Media, an online health care content provider. The annual list is compiled by the Boston-based nonprofit Initiative for a Competitive Inner City and Fortune magazine, and is set for release Thursday.
