Profiles of outstanding CEOs: Getting to know some of Colorado's big names in regional business.

• Position: Colorado's Top CEOs - Ray Ramirez, CEO of Univance Telecommunications, Inc. and Tom Hoyt, CEO and co-founder of McStain Neighborhoods

Ray Ramirez

CEO, UNIVANCE

Ray Ramirez speaks with pride about the work that his wife, Erin, does raising their three children. He has a similar tone when he speaks about "the other baby" he nurtures, Univance Telecommunications, Inc.

When they began the company in 1993, Ramirez and his wife were dedicated to doing the work necessary to achieve success. "We worked day and night when we started this company. In our first year of business, we had fourteen W2's between the two of us," said Ramirez. Eight years later, Univance is a $30 million long-distance reseller on the brink of a growth explosion.

Ramirez's ability to look ahead has led his company to excel in an industry where many businesses have failed. "All too often smaller companies will take a survival mode. We don't do that. We want to go out and make our own market, establish ourselves as different, find a way to get our product out there in front of the consumer and convince them that we are the best thing there is," said Ramirez.

Since the company started, the telecom industry and the technology associated with it have gone through dramatic changes. "You have a significant number of the major national carriers who have invested billions of dollars into this older technology. We never committed to the older technology. We can take advantage of the newest technology and invest into this at a fraction of the cost," said Ramirez.

Univance completed the first phase of its Internet Telephony network with the deployment of services through San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego, Las Vegas and Denver. They project nationwide coverage by 2005.

The company recently reached an agreement with a major national retail chain. Univance will sell a wide variety of services including wireless, long distance, pre-paid cards, broadband services that include DSL, cable modems, satellite, cable TV and prepaid and post-paid internet services in every store across the country.

"This opportunity significantly changes the face of our business. The growth projections are astronomical," said Ramirez. The deal will place Univance between $800 million and $1.5 billion dollars per year by 2005. The company will jump from 90 to 4,000 employees. Univance plans to announce the retailer in third quarter of 2002.

Univance won this deal because of the experience of its executive team and because of the partners that they will bring with them. Ramirez's confidence in his executive team is illustrated in his hands-off...