Computer Options, Inc. Named Entrepreneur Finalist

When it was founded in 1997, Computer Options, Inc. had one goal: complete technical support and management for a fixed, monthly price. Its reputation for service is why CEO Brad McDermith and his team have been named as a finalist in the Service-Based Entrepreneur category of this year’s Spirit of the Entrepreneur Awards, hosted by Cal State San Bernardino’s Inland Empire Center for Entrepreneurship (IECE). “We do fully managed services for outsourced IT,” said McDermith, who began working with the company as a junior technician after he graduated high school in 1998. At 15, McDermith owned his own business and purchased computer compartments from Computer Options, Inc. when they were a retail store, he explained. “It was all I wanted to do,” said McDermith of working in the computer technology industry. A few years later, he became a shareholder and for the last 10 years has headed the company as its CEO. In 2011, McDermith sold his business. According to Computer Options, Inc.’s website, the business aims to “provide all of the benefits of an internal MIS department for a fraction of the cost of an internal IT department. Computer Options provides managed technology to a variety of industries” and also provides network infrastructure, design, maintenance, planning and more for small and mid-sized companies, or companies with anywhere from five to 150 user networks, explained McDermith. The company works with hundreds of Southern California-based companies in various agencies, including government, law and medical, to name a few. They even serve Northern California and Nevada-based companies as well. The company has grown rapidly since its opening, McDermith explained. “We are growing along with our clients and we’re now working to bridge them to cloud solutions because they’re value driven. We look to grow, expand and provide more employment opportunities,” said McDermith. He attributed the company’s large success both financially and in terms of customer service to the positive “company culture.” “We have focused far more on the quality of service, and I think that’s because we’re focusing on company culture and doing the best we can, and that goes above profits,” McDermith said. “A lot of small businesses depend on their phones and their computers, and they depend on us to keep them going.” McDermith and his team are one of three finalists in the Service-Based Entrepreneur category, alongside Ontario-based Pacific Mountain Logistics, LLC President B.J. Patterson and Temecula-based National Merchants Association CEO Heather Petersen. Computer Options, Inc. is the only Redlands-based finalist. “We love Redlands,” said McDermith of the company’s hometown. Having been a finalist in last year’s Spirit of the Entrepreneur Awards, McDermith said this year the company hopes to win. In total, there are nine categories with three finalists for each category: Family Business, General Entrepreneur, Innovator Entrepreneur, Contract Manufacturing Entrepreneur, Manufacturing Entrepreneur, Service-Based Entrepreneur, Small or Emerging Enterprise, Social Entrepreneur, and Supporter of Entrepreneurship. One finalist from each category will receive the “Best of the Best” award. The event also includes the presentation of a Lifetime Achievement Award. Award winners will be announced Nov. 13 at the black-tie gala at the Riverside Convention Center. For the last 12 years, the Spirit of the Entrepreneur Awards has honored the top business leaders of the Inland region.