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Jorge Hernandez, the Founder and President of Illumination Technologies, and its sister company, Terra Towers, which is the largest private telecom tower builder in Latin America joins Enterprise Radio.
With offices in California and Florida, Illumination Technologies is rapidly growing its footprint as a unique provider of cell phone tower technology and construction in the US, while in Latin America, South Africa, and the Philippines, they have built more than 5,000 telecommunications structures.
Listen to host Eric Dye & guest Jorge Hernandez discuss the following:
- Can you please tell our listeners a little bit about what sets your company apart from the competition? What’s the unique advantage your towers have over other providers in your sector?
- You probably have some pretty direct and personal experience with the recent spate of wildfires disrupting life for millions of people up and down the West Coast. In 2017, wildfires burned some 1.5 million acres causing $18 billion in damages. Then in 2018, wildfires destroyed 1.9 million acres and a staggering $26 billion in damages. Do you believe if there had been more Illumination Technologies cameras installed in more locations, that more properties and businesses could have been saved? How do these cameras work to recognize the locations of fires?
- Your company has also become well known for pioneering this unique partnership with municipalities, whereby you get access to public land for the towers, and the communities get access to attractive public safety systems. For some developing countries in Latin America which have security problems, this can include things such as public address systems, alarms, loudspeakers, and cameras. Have you already seen some evidence of reductions in crime by some of your customers?
- Tell us a little bit more about your personal back story – what was your path from growing up in Guatemala, to establishing this company 18 years ago, which has now grown to oversee operations in a dozen countries? For other young entrepreneurs listening to our program, what was your growth strategy to bring such a complex company up to scale?
- There was recently news out of Florida that your company, Terra Towers, is in a legal dispute with a company called Torrecom – accusing them of working with private equity to stage a “squeeze out merger.” What’s the story with that dispute?
- A lot of private equity firms have moved pretty aggressively into infrastructure, especially in Latin America. But in many cases that hasn’t gone very well – for example you see KKR basically writing off a massive $700 million investment in Brazil that hit the rocks. Why do you think private equity struggles so much in this market?
Illumination Technologies is part of one of the largest private company of telecommunications infrastructure in Latin America. They support the development of communities through projects such as public safety surveillance, wildfire detection & Notification, Natural Disaster detection and notification, recreational infrastructure improvements. They partner with municipalities to provide systems at no cost to cities or taxpayers.
Website: IlluminationTechnologies.com
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