Group O beginnings
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Group O was founded in Milan, Illinois in 1974 by Robert Ontiveros. Since then, the company has been built on the principles of trust, quality, exemplary service and customer satisfaction.
Bob’s initial business was Bi-State Packaging, which was started to sell packaging materials and equipment to manufacturers. During the 1970’s Bi-State Packaging experienced superior sales growth, requiring the opening of several warehouses throughout the United States, Mexico and Puerto Rico – making Group O a truly international business.
Through Group O’s packaging success, other business opportunities evolved, which would allow Group O to diversify and grow its’ product offerings. In 1979 Group O opened R&O Specialties to provide specialized supply chain solutions to industrial and consumer products companies. R&O Specialties brought a focus on process management and a Six Sigma culture to Group O that permeates the entire company to this day.
In 1990, Group O identified additional opportunities for growth in the area of marketing support services and created Group O Direct. This venture took Group O into customer loyalty and marketing fulfillment programs which required Group O to develop core competencies in the areas of: data management, printing, direct mail, promotional campaign management and business process outsourcing.
Today, those three separate companies have become the three divisions - Packaging Solutions, Supply Chain Solutions and Marketing Solutions – that make up Group O. In a generation, Group O has gone from one man’s dream to an international business with over 1,500 employees and recognized as the 20th largest Hispanic business in the U.S.
We are proud of our history, and we look forward to creating a prosperous future for our customers and partners.