Small businessman Ricardo “Rick” Rubio can’t say enough good things about the Service Corps of Retired Executives (SCORE) and the Spokane Area Business Improvement Center (BIC).

Rubio, who describes himself as “sort of an entrepreneur,” read in The Spokesman-Review about the services these two organizations make available free or at a nominal cost to small businesses, and he decided to give them a try.

“He came walking into the BIC one day,” recalls SCORE executive committee member Cliff Brown, who spends one day a week overseeing the center, “looking for anybody who might know something about juice.”

A recently transplanted Californian, Rubio makes a habit of collecting small distressed enterprises. In California, he operated a construction business, dabbled in real estate, and had “a few other small businesses.”

In Spokane he continues to be active in real estate. He works as a business consultant. And he has added to his stable of small businesses.

Rubio has an eye for struggling little concerns that just haven’t caught on for some reason, but which he thinks hold promise.

“I had just bought a small beverage distributing company at about the time the BIC opened in Spokane a year or so ago,” says Rubio. “I knew we needed help, and I went down to the BIC and asked if they knew anybody with a beverage background.

“They referred me to SCORE, and SCORE matched me with Frank Larson. He is a gentleman who just happens to have 48 years of experience in my line of business. Half a century of knowledge, just sitting there waiting to be tapped.

“That kind of wisdom from an old codger who knows his business is golden.”

But the two didn’t hit it off at the start.

“He’s a grand man,” says Rubio, “but his first words weren’t so encouraging - Frank Larson is a very forthright man. An honest man. I honor that.

“He later warmed up, when he found we know a little about what we are doing, and since then he has worked with us very closely. In fact, he has made himself available to us anytime we need his counsel, anytime and anywhere.

“People of his experience contribute immensely to the success of a business. It starts with the kind of directness where they feel free to tell you right out if they don’t think you should even be in the business.

“Far from being a put down, such candor can save your bacon, I know from my own experience.”

Rubio owns Northwest Juice & Beverage. It sells and delivers juice concentrate to institutions like nursing homes and restaurants. It also sells to schools and commercial accounts.

No sooner had Rubio gotten his beverage business in the black, he got an idea for another venture with a partner. He tried the idea - business records storage - on his mentor.

“Frank Larson said, ‘Hey, you’ve got to talk to this other guy at SCORE,”’ says Rubio. “This new guy is another veteran in exactly the kind of business we were thinking of going into. His name is Doug Kindred. He is another terrific guy.”

Kindred owned a records storage business in Los Angeles. He now lives in Coeur d’Alene and owns Ross Point Mini Storage in Post Falls. From a background in moving and storage, Kindred branched out into self-storage, then into business records storage.

Says Brown, “Mr. Rubio thinks he’s died and gone to heaven.”

“It’s like having your own consultant on the payroll,” says Rubio. “You ask them a question and, poof, the answer is right there. I can’t say enough for what they do.

“I’d encourage anyone entering business to run their ideas, plans and goals by these guys to get their point of view. That way, we don’t all have to reinvent the wheel.

“One day I hope I can do what they are doing for the Spokane business sector. They are a great resource.”

, DataTimes MEMO: Associate Editor Frank Bartel writes on retirement issues each Sunday. He can be reached with ideas for future columns at 459-5467 or fax 459-5482.

The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = Frank Bartel The Spokesman-Review