MOLINE, Ill. — Editor's Note: The video above was published in February 2014.
Influential Quad Cities business mogul and philanthropist Robert "Bob" Ontiveros died Tuesday at the age of 83. The Moline native and graduate of both Moline High School and what is now Black Hawk College was an empowering force for the local Latino community.
From starting as a business venture in the back of his station wagon in 1974 to helping companies like Samsung, Michelin, Caterpillar and PepsiCo turn challenges into profit, Ontiveros successfully built his $900 million business enterprise, Group O, from the ground up.
Milan-based Group O employs over 1,200 workers, and the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce named it one of the top 5 Latino-owned businesses in the country, according to the company's website.
The company, now under the leadership of Ontiveros' son, shared a video Wednesday morning via Facebook announcing the passing of its founder.
"Bob truly believed that 'everyone wins when people get an opportunity to show what they can do,'" Group O said in the announcement.
In 2016, Ontiveros and his granddaughter brought the Mercado on Fifth to life. The organization hosts outdoor markets weekly during the summer in Moline and serves as a venue for minority entrepreneurs and a catalyst for Hispanic cultural pride, according to its website.
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The Great Quad Cities Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, in a statement Wednesday morning, credited Ontiveros with helping the organization support, promote and enhance the growth of small Hispanic-owned businesses across the region.
"Bob was a strong community leader, a kind-hearted person and a visionary," a statement from the chamber's board of directors and staff said. "We will continue to work towards his dream of a world where there is equality in business."
Former Director of Resource Development with the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Mississippi Valley Ken Brooks worked closely with the Ontiveros family and voiced his remorse via Facebook.
"Bob Ontiveros was a great leader, humanitarian, philanthropist and family man," Brooks said. "Bob Ontiveros was one of the wisest people I have known, and he was a master in connecting people in the community."
Mercado on Fifth invited the public to attend a celebration of life for Ontiveros this spring, with more details to be announced.