"With all of my various businesses, there is no way to resolve every challenge each day; it's like being on a treadmill. But that's what keeps you full of life. I thrive on challenges, and with each day come new challenges."

While working at Butcher Boy Food Products, a meat company founded by his father, a 19-year old Duane R. Roberts recognized that fast food was positioned to become a mainstay of the American diet. Over the next eight years, Roberts created the first frozen burrito, became president of Butcher Boy, and expanded the business from one plant with 60 workers and million in yearly sales to six plants with 1,400 workers. By the time the family sold the business to Central Soya, Inc. in 1980, Butcher Boy had an estimated million in annual sales.

Roberts then went on to launch, build and sell another food company, Fernando's Foods, to ConAgra Foods, Inc. in the late 1990s. From there, he turned his desire for entrepreneurial challenges to other fields, branching out into real estate, banking, and other investments. Among those investments was an aging hotel in downtown Riverside that was slated for demolition. A true entrepreneur, Roberts recognized an opportunity and took the risk to rebuild the historic hotel. Ten years later, he and his team have gained regional and national acclaim for the Mission Inn, widely regarded as the crown jewel of the Inland Empire.

As a result of such accomplishments over the last 40 years, many see Duane Roberts as an outstanding entrepreneurial success story and role model. However, he sees things differently, "if I were to teach a class on entrepreneurship, I would probably tell the students to do things much differently than I have done!" said Roberts. He notes that he has done it the hard way - building companies in totally different industries, each with their own unique challenges and requiring specialized knowledge. From food companies to the hotel business to real estate holdings and investment companies, Roberts has had success in multiple industry environments; hence, he is not the typical entrepreneur who builds a single company over many years and stays in the same industry. This is what makes him unique and his achievement so special and inspiring - he has done it differently than most entrepreneurs. While Roberts would tell his students that he might have "done it differently," we would tell the students that the way Duane Roberts has done it is "truly entrepreneurial!"

At first glance it may appear that Duane Roberts's success has been seamless, but the real story is that he carries a strong entrepreneurial work ethic. He does whatever it takes to get the job done, and is willing to put his own wealth at risk to make a company successful (e.g. the Mission Inn). While the Mission Inn is a shining success today, Roberts relates the challenges and hard work involved in re-building and operating a hotel and of the personal sacrifice involved. His work ethic is further evidenced by the fact that retirement is not on his radar screen - he is driven by the daily challenges of his business endeavors. He still has lofty goals and talks with passion and a gleam in his eye about what the future opportunities are for the Mission Inn, his four food companies in the United Kingdom, and his real estate holdings and other business ventures. Roberts doesn't stand still - he focuses on continually improving his companies through innovation, creativity and risk taking. Remember - this is the entrepreneur who took over a failed hotel, rebuilt it, and continues to take risk and innovate to move his businesses forward (Duane's steakhouse and Kelly's Spa, all at the Mission Inn, are examples of this risk taking and innovation).

After many years of phenomenal achievement, Duane Roberts has not lost the desire to build and grow companies. While many successful entrepreneurs reach a stage in their lives where they gradually lose interest and focus on enjoying the fruits of their labors, Roberts' intensity has not waned. The entrepreneurial passion appears to be as strong in him now as it was when he first started down the road to success in transforming Butcher Boy into an industry leader and innovator in food products.

Duane Roberts truly embodies the entrepreneurial spirit: he is innovative, driven by opportunity and embraces and thrives on the challenges that each day brings. He speaks passionately about his most cherished accomplishments as an entrepreneur: building companies that have very low turnover and numerous long term employees that positively impact the community through job creation. It is clear that Duane Roberts views entrepreneurship as a part of his life, and in that sense he is the perfect role model for aspiring entrepreneurs: he is living proof that being an entrepreneur is not just something you do, but something you are and will be throughout your life!