WESST Client Profiles

Rebellis Development Group, LLC provides information technology (IT), cybersecurity, and professional technology services to all government and commercial industries. They are an Albuquerque-New Mexico based, Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB), Native Hawaiian Minority-Owned Small Business dedicated to providing secure technology solutions that increase client effectiveness through intelligent and strategic methods. Their mission is to bolster their customer’s operations while focusing on affordability, customer service and team cohesiveness.  

Current services include: Cloud Implementation, Data Center Operations, IT Managed Services, Cyber Security Assessments, Cyber Compliance Audits and IT Program and Project Management.

Darrell is a service-disabled veteran, as well as a Native Hawaiian. He has an extensive background as a program/project manager for private, public, Native American and federal military companies. He initially started Rebellis with a partner, Kevin Koppenhaver, who he met during his time as a program/project manager. They were frustrated by the corporate life focus on revenue and the bottom line. They wanted to start a company that hired veterans, Native Americans and had a positive impact on those communities. They decided to start Rebellis, leveraging Darrell’s diversity to take advantage of large government contract set-aides for small minority and/or veteran-owned businesses. Rebellis currently has $1.7 million in contracts.

Their hiring practice is to offer opportunities to New Mexico Veterans and Native Americans with competitive paying technology careers, offer the best benefit plans, and allow every team member to volunteer in the communities they work and live in.  They currently have 19 employees.

For two years in a row (2019 & 2020), Rebellis has been recognized as a Family Friendly Business, receiving the Platinum Award in 2020 which was the first time businesses were recognized at this level. An added benefit of winning the Family Friendly award was that the organization provided an audit and consulting on their employee benefits package. The result was they were able to structure a package that offers their employees the same benefit plans as the large companies. 

As a start-up company, they lacked the past performance history they needed to get contracts. They also lacked start-up capital. They accessed a BIA contract as a subcontractor and won several smaller contracts that gave them the performance history they needed. They were also granted a large Line of Credit by WESST to help fund the start-up cash flow needs.

Being accepted into the WESST Incubation Program has helped build Rebellis’ credibility as a company. WESST provided consulting in the areas of branding and marketing. They also connected Rebellis with vetted expertise in the areas of bookkeeping and law. Rebellis took advantage of the networking opportunities that came with the Incubation Program and helped them become a standout name in the community. Additionally, WESST provided them a Revolving Line of Credit at a low interest rate to help support the cash flow nuances of the government contract payments.

Darrell said that he finds the challenges of starting and running his own business rewarding. “Working for the people who work for you” gives him great joy. For example, he was interviewing a potential employee who had just graduated from IT school and was a veteran. He asked the candidate what wage level he had in mind, and the response was $12.00/hr. Darrell told him that he was a great candidate and he really needed to believe more in himself – to know that he was worth more than that. Not only did Darrell offer him a larger wage, he encouraged and supported the candidate’s self-confidence.

“WESST has been the professional environment that allowed us to grow as a new IT company. The entire staff makes our team feel important by listening to our concerns and guiding us to solving issues we are having. They help us celebrate our achievements and mentor us through our difficult moments to become successful.”