About Us

Robin Cole was introduced to computers and software design in 1966 during his education at Christian Brothers University, Memphis, TN, where he earned a B.S. in Electrical Engineering.  In 1967, he entered New York University’s Graduate School of Business, and later joined Univac’s Sperry Systems Management Division, where he joined a team designing and testing the prototype of a single-pilot multi-role combat aircraft with the first computerized weapons delivery system.  In 1972, F.S. Smithers & Co., a Wall Street trading firm, recruited him to sell securities to major financial institutions.  In 1976, he joined First Boston Corporation as a Vice President-Institutional Sales to engage with many of the largest financial institutions in the world.

During the years leading into the 1980s, he extended his information technology expertise by building investment security and portfolio analysis tools used to trade securities.

The day (August 12, 1981) that IBM announced their breakthrough introduction of the first IBM-compatible personal computer, he was ready to immediately recognize the breakthrough innovation.  He bought one that very day to gain independence from the inflexible constraints of time-shared mainframe computing—and never looked back—becoming an early adopter of PCs in finance.  When he retired from Wall Street, he began to understand how vastly over-rated the concept of retirement is, and vowed he’d never do that again, so he pivoted into entrepreneurship.

Early in his life, he earned his general aviation pilot’s license which became his life-time avocation.  Over the 60 years since (that’s been nearly half the time since powered aviation was invented), he’s flown throughout the lower-48 and Canada.  In 2015, the FAA awarded him his Wright Brothers Master Pilot Award, recognizing his over 50 years of safe flying.  When one compares flying airplanes and operating computer technology networks, many similar aspects, such as planning, controlling processes, budgeting resources, critical decision-making, and predictive maintenance, are strikingly similar—the keys to producing reliability, economy, safety, security, and high performance.

After four decades on the East coast, Robin returned to Cape Girardeau and The Rite Group, which his father founded in 1967, to modernize its services with emphasis on information technology.

Robin engages in his community, is an active general aviator, and a truly proud father of two and super-proud grandfather of one.  He serves as the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association’s Airport Support Network representative for the Cape Girardeau Regional Airport, and has served as a public school board member, private school board member, president of the Cape Girardeau Public School Foundation, president of Cape Area-Habitat for Humanity, chairperson of the Missouri Department of Natural Resources’ Small Business Compliance Advisory Committee, and board member of Cape Girardeau County’s University of Missouri Extension Service.