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Gene Waller, Technomics founder, visited the Technomics Arlington, VA office to help celebrate the 10-year anniversary of the East Coast branch of company.
On June 17, many of the Technomics’ employees enjoyed lunch at Harry’s Tap Room to celebrate the 10-year anniversary.
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| PRESS RELEASE - Technomics East Celebrates 10 Years of Cost Analysis Excellence |
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
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Technomics East Celebrates 10 Years of Cost Analysis Excellence
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Arlington, Virginia USA - June 17 2010
It was June 19, 2000 and three men agreed to the challenge of creating a Washington D.C. branch of a small company formerly run out of Santa Barbara, CA.
Rick Collins, Mike Gallo and Jeff Cherwonik together gambled that the business model derived by Gene Waller, successful in California, would be a great success in the D.C. area. They were all correct.
The original three founders of the Technomics East and Waller came together at its 10th Year Anniversary to recount the beginnings of the east coast branch of Technomics. Collins remembered the humble office beginnings of the D.C. office and the Monday night strategic planning meetings fueled by beer, pizza, ping pong and video games; Waller recalled starting the company and running it out of his Santa Barbara bedroom.
All men agreed on several things, the desire to create a company where excellence was the objective and providing exceptional service to customers would be based on integrity, teamwork, trust, innovation and fun. The goal was also to create a company where the stockholders would be company employees.
Waller felt strongly about the principle of a successful company sharing its financial success with its employees, and that was one of the reasons he started Technomics in 1987. At that time, he had spent 16 years working for companies where only the original owners and/or stockholders benefitted financially from the work of employees, and he felt that it was important to award stock to others making significant contributions to the company’s welfare and to, “properly incentivize employees. I felt they would work harder for the company when they would directly share in its profits.”
Technomics at one time had ten employees in Santa Barbara, and while it never directly instituted an employee stock ownership program there, it offered a generous profit distribution program.
However, Waller and John Horak, a principal in Technomics, who joined the company in 1988, realized that the company needed to grow and felt that a location close to the financial center would be ideal. They wanted to open an office in D.C., but the challenge was finding someone with the right skill set willing to take a risk.
“The person had to be excellent technically but also had to be a good manager, a good marketer,” Waller explained.
Waller called Collins to inquire if he knew someone who may be interested, and the rest, as they say, is Technomics history. Waller describes it as a fortuitous moment.
For the almost 60 Technomics’ employees, working in an environment where innovation is prized and even as CEO, Collins’ door is always open, it is a fortuitous story. Add to that the new Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) that went into effect in January 2010, and Waller’s dream has become a reality.
Waller admits he is proud to have started the company and made it functional, but quickly adds that a lot of people have contributed to Technomics’ growth and that he couldn’t have done it alone – citing Horak – the second member of the Technomics team in Santa Barbara, as a great help in forming the company.
Waller is content now to be on the Board of Directors, mostly retired and enjoying the places and things he loves. “I am so lucky to live in California,” he admits. Being close to the water and mountains allows him to enjoy hiking as he travels in and out of the U.S.
And Collins is still as excited about the future of the company as the day he started. At an office gathering on June 17, he said, “I’m thrilled to be standing here, almost 10 years to day from the day the company began. It’s because I get to work with this group of people,” he explained, looking around the room. Collins admitted he wouldn’t have taken the plunge without Gallo and Cherwonik by his side, and would not have the early confidence to succeed without other talented senior analysts -- Brian Octeau, Paul Hardin and Joe Caico – joining the team in the first six months. “It’s all about the people,” he said, “the relationships you will carry with you throughout your career and lifetime.”
Collins thanked Waller for the opportunity and financial backing which helped launch the D.C. office.
While the office hasn’t quite reached the international reputation that the Monday night strategy sessions envisioned they would; or have an office of 500 people; or have a building named after the company – fundamentally many of the goals for the company have been met, even exceeded. Waller’s goal of an employee owned company is being realized, Technomics’ has quality people producing quality products and the excellent Technomics’ reputation – once a dream, is now a reality. Besides, who knows what the next 10 years will hold?
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Contact Information:
Cathy Ferguson
cferguson@technomics.net
Technomics, Inc.
201 12th Street South, Suite 612
Arlington, Virginia 22202
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