In geologic time, two decades is less than the blink of an eye. However, for a contemporary technology company, enduring 20 years is a true accomplishment. Two regional firms — ADG Creative and Software Consortium — have achieved that milestone and can celebrate their longevity.
ADG Creative focuses on helping client organizations work out their strategies, recruit and train talent and market their products. Jeff Antkowiak, ADG Creative’s owner and founder, defined the strategic communications firm’s goals: “We are still trying to boil it down. Amidst the film and video work we do, we’re settling on strategic communication with an emphasis on story. And, this can be presented through three different methods: strategy and branding, learning and gaming, software and interactive.”
Antkowiak started his career in marketing and graphic design: He was an illustrator with a background in freelance design. Self-taught, he interned with an advertising agency and worked in communications for the Department of Defense.
“That taught me how to be adaptable,” he said, “how to do a lot with very little.”
Going out on his own and founding ADG Creative in 1991, Antkowiak received a contract from the American Chemical Society to design a magazine. His client asked if he could put the magazine’s content onto the newly emerging Internet. He took the challenge, but then had to learn how to design online content put it onto the nascent medium.
“We were early adopters of web and CD technology,” he said. “We got involved in interactive media and needed software developers.”
Digital and Brand-Centric
Today, ADG Creative has 50 employees and considers itself a “digital agency.” It assists corporate leaders in the hospitality, entertainment and intelligence industries take advantage of emerging technologies, using a “brand-centric” approach.
“Every engagement is so unique,” said Antkowiak. “Our solutions are not off-the-shelf. We have a vast array of talent and one of the biggest film studios in the area. We can build new web sites, television spots, graphics.”
“We put the ‘why’ before the ‘what,’” he continued. “First, there has to be a compelling reason to do something.”
Currently, ADG Creative works with about 130 clients, most within 100 miles of its office, but some national accounts. Typical clients include technology companies in the 100- to 300-employee range.
ADG Creative recently moved to new quarters in a 28,000-square-foot building on Columbia Gateway Drive, doubling the firm’s space and expanding its staff. The “café” is a unique feature and the social hub of the company’s new home.
“We have breakfast there every Monday morning, supplied by four employees,” explained Antkowiak. “It gets competitive. We also have ‘happy hour’ on Friday afternoons, as sort of a ‘week in review.’”
Baltimore Magazine recently recognized ADG Creative as a “Best Place to Work,” and Inc. magazine’s listed the company as one of the 5,000 fastest growing private companies in the country.
Recognizing Achievement
For Software Consortium, celebrating 20 years in business has proven equally momentous. As an award-winning software development and integration services firm, Software Consortium has been recognized by Maryland’s governor as a Top Minority Business Enterprise/Disadvantaged Business Enterprise and one of the area’s largest woman-owned businesses; it’s ranked as the fifth largest software development firm in the Baltimore area.
Led by chief executive officer Janet Amirault, Software Consortium offers a suite of technology software services ranging from providing a strategic member of a software team to a full software development solution. Typical clients include large enterprise companies, mid-market firms and governmental agencies. The company focuses on assessing and negotiating client goals and then delivering the software to meet those goals.
The firm was founded by a lifelong business developer in the computer mainframe and recruiting businesses. He saw the opportunity created by the dawning of the personal computer world and the advent of a workforce that wanted to function as contractors rather than as direct hire employees. Janet Amirault joined the founder in 1994 and later became his partner. She had a passion for using technology to add business value.
After six months of negotiation, Amirault agreed to be chief operating officer. However, after only three days on the job as COO, she became the CEO when the founder had a heart attack, required 12 hospitalizations and did not return to work. Amirault quickly had to learn all the roles to manage the company through the trauma.
Today, Software Consortium has corporate offices in Towson and Columbia and employs 80 people on staff and at client sites in the Baltimore-Washington region. The company has averaged 15% year-over-year growth throughout its 20-year history, and its senior team has led diversification into governmental contracting and the Washington, D.C., market.
A Culture of Learning
Equally important to its corporate growth, Software Consortium has worked to develop a culture that invests in its workforce through daily mentoring and encourages lifelong learning for every member of the team. Because the technology market is so competitive for resources, Amirault has focused on developing a culture that serves customers’ needs, as well as her employees’ long-term career goals.
“We compete in an industry that requires constantly expanding and growing our capabilities to be relevant and meet our clients’ needs,” said Austin Bachmann, vice president of business development. “Yet working for Software Consortium is like getting an Executive MBA. There hasn’t been a day when I haven’t been challenged to learn something new. That’s what appealed to me from day one and remains true today.”
“In the past 20 years, we have applied ourselves to developing the potential in each other — our consultants, clients and partners — to achieve new levels of teaming and success. Steady performance has led to steady, stable growth and a tremendously talented and committed Software Consortium team,” said Amirault.
“We are looking forward to continuing the excellence and innovation that has been our hallmark and is what we feel every business needs to strive for in today’s global economy.”
