Control Network Newsletter

Sinclair: What is your secret to your company's longevity?

Thomas: The key has been building a business around something I truly love. From the beginning, I knew I wanted to work for myself in a field I was passionate about.

But passion alone isn't enough, you need to grow to survive. That meant hiring people, which brought new responsibilities. Once you bring employees on board, you take on a leadership role. They look to you for stability and opportunities to advance, and it becomes your job to grow the business to meet those expectations.

Running a systems integration business is challenging because you're essentially selling your employees' time and expertise. Our turning point came when we transitioned into manufacturing. Selling products instead of just services gave us a more scalable path to growth.

I've always believed that if you create an environment where people can grow in their roles, they're more likely to stay. And that's proven true—today, we have employees who've been with us for more than 30 years.

Sinclair: What are you most proud of in terms of Contemporary Controls' technical accomplishments?

Thomas: I am most proud of my technical team. I did not write the code. I did not layout a multi-layer BGA board design. I did not determine the process steps to produce a BGA board using a double-sided reflow process. I did not design or build the test fixtures to test our products. I did not provide the direction on what operating system to use, what security software to use, what compiler tools were needed, or what test scripts to run. My team did all that. I just encouraged them.