January 29, 2026 • 27 mins
Joe Punaro is the CEO and Founder of IronArch Technology. He is a decorated combat Veteran and a former U.S. Marine platoon commander whose leadership philosophy is grounded in service, integrity, and people-first values. After serving in Iraq, Joe launched IronArch with a clear mission: to serve our nation by protecting its critical infrastructure through cutting-edge technology and human-centered innovation.
His military experience shaped a leadership style rooted in the principle, “Know your Marines and look out for their welfare.” At IronArch, this evolved into a company-wide commitment to empowering people—employees, clients, and partners alike. Joe’s passion for entrepreneurship and national service drives his strategic vision
and his belief that taking care of the team is essential to mission success.
Under Joe’s leadership, IronArch has become known for its commitment to excellence, agile solutions, and a workplace where people feel valued and trust and innovation are embedded.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
M and T Bank presents CEOs you should know riven By,
Western Transportation Group and iHeartMedia Looks.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
Meet Joe Pernaro. He is the founder and CEO for iron.
Speaker 1 (00:11):
Arch, based in Arlington, Virginia and with staff in twenty
eight States. Is a service disabled veteran owned small business
that provides advanced technology consulting, cloud modernization, digital services, and
platform engineering for US federal agencies, helping them improve operations, security,
and efficiency through solutions in IT modernization, data analytics, and
scalable software development. Before we find out more about Joe's
(00:33):
incredible company, I first asked him to talk a little
bit about himself, where he's from, and his origin story.
Speaker 3 (00:38):
So I actually grew up just outside of Washington, DC
in northern Virginia. I grew up in McLean, graduated from
McLean High School, and went to James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia.
I'd be remiss if I didn't give a shout out
to Jamie West, who won the national championship last night.
Speaker 2 (00:57):
Very cool.
Speaker 1 (00:57):
You know, I know this is not going to surprise you,
but of all the hundreds, if not thousands of people
we've interviewed over the last five or six years. In
this series, there's a lot of lifers, and I know
you've done some travel because of your military service and
being in the Marine Corps. But it's always cool to
talk to lifers because this is my fourth time living
in the DMV and I know the area very well.
And I think that whatever type of business you start,
(01:19):
knowing the landscape as well as you do growing up
as a kid here and now as an adult and
starting a business, I think is paramount. So I'd love
to talk about that a little bit later on. But
I did mention your military service. But you know, coming
out of school, is that what you want to do?
Because I know military was in the family, So coming
out of school, what did you want to do?
Speaker 3 (01:36):
Yeah, so it's a great question, Dennis. So I was
graduating in two thousand and one, and if you remember,
this was during the dot com boom and people were
going to you know, all these startups and signing bonuses,
and I got caught up in that, you know, started
interviewing with companies and I was actually going to go
work for a consulting firm. I had not done ROTC
while at GMU, but I had a real gut check
(01:58):
moment where I said, if I'm going to serve our country,
which I'd always wanted to do, but I put it
on the back burner, now is the time to do it.
And so I signed up for the Marine Corps in
the spring of two thousand and one. Of course, all
my friends thought I was crazy and like, what are
you doing? And I signed up, and so I did
my train and you know, I trained over the summer,
and I was reporting to something called Officer Candidate School
(02:20):
in Quantico, Virginia in October of two thousand and one.
So Vennis nine to eleven happens, and I had I said,
I said, Okay, this is going to be the real deal.
And so they didn't even the Marine Corps didn't know
how many people would actually show up to our class
in October of two thousand and one. Very happy to
report that everyone that was supposed to showed up showed up,
and we ended up. You know, I went through all
(02:41):
of my training and shortly found myself and I got
stationed in San Diego on the West coast. So I
did leave. I did leave the area for a bit,
but I quickly found myself in Iraq, and so Dennis
I was a front lines person. I went everywhere from
Basra to Baghdad, the Nia outcut, and through that process
(03:04):
I lost a lot of dear friends. And so I'm
in my early twenties and serving as the pallbearer and funerals.
It was that point of time where just felt like
people were being killed every single week, and so I
really was intentional with wanting to get into the government
contracting space because I wanted to make sure our men
(03:24):
and women in uniform were never in a fair fight,
so those in harms way, those training to go into
harms way, those returning from harm's way, and that's something
that's why I got into it. And I wear this
bracelet Dennis with the names of some of my dear
friends that unfortunately paid the ultimate sacrifice as just a
reminder of why we as a company do what we do,
(03:45):
and it really helps put things in perspective for me
when I'm having a tough day or something, I look
down and it's just a great reminder for me. And
so I think, you know, I've been able to bring
that mission focus and understanding of the sacrifices that our
men and women in uniform and our veterans have made
for this country.
Speaker 1 (04:04):
Well, thanks for sharing all that, and i'd love to
talk about the transition about leaving the military because there's
a lot of people that make it a whole career
and then they retire. You left and started the company,
and I'd love to hear about the origins about starting
the company. You mentioned about the kind of sector that
you wanted to get into get into, so you obviously
had an idea. And we've talked in this series so much.
(04:26):
It's always there's lots of ideas out there, but the
execution of starting a business, especially in your field, it's
really intense. There's a lot that goes into it. I
love you to share that in a little bit. But
what's the origin story about starting the business and what
year did you start it?
Speaker 3 (04:40):
Yeah, so I started this business in twenty thirteen, and
I had had a business before, a smaller business that
I sold my interest in. But I think it goes
back to you know, when I was in grade school
in sixth grade, I had a paper out. You know,
I was My father worked for the government, my mom,
you know, worked inside the home, and if I wanted something,
(05:01):
it was you need to go out and earn it,
and so I said, well, how do I do that?
And they said, well, you can start a paper route.
And so I woke up every morning at five am.
My mom woke up with me and drove me around
as I delivered the paper. I love you, Mom, and
I would I would deliver it in a Dennis. At
that time you had to actually like walk up to
(05:22):
the door with the paper, put it behind the you know,
the storm door. And I knew that if you delivered
excellent service every single day, rain shine, snow, I would
get a tip come you know, Christmas time. And so
that was that's really how I got started. And then
I worked. You know, when I was in high school,
I worked, When I was in college, I was working.
(05:43):
And so I had always had that entrepreneurial spirit and
that work ethic required to start a business. And so
when I got out, it does go back to, you know,
losing friends in Iraq, and so I wanted to get it.
I was very intentional with wanting to be in this
market because I wanted to make sure our men and
women in uniform were never in a fair fight. And
(06:04):
you know, I'm a marine and so sometimes we're aggressive
and we kicked down the door and figure out how
to make it happen later. I think I benefited from
being a little bit naive at the time. I look
back now and I'm like, you know, holy cow, how
did how did? How did I do that? And I
did it because I had a great team, and I
was able to build a great team around me, and
(06:25):
I've been I considered myself very blessed and fortunate.
Speaker 1 (06:28):
Dennis Well, I appreciate you sharing all that. I want
to thank you for your military service. And you and
I have something in common with me being a seventies
kid and living in Falls Church. I too had a
Washington Post paper route. And I'm going to tell people
that Sundays were epic because if anybody's old enough to
remembers the Washington Post on Sundays, it was like lifting
the Bible. It was unbelievably huge. And I got a
(06:50):
right too. But that that really created work ethic and
getting up early and then trying to get your tips
and having everybody paying time. So, but that creates a
work ethic when you're a young person. I'm glad you
shared that story. I did want to talk to you
and ask you about the name of the company because
you've got a unique name.
Speaker 3 (07:07):
Why the name of the company, my dad gone, I
think I mentioned to the University of Georgia and they've
got this famous you know, iron Arch there, and so
because of my respect and love for my father, I
thought it was a great nod to him, and so
that's how I got it started.
Speaker 2 (07:25):
I love that.
Speaker 1 (07:26):
Well, listen, we're going to talk a lot about iron
Arch and all the incredible things that you're doing. We'll
talk about your programs, your capabilities, and what you offer
your clients and also exactly what you do. But I
know that, especially somebody that has a military background, mission
and vision are always very very important, and they are
in the private sector too. Can you share what those are?
Speaker 3 (07:44):
Yeah, So our mission here at iron Arch is, you know,
we're delivering complex missions for customers, we say, with clarity,
accountability and results that endure. And because of our you know,
my frontline experience, I've been able to explain to our team,
especially you know, non veterans, how the work that they
(08:07):
do on a daily basis is making a huge difference
in the lives of those folks that we support. And
I believe that I think it was Daniel Pink that said,
you know, people need purpose, mastery and autonomy, and our
purpose here at iron Arch is very easy to understand
and it makes people get the why, which is really
(08:29):
important because people show up every day working hard to
make a difference. And I think that's you know, that's
really what's driven our company did us and so that's
that's that's the mission that we operate in and we
want to continue. Our vision is to continue focused on
you know, war fighter facing services, veteran facing services, so
(08:51):
working on projects that help veterans schedule appointments, help veterans
communicate with their providers. That's the type of work that
we want to do. And I'll say that I even
I have a dear friend that I went to Iraq with.
He uses the VA and he had slept near the
burn pits, just like I did in so many others,
(09:13):
and the VA was able to identify a brain tumor,
whereas other doctors he had been to didn't think much
of it. But the VA said, you know what, let
us do a scan and let's figure out what's really
going on here. And they literally found a brain tumor
and saved his life. And I just share that denis
because those are the kind of projects we're working on.
But I also want to highlight the VA and what
(09:35):
it does for veterans because there are negative stories out there,
but there's also a lot of good news stories that
aren't always said, and so just really proud of our
work there at the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Speaker 1 (09:47):
Agreed, Joan, Thanks for Sharon, Well, let's do this because
I think you're leading into this. There's a lot of
people that probably know what you do and have heard
of your company. But when it comes to iron Rich,
if you were to tell somebody that's, hey, this is
our company, kind of give a thirty thousand foot view,
this is what we do, what would you tell them?
Speaker 3 (10:01):
Yeah, so I see. I tell people that we set
really at the intersection of operations, technology and leadership, and
so our clients are operating in a no fail environment,
so there's tremendous pressure on them, and that we as
a team feel together and so our work, you know,
whether it is helping to schedule appointments and communicate with providers,
(10:26):
is making a huge difference in the lives of veterans
and their and their caregivers and our war fighters, and
so we're working on things in it's like cloud transformation
and human centered design and digital services. It's everything we
do is about delivering outcomes, which typically in this day
and age, I mean, it's modernizing services. We're so used
to having, you know, applications that work on our mobile devices,
(10:51):
and so veterans and our war fighters deserve those same experiences.
And there's so much that goes into that because it
is a complex environment, both from a cybersecurity standpoint as
well as just there's there's a lot of systems that
you know, are all intertwined together. So yeah, that's that's
what we do, and it really at the end of
(11:13):
the day, I would say, at the thirty thousand foot level,
it goes back to improving services for our veterans and
our war fighters and making sure our men and women
in uniform are never in a fair fight with our adversaries.
Speaker 2 (11:24):
Thanks for that, Joe Listen.
Speaker 1 (11:25):
I don't want to make any assumptions that there are
other companies do exactly what you and your team do,
but I imagine in that space there can be some competitiveness.
With that said, when you see other companies doing it
and then you're pitching yourself either to a client or
a client comes to you and says, hey, we'd like
to work with you and your team, Joe, how do
you differentiate yourself from said competition?
Speaker 3 (11:45):
I think so. Our veteran employment is thirty five percent,
and it goes even higher when you count military spouses,
and so when we think of projects, we are able
to understand at a very deep level, what the veteran
or war fighter experience is. We can relate to it
both from a veteran perspective, but oftentimes from a military
(12:07):
spouse perspective. And our number when I look at other
small businesses out there in terms of our veteran employees,
is far higher. And I think that firsthand experience certainly
helps us differentiate, relate, be empathetic towards the veteran journey.
And I would say that's a huge differentiator for us
(12:28):
when it comes to the industry.
Speaker 2 (12:29):
What kind of challenges are you and your team facing
right now?
Speaker 3 (12:32):
Twenty twenty five was a challenge for everyone, but I
think a welcome opportunity to reinvent. Understand that you need
to earn it every day, that our customer base, the
American citizens, deserve our very best, and so we welcome
(12:53):
the challenges that have been presented to us, and we're
working really hard to make sure that you know, we're
adapting to a new environment. But I think an environment
that is needed, and so delivering outcomes should always be
first and foremost in everything that we do. I mentioned
to you earlier, Dennis, that we want results that endure,
(13:15):
and so we've got to earn it every day. We've
got to embrace these challenges we've you've got to deliver
outcomes and you have to move fast. And so I
think for a company like ours that's always operated in
that fashion, that mission mindsets ingrained in our DNA. While
it's been challenging, we welcome the opportunity, and we grew
(13:37):
in twenty twenty five, so i'd say we're very bullish
on twenty twenty six and let's go.
Speaker 2 (13:45):
Joe.
Speaker 1 (13:45):
I know you know this, but when it comes to
mental wellness and mental health, especially when you've done military service,
and I've talked to enough people like you that have
been through it, and I'm so grateful and thankful that
I get to talk to people like you to post
military life, that that's a part of the equation when
you're helping people out for whatever you offer your clients
(14:06):
out there, can you talk a little bit about it,
because you know, you have firsthand knowledge about being on
a different landscape in a different country and then seeing
some pretty brutal stuff out there, and then trying to
come back to the United States and have the sense
of normalcy and having a working life or just being
normal out there. Can you chat a little bit about
that about how your personal experience integrate with your workplace
(14:27):
and your clients.
Speaker 3 (14:28):
Yeah, thanks for that question. I'll tell a story about
when I was coming back from Iraq, and so we
came back on a Navy ship, the USS Cleveland LPD seven.
So that's a ship that you know, the Navy operates,
but Carrie's Marines like me, and I remember at that
time they asked this state had a you know, psychologist
(14:49):
or chaplain come into you know, the galley where they
were getting ready to you know, serve food. And so
we're all sitting there next to our peers and subordinates
and our supervisors, and he asked this question, anyone having
you know, bad dreams or anything that you want to
you know, talk about. And so one you're asking that
question in front of you know, your your peer group. Two,
(15:11):
you're doing it before before Chow's right, we're all good here, right,
We're all good nothing, nothing to be here. But the
military has come a long way since then. So I think,
you know, veterans like myself and others, I mean, it
is when you come back from that operating environment to
(15:35):
you know, a much more laid back environment, it is
hard to transition in. And so you know, for me,
in some of the veterans that I went to Iraq with,
it's just sharing stories and talking and communicating and and
and being vulnerable with your with with that group of people.
And I think doing that and and and doing that
(15:57):
with your company too, like saying hey, look, you know,
for those of us that went overseas, it is really
hard to transition back. And some of us are still
going to have, you know, issues that we need to
deal with, but we're going to be here for you
and we're here to talk through it. And it is
not an easy transition. I mean, when you you know,
lose friends and you're a pallbearer. As I mentioned before,
(16:19):
that was a really dark period for me. And I
think it's just but I think We've come a long
way since then, where you know, mental health is not
as stigmatized as it once was. I still, I still
think we have a long way to go. I mean,
no one will question, hey, my knees hurting, let me
go to the doctor. But when it comes to mental health,
we are certainly not there yet, and we need we
(16:42):
need to be. And so I've had my own, you know,
internal struggles, and thankfully I've got a great group of
you know, fellow veterans that you know, I can have
conversations with. The VA is also there for for veterans.
I mean, they are expert on on doing that. There's
also groups like the Wounded Warrior Project and others that
put on events to bring veterans together, and so I
(17:04):
think all of those things help us make the transition.
But you need to be there for each other. And
I think just you know, making and being vulnerable. I mean,
when you're vulnerable with people, they'll be the same with you.
And I think talking about the experiences that we had
is also helpful.
Speaker 1 (17:21):
Well, I appreciate you sharing that all. And the final
thing I'll say about this and our listeners know, and
I think you're starting to gather as you talk to me.
I'm a big sports fan and I'm also I was
a former talk show host, and one of the things
that was drilled into me for years and then I
talked to my talk show host when I became a
program director, is there are two things that people want
out of you. They want to be able to relate
(17:41):
to you, that you do the same things as they do,
and simple acknowledgment. And those are things that you're talking about,
especially when you go sideways and it's not cool to
talk about your feelings or if you've got PTSD or
something really bad happen. Sharing shared experiences and acknowledgment and
being able to relate really big deal. So I'm glad
you addressed that, and I really thank you for that.
(18:03):
I did want to talk to you about leadership, and
I'm always fascinated and it's one of my favorite things
to talk to military people about their service and leadership
and the structure that you have there, and then coming
to the private sector, especially running your own company and
how there are some similarities but there are also some
huge differences. Can you talk about that and also how
you lead a company today?
Speaker 3 (18:23):
Well, I think I'm I'm very biased. I think the
Marine Corps is the best, you know, leadership school in
the world. And that is something that is ingrained with
Marine officers like myself from day one, and so that
the mindset of leaders eat last, the mindset of don't
(18:44):
ask your marines to do something you're not willing to
do yourself, and that and that is something that you know,
we do throughout all of our training and so leadership, leadership, leadership,
that's that's what the Marine Corps is known for. Now
when you get out out and you go to the
private sector, you know, you can't just order someone around,
(19:04):
you know, and expect them to take the hill. So
you have to learn. There are some things you can
take from from the military. I'll give you an example.
One of the Marine Corps leadership principles is know your
marines and look out for their welfare. Know your colleagues
and look out for their welfare. If you take care
of your colleagues, they'll take care of the customer, and
the customer will take care of you. So there are
(19:25):
certainly things you can bring especially just being people first,
you know, putting your folks before yourself. There are things
you can take from the military that certainly I think
have been a huge part of our success. Showing up, visiting,
flying out to where your employees live and are working,
(19:46):
talking to your customers. I mean, it's just kind of
leadership one oh one. And I've talked to other companies
where people have worked and they say, hey, our company
never visited us. We got a paycheck from them, but
we didn't know who they are. Well that makes me say,
because that's that's not proper leadership. It also makes me
happy because I know we're doing the right things here
at Iron Arch. But in the when you make that transition,
(20:08):
and it was it wasn't easy for me. I mean,
Marines are you know, aggressive and intense and used to
you know, getting getting what we want. And so in
the private sector, when you build your team, you have
to build buy in. So I'm not just gonna you
can't just say go do this. There may be a
time when there's something that's urgent and important and you
have to give a directive almost like an order. But
(20:30):
most of the time you're hiring a really smart team
that you want to trust and empower, so you want
them to go off and do their job that they
were hired to do and then you're there to support
and help out as needed. And so I think it
has certainly made us successful h the Marine Corps specifically,
(20:50):
but just military leadership principles. But it is it is
different in the private sector, and you just have to
learn how to balance those two things.
Speaker 2 (20:57):
Thanks.
Speaker 1 (20:58):
And I want to ask you one more thing about lead,
and that's communication. And I know in the military it
is paramount or people die, and I'm not exaggerating about that.
With that said, you have a company, while based in Arlington,
You've got people spread over and correct me if I'm
wrong in about twenty eight states, which means it's almost
telephone tag. And why I say that is is that
you've got people spread out and not in front of you.
Speaker 2 (21:19):
So, with that said, as a leader of a.
Speaker 1 (21:21):
Company, Joe, when you're talking about your mission, your vision,
and then the execution of all said things, how do
you clearly design to make sure that that gets to
everybody out there execution while they of course have a
good work life balance, but also execute what you need
them to do.
Speaker 3 (21:36):
Yeah. So, you know, it's interesting when you think back.
You know, pre COVID, everyone was based here in the DMB.
Everyone was in the office every day and so obviously
COVID changed the world. And so we do have people
in twenty eight states and it is important to communicate
with them, and so we do everything. We have slack,
which is a technology used you know, communicate work on projects,
(21:59):
but communicate news. It's also used to you know, to
send social stuff about you know, people's families and personal
ask about movie recommendations, and so we use technology. So
that's one piece of it. The other thing is we
do you know, quarterly all company meetings and so everyone
shows up that can normally it's you know, over eighty
(22:20):
percent of the company, and we share everything. We're really transparent.
Here's what's going well, here's what we need to work on.
Here are some of the changes coming. And we go
through you know, financials, we go through program reviews. We'll
highlight a project that we're super proud of just so
the rest of the company knows about it. We open
it up for Q and A at the end. And
(22:41):
then the third thing that we do is we do
we'll do like pulse surveys, you know, just quick little
surveys like how are we doing, what can we be
doing better? What should we start doing, what should we
stop doing, what should we continue doing? So those are
some way So those are some of the ways that
we do it. We also will do you know, I
just got back from San Antonio last week. We've got
a big down there supporting the Air Force and so
(23:02):
we did a big, you know dinner for that team.
We've got a big dinner here in Arlington this Friday
night where people will fly in. So it's you know,
we do you know, both technology, We do these company
all hands, we do these dinners. But you know, we
communication is really key and so we could probably do more, Dennis,
but you know, right now we feel like that's we've
(23:25):
got kind of the right balance in terms of making
sure we're transparent. We let people know where we're going,
and we're available for feedback, and we always say feedback
is a gift.
Speaker 2 (23:35):
Yeah. Yeah, that's well said, Joe. Thanks for all that.
Speaker 1 (23:38):
I did want to put a pin and work just
for a second if we could and talk to you
about philanthropic and charity work and whether it's with you
and your family or through the business and work.
Speaker 2 (23:48):
What do you like to be a part of.
Speaker 3 (23:49):
Yeah, So we we love giving back to the communities
where we work and we live. And so the first
thing I'll say is we match employee contributions, which is
which is really cool. So that allows employees to you know,
contribute to things that they care about. Most of the
charities that you know I in the company gives to
our our veteran focused one as an example is the
(24:13):
Alex Weatherbee Scholarship at the University of Idaho. Alex, as
it so happens, I went to high school with him,
laid look across with him. He was a year older
than me, so we weren't We were on the same team,
but not in the same friend group necessarily, but we
we met up at the Basic School in Quantico, Virginia
about five years later. You know, two guys from McLean
(24:33):
and like Alex Joe Holy Cow and you know, I
got we're assigned to the same unit. And unfortunately he
got killed by an ied on his second tour in Iraq.
And so that's something that's you know, near and dear
to my heart, and that that's a scholarship that helps
in our OTC students at the University of Idaho. I'm
(24:54):
super excited we're doing this. Disabled American Veterans is doing
a w our sports clinic in Colorado this April, where
you know, we good warriors are able to come out
and ski and sled and rock climb, and so we're
going to be a sponsor. I'm actually going to go
out there and volunteer. We're supporting the Simper five Fund
(25:16):
in America's fund. They've got a walk in Texas this spring.
It's one hundred mile walk to recognize PTSD, you know,
the invisible illness, and so we're we're we're getting behind
that as well, and so I'm excited. I'm going to
participate in that too, Dennis. And so that's just those
are a few of the things that you know, we
really care about and that we want to give back
(25:36):
to that.
Speaker 2 (25:36):
Stanny.
Speaker 1 (25:37):
Thanks for all that, Joe. Well, listen, I want to
get some final thoughts. I've really enjoyed the conversation. We
are going to give the website. I know some of
our brilliant listeners have already found you on the web,
but we're going to give the website and all the
other things that go with that. But maybe just some
final thoughts from what we had talked about, Joe and
kind of recapping everything if you could.
Speaker 2 (25:53):
The floor is yours.
Speaker 3 (25:54):
Yeah, thank you. I would say, you know, some takeaways
for your listeners are I use that Marine core leadership principle.
Know your marines and look out for their welfare. Know
your colleagues and look out for their welfare. Clear is kind? Unclear?
Is unkind? So that means be super transparent with not
only your customers, but your employees as well. And then lastly,
(26:19):
I'd say hire veterans. They make great teammates.
Speaker 2 (26:22):
Yeah, they sure do. What's the website for everybody?
Speaker 3 (26:24):
So it's www dot iron architech dot com. We are
always looking for good technical talent. We've been named the
best place to work nine times and I'm super proud
of We just got awarded something Dennis from the Department
of Labor, which is the Higher Vets Gold Medallion, and
so that's something that recognizes as companies that hire veterans,
(26:47):
and you know, with over thirty five percent of our
workforce as veterans and even higher with military spouses, we'd
love to have you in non veterans as well, so
we would be absolutely thrilled and honored if you.
Speaker 1 (26:59):
Cons congratulations well, Joe, thank you so much. For all this,
I want to thank you for not only your service,
but you continue with your team to do incredible work
out there and I'm so glad that we could feature
you on CEOs. You should know, continue success and thank
you so much.
Speaker 3 (27:12):
Thanks Dannis, appreciate the opportunity.
Speaker 1 (27:14):
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should Know is part of their ongoing commitment to building
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As a Bank for Communities, M and T believes in
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Speaker 2 (00:07):
Meet Joe Pernaro. He is the founder and CEO for iron.
Speaker 1 (00:11):
Arch, based in Arlington, Virginia and with staff in twenty
eight States. Is a service disabled veteran owned small business
that provides advanced technology consulting, cloud modernization, digital services, and
platform engineering for US federal agencies, helping them improve operations, security,
and efficiency through solutions in IT modernization, data analytics, and
scalable software development. Before we find out more about Joe's
(00:33):
incredible company, I first asked him to talk a little
bit about himself, where he's from, and his origin story.
Speaker 3 (00:38):
So I actually grew up just outside of Washington, DC
in northern Virginia. I grew up in McLean, graduated from
McLean High School, and went to James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia.
I'd be remiss if I didn't give a shout out
to Jamie West, who won the national championship last night.
Speaker 2 (00:57):
Very cool.
Speaker 1 (00:57):
You know, I know this is not going to surprise you,
but of all the hundreds, if not thousands of people
we've interviewed over the last five or six years. In
this series, there's a lot of lifers, and I know
you've done some travel because of your military service and
being in the Marine Corps. But it's always cool to
talk to lifers because this is my fourth time living
in the DMV and I know the area very well.
And I think that whatever type of business you start,
(01:19):
knowing the landscape as well as you do growing up
as a kid here and now as an adult and
starting a business, I think is paramount. So I'd love
to talk about that a little bit later on. But
I did mention your military service. But you know, coming
out of school, is that what you want to do?
Because I know military was in the family, So coming
out of school, what did you want to do?
Speaker 3 (01:36):
Yeah, so it's a great question, Dennis. So I was
graduating in two thousand and one, and if you remember,
this was during the dot com boom and people were
going to you know, all these startups and signing bonuses,
and I got caught up in that, you know, started
interviewing with companies and I was actually going to go
work for a consulting firm. I had not done ROTC
while at GMU, but I had a real gut check
(01:58):
moment where I said, if I'm going to serve our country,
which I'd always wanted to do, but I put it
on the back burner, now is the time to do it.
And so I signed up for the Marine Corps in
the spring of two thousand and one. Of course, all
my friends thought I was crazy and like, what are
you doing? And I signed up, and so I did
my train and you know, I trained over the summer,
and I was reporting to something called Officer Candidate School
(02:20):
in Quantico, Virginia in October of two thousand and one.
So Vennis nine to eleven happens, and I had I said,
I said, Okay, this is going to be the real deal.
And so they didn't even the Marine Corps didn't know
how many people would actually show up to our class
in October of two thousand and one. Very happy to
report that everyone that was supposed to showed up showed up,
and we ended up. You know, I went through all
(02:41):
of my training and shortly found myself and I got
stationed in San Diego on the West coast. So I
did leave. I did leave the area for a bit,
but I quickly found myself in Iraq, and so Dennis
I was a front lines person. I went everywhere from
Basra to Baghdad, the Nia outcut, and through that process
(03:04):
I lost a lot of dear friends. And so I'm
in my early twenties and serving as the pallbearer and funerals.
It was that point of time where just felt like
people were being killed every single week, and so I
really was intentional with wanting to get into the government
contracting space because I wanted to make sure our men
(03:24):
and women in uniform were never in a fair fight,
so those in harms way, those training to go into
harms way, those returning from harm's way, and that's something
that's why I got into it. And I wear this
bracelet Dennis with the names of some of my dear
friends that unfortunately paid the ultimate sacrifice as just a
reminder of why we as a company do what we do,
(03:45):
and it really helps put things in perspective for me
when I'm having a tough day or something, I look
down and it's just a great reminder for me. And
so I think, you know, I've been able to bring
that mission focus and understanding of the sacrifices that our
men and women in uniform and our veterans have made
for this country.
Speaker 1 (04:04):
Well, thanks for sharing all that, and i'd love to
talk about the transition about leaving the military because there's
a lot of people that make it a whole career
and then they retire. You left and started the company,
and I'd love to hear about the origins about starting
the company. You mentioned about the kind of sector that
you wanted to get into get into, so you obviously
had an idea. And we've talked in this series so much.
(04:26):
It's always there's lots of ideas out there, but the
execution of starting a business, especially in your field, it's
really intense. There's a lot that goes into it. I
love you to share that in a little bit. But
what's the origin story about starting the business and what
year did you start it?
Speaker 3 (04:40):
Yeah, so I started this business in twenty thirteen, and
I had had a business before, a smaller business that
I sold my interest in. But I think it goes
back to you know, when I was in grade school
in sixth grade, I had a paper out. You know,
I was My father worked for the government, my mom,
you know, worked inside the home, and if I wanted something,
(05:01):
it was you need to go out and earn it,
and so I said, well, how do I do that?
And they said, well, you can start a paper route.
And so I woke up every morning at five am.
My mom woke up with me and drove me around
as I delivered the paper. I love you, Mom, and
I would I would deliver it in a Dennis. At
that time you had to actually like walk up to
(05:22):
the door with the paper, put it behind the you know,
the storm door. And I knew that if you delivered
excellent service every single day, rain shine, snow, I would
get a tip come you know, Christmas time. And so
that was that's really how I got started. And then
I worked. You know, when I was in high school,
I worked, When I was in college, I was working.
(05:43):
And so I had always had that entrepreneurial spirit and
that work ethic required to start a business. And so
when I got out, it does go back to, you know,
losing friends in Iraq, and so I wanted to get it.
I was very intentional with wanting to be in this
market because I wanted to make sure our men and
women in uniform were never in a fair fight. And
(06:04):
you know, I'm a marine and so sometimes we're aggressive
and we kicked down the door and figure out how
to make it happen later. I think I benefited from
being a little bit naive at the time. I look
back now and I'm like, you know, holy cow, how
did how did? How did I do that? And I
did it because I had a great team, and I
was able to build a great team around me, and
(06:25):
I've been I considered myself very blessed and fortunate.
Speaker 1 (06:28):
Dennis Well, I appreciate you sharing all that. I want
to thank you for your military service. And you and
I have something in common with me being a seventies
kid and living in Falls Church. I too had a
Washington Post paper route. And I'm going to tell people
that Sundays were epic because if anybody's old enough to
remembers the Washington Post on Sundays, it was like lifting
the Bible. It was unbelievably huge. And I got a
(06:50):
right too. But that that really created work ethic and
getting up early and then trying to get your tips
and having everybody paying time. So, but that creates a
work ethic when you're a young person. I'm glad you
shared that story. I did want to talk to you
and ask you about the name of the company because
you've got a unique name.
Speaker 3 (07:07):
Why the name of the company, my dad gone, I
think I mentioned to the University of Georgia and they've
got this famous you know, iron Arch there, and so
because of my respect and love for my father, I
thought it was a great nod to him, and so
that's how I got it started.
Speaker 2 (07:25):
I love that.
Speaker 1 (07:26):
Well, listen, we're going to talk a lot about iron
Arch and all the incredible things that you're doing. We'll
talk about your programs, your capabilities, and what you offer
your clients and also exactly what you do. But I
know that, especially somebody that has a military background, mission
and vision are always very very important, and they are
in the private sector too. Can you share what those are?
Speaker 3 (07:44):
Yeah, So our mission here at iron Arch is, you know,
we're delivering complex missions for customers, we say, with clarity,
accountability and results that endure. And because of our you know,
my frontline experience, I've been able to explain to our team,
especially you know, non veterans, how the work that they
(08:07):
do on a daily basis is making a huge difference
in the lives of those folks that we support. And
I believe that I think it was Daniel Pink that said,
you know, people need purpose, mastery and autonomy, and our
purpose here at iron Arch is very easy to understand
and it makes people get the why, which is really
(08:29):
important because people show up every day working hard to
make a difference. And I think that's you know, that's
really what's driven our company did us and so that's
that's that's the mission that we operate in and we
want to continue. Our vision is to continue focused on
you know, war fighter facing services, veteran facing services, so
(08:51):
working on projects that help veterans schedule appointments, help veterans
communicate with their providers. That's the type of work that
we want to do. And I'll say that I even
I have a dear friend that I went to Iraq with.
He uses the VA and he had slept near the
burn pits, just like I did in so many others,
(09:13):
and the VA was able to identify a brain tumor,
whereas other doctors he had been to didn't think much
of it. But the VA said, you know what, let
us do a scan and let's figure out what's really
going on here. And they literally found a brain tumor
and saved his life. And I just share that denis
because those are the kind of projects we're working on.
But I also want to highlight the VA and what
(09:35):
it does for veterans because there are negative stories out there,
but there's also a lot of good news stories that
aren't always said, and so just really proud of our
work there at the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Speaker 1 (09:47):
Agreed, Joan, Thanks for Sharon, Well, let's do this because
I think you're leading into this. There's a lot of
people that probably know what you do and have heard
of your company. But when it comes to iron Rich,
if you were to tell somebody that's, hey, this is
our company, kind of give a thirty thousand foot view,
this is what we do, what would you tell them?
Speaker 3 (10:01):
Yeah, so I see. I tell people that we set
really at the intersection of operations, technology and leadership, and
so our clients are operating in a no fail environment,
so there's tremendous pressure on them, and that we as
a team feel together and so our work, you know,
whether it is helping to schedule appointments and communicate with providers,
(10:26):
is making a huge difference in the lives of veterans
and their and their caregivers and our war fighters, and
so we're working on things in it's like cloud transformation
and human centered design and digital services. It's everything we
do is about delivering outcomes, which typically in this day
and age, I mean, it's modernizing services. We're so used
to having, you know, applications that work on our mobile devices,
(10:51):
and so veterans and our war fighters deserve those same experiences.
And there's so much that goes into that because it
is a complex environment, both from a cybersecurity standpoint as
well as just there's there's a lot of systems that
you know, are all intertwined together. So yeah, that's that's
what we do, and it really at the end of
(11:13):
the day, I would say, at the thirty thousand foot level,
it goes back to improving services for our veterans and
our war fighters and making sure our men and women
in uniform are never in a fair fight with our adversaries.
Speaker 2 (11:24):
Thanks for that, Joe Listen.
Speaker 1 (11:25):
I don't want to make any assumptions that there are
other companies do exactly what you and your team do,
but I imagine in that space there can be some competitiveness.
With that said, when you see other companies doing it
and then you're pitching yourself either to a client or
a client comes to you and says, hey, we'd like
to work with you and your team, Joe, how do
you differentiate yourself from said competition?
Speaker 3 (11:45):
I think so. Our veteran employment is thirty five percent,
and it goes even higher when you count military spouses,
and so when we think of projects, we are able
to understand at a very deep level, what the veteran
or war fighter experience is. We can relate to it
both from a veteran perspective, but oftentimes from a military
(12:07):
spouse perspective. And our number when I look at other
small businesses out there in terms of our veteran employees,
is far higher. And I think that firsthand experience certainly
helps us differentiate, relate, be empathetic towards the veteran journey.
And I would say that's a huge differentiator for us
(12:28):
when it comes to the industry.
Speaker 2 (12:29):
What kind of challenges are you and your team facing
right now?
Speaker 3 (12:32):
Twenty twenty five was a challenge for everyone, but I
think a welcome opportunity to reinvent. Understand that you need
to earn it every day, that our customer base, the
American citizens, deserve our very best, and so we welcome
(12:53):
the challenges that have been presented to us, and we're
working really hard to make sure that you know, we're
adapting to a new environment. But I think an environment
that is needed, and so delivering outcomes should always be
first and foremost in everything that we do. I mentioned
to you earlier, Dennis, that we want results that endure,
(13:15):
and so we've got to earn it every day. We've
got to embrace these challenges we've you've got to deliver
outcomes and you have to move fast. And so I
think for a company like ours that's always operated in
that fashion, that mission mindsets ingrained in our DNA. While
it's been challenging, we welcome the opportunity, and we grew
(13:37):
in twenty twenty five, so i'd say we're very bullish
on twenty twenty six and let's go.
Speaker 2 (13:45):
Joe.
Speaker 1 (13:45):
I know you know this, but when it comes to
mental wellness and mental health, especially when you've done military service,
and I've talked to enough people like you that have
been through it, and I'm so grateful and thankful that
I get to talk to people like you to post
military life, that that's a part of the equation when
you're helping people out for whatever you offer your clients
(14:06):
out there, can you talk a little bit about it,
because you know, you have firsthand knowledge about being on
a different landscape in a different country and then seeing
some pretty brutal stuff out there, and then trying to
come back to the United States and have the sense
of normalcy and having a working life or just being
normal out there. Can you chat a little bit about
that about how your personal experience integrate with your workplace
(14:27):
and your clients.
Speaker 3 (14:28):
Yeah, thanks for that question. I'll tell a story about
when I was coming back from Iraq, and so we
came back on a Navy ship, the USS Cleveland LPD seven.
So that's a ship that you know, the Navy operates,
but Carrie's Marines like me, and I remember at that
time they asked this state had a you know, psychologist
(14:49):
or chaplain come into you know, the galley where they
were getting ready to you know, serve food. And so
we're all sitting there next to our peers and subordinates
and our supervisors, and he asked this question, anyone having
you know, bad dreams or anything that you want to
you know, talk about. And so one you're asking that
question in front of you know, your your peer group. Two,
(15:11):
you're doing it before before Chow's right, we're all good here, right,
We're all good nothing, nothing to be here. But the
military has come a long way since then. So I think,
you know, veterans like myself and others, I mean, it
is when you come back from that operating environment to
(15:35):
you know, a much more laid back environment, it is
hard to transition in. And so you know, for me,
in some of the veterans that I went to Iraq with,
it's just sharing stories and talking and communicating and and
and being vulnerable with your with with that group of people.
And I think doing that and and and doing that
(15:57):
with your company too, like saying hey, look, you know,
for those of us that went overseas, it is really
hard to transition back. And some of us are still
going to have, you know, issues that we need to
deal with, but we're going to be here for you
and we're here to talk through it. And it is
not an easy transition. I mean, when you you know,
lose friends and you're a pallbearer. As I mentioned before,
(16:19):
that was a really dark period for me. And I
think it's just but I think We've come a long
way since then, where you know, mental health is not
as stigmatized as it once was. I still, I still
think we have a long way to go. I mean,
no one will question, hey, my knees hurting, let me
go to the doctor. But when it comes to mental health,
we are certainly not there yet, and we need we
(16:42):
need to be. And so I've had my own, you know,
internal struggles, and thankfully I've got a great group of
you know, fellow veterans that you know, I can have
conversations with. The VA is also there for for veterans.
I mean, they are expert on on doing that. There's
also groups like the Wounded Warrior Project and others that
put on events to bring veterans together, and so I
(17:04):
think all of those things help us make the transition.
But you need to be there for each other. And
I think just you know, making and being vulnerable. I mean,
when you're vulnerable with people, they'll be the same with you.
And I think talking about the experiences that we had
is also helpful.
Speaker 1 (17:21):
Well, I appreciate you sharing that all. And the final
thing I'll say about this and our listeners know, and
I think you're starting to gather as you talk to me.
I'm a big sports fan and I'm also I was
a former talk show host, and one of the things
that was drilled into me for years and then I
talked to my talk show host when I became a
program director, is there are two things that people want
out of you. They want to be able to relate
(17:41):
to you, that you do the same things as they do,
and simple acknowledgment. And those are things that you're talking about,
especially when you go sideways and it's not cool to
talk about your feelings or if you've got PTSD or
something really bad happen. Sharing shared experiences and acknowledgment and
being able to relate really big deal. So I'm glad
you addressed that, and I really thank you for that.
(18:03):
I did want to talk to you about leadership, and
I'm always fascinated and it's one of my favorite things
to talk to military people about their service and leadership
and the structure that you have there, and then coming
to the private sector, especially running your own company and
how there are some similarities but there are also some
huge differences. Can you talk about that and also how
you lead a company today?
Speaker 3 (18:23):
Well, I think I'm I'm very biased. I think the
Marine Corps is the best, you know, leadership school in
the world. And that is something that is ingrained with
Marine officers like myself from day one, and so that
the mindset of leaders eat last, the mindset of don't
(18:44):
ask your marines to do something you're not willing to
do yourself, and that and that is something that you know,
we do throughout all of our training and so leadership, leadership, leadership,
that's that's what the Marine Corps is known for. Now
when you get out out and you go to the
private sector, you know, you can't just order someone around,
(19:04):
you know, and expect them to take the hill. So
you have to learn. There are some things you can
take from from the military. I'll give you an example.
One of the Marine Corps leadership principles is know your
marines and look out for their welfare. Know your colleagues
and look out for their welfare. If you take care
of your colleagues, they'll take care of the customer, and
the customer will take care of you. So there are
(19:25):
certainly things you can bring especially just being people first,
you know, putting your folks before yourself. There are things
you can take from the military that certainly I think
have been a huge part of our success. Showing up, visiting,
flying out to where your employees live and are working,
(19:46):
talking to your customers. I mean, it's just kind of
leadership one oh one. And I've talked to other companies
where people have worked and they say, hey, our company
never visited us. We got a paycheck from them, but
we didn't know who they are. Well that makes me say,
because that's that's not proper leadership. It also makes me
happy because I know we're doing the right things here
at Iron Arch. But in the when you make that transition,
(20:08):
and it was it wasn't easy for me. I mean,
Marines are you know, aggressive and intense and used to
you know, getting getting what we want. And so in
the private sector, when you build your team, you have
to build buy in. So I'm not just gonna you
can't just say go do this. There may be a
time when there's something that's urgent and important and you
have to give a directive almost like an order. But
(20:30):
most of the time you're hiring a really smart team
that you want to trust and empower, so you want
them to go off and do their job that they
were hired to do and then you're there to support
and help out as needed. And so I think it
has certainly made us successful h the Marine Corps specifically,
(20:50):
but just military leadership principles. But it is it is
different in the private sector, and you just have to
learn how to balance those two things.
Speaker 2 (20:57):
Thanks.
Speaker 1 (20:58):
And I want to ask you one more thing about lead,
and that's communication. And I know in the military it
is paramount or people die, and I'm not exaggerating about that.
With that said, you have a company, while based in Arlington,
You've got people spread over and correct me if I'm
wrong in about twenty eight states, which means it's almost
telephone tag. And why I say that is is that
you've got people spread out and not in front of you.
Speaker 2 (21:19):
So, with that said, as a leader of a.
Speaker 1 (21:21):
Company, Joe, when you're talking about your mission, your vision,
and then the execution of all said things, how do
you clearly design to make sure that that gets to
everybody out there execution while they of course have a
good work life balance, but also execute what you need
them to do.
Speaker 3 (21:36):
Yeah. So, you know, it's interesting when you think back.
You know, pre COVID, everyone was based here in the DMB.
Everyone was in the office every day and so obviously
COVID changed the world. And so we do have people
in twenty eight states and it is important to communicate
with them, and so we do everything. We have slack,
which is a technology used you know, communicate work on projects,
(21:59):
but communicate news. It's also used to you know, to
send social stuff about you know, people's families and personal
ask about movie recommendations, and so we use technology. So
that's one piece of it. The other thing is we
do you know, quarterly all company meetings and so everyone
shows up that can normally it's you know, over eighty
(22:20):
percent of the company, and we share everything. We're really transparent.
Here's what's going well, here's what we need to work on.
Here are some of the changes coming. And we go
through you know, financials, we go through program reviews. We'll
highlight a project that we're super proud of just so
the rest of the company knows about it. We open
it up for Q and A at the end. And
(22:41):
then the third thing that we do is we do
we'll do like pulse surveys, you know, just quick little
surveys like how are we doing, what can we be
doing better? What should we start doing, what should we
stop doing, what should we continue doing? So those are
some way So those are some of the ways that
we do it. We also will do you know, I
just got back from San Antonio last week. We've got
a big down there supporting the Air Force and so
(23:02):
we did a big, you know dinner for that team.
We've got a big dinner here in Arlington this Friday
night where people will fly in. So it's you know,
we do you know, both technology, We do these company
all hands, we do these dinners. But you know, we
communication is really key and so we could probably do more, Dennis,
but you know, right now we feel like that's we've
(23:25):
got kind of the right balance in terms of making
sure we're transparent. We let people know where we're going,
and we're available for feedback, and we always say feedback
is a gift.
Speaker 2 (23:35):
Yeah. Yeah, that's well said, Joe. Thanks for all that.
Speaker 1 (23:38):
I did want to put a pin and work just
for a second if we could and talk to you
about philanthropic and charity work and whether it's with you
and your family or through the business and work.
Speaker 2 (23:48):
What do you like to be a part of.
Speaker 3 (23:49):
Yeah, So we we love giving back to the communities
where we work and we live. And so the first
thing I'll say is we match employee contributions, which is
which is really cool. So that allows employees to you know,
contribute to things that they care about. Most of the
charities that you know I in the company gives to
our our veteran focused one as an example is the
(24:13):
Alex Weatherbee Scholarship at the University of Idaho. Alex, as
it so happens, I went to high school with him,
laid look across with him. He was a year older
than me, so we weren't We were on the same team,
but not in the same friend group necessarily, but we
we met up at the Basic School in Quantico, Virginia
about five years later. You know, two guys from McLean
(24:33):
and like Alex Joe Holy Cow and you know, I
got we're assigned to the same unit. And unfortunately he
got killed by an ied on his second tour in Iraq.
And so that's something that's you know, near and dear
to my heart, and that that's a scholarship that helps
in our OTC students at the University of Idaho. I'm
(24:54):
super excited we're doing this. Disabled American Veterans is doing
a w our sports clinic in Colorado this April, where
you know, we good warriors are able to come out
and ski and sled and rock climb, and so we're
going to be a sponsor. I'm actually going to go
out there and volunteer. We're supporting the Simper five Fund
(25:16):
in America's fund. They've got a walk in Texas this spring.
It's one hundred mile walk to recognize PTSD, you know,
the invisible illness, and so we're we're we're getting behind
that as well, and so I'm excited. I'm going to
participate in that too, Dennis. And so that's just those
are a few of the things that you know, we
really care about and that we want to give back
(25:36):
to that.
Speaker 2 (25:36):
Stanny.
Speaker 1 (25:37):
Thanks for all that, Joe. Well, listen, I want to
get some final thoughts. I've really enjoyed the conversation. We
are going to give the website. I know some of
our brilliant listeners have already found you on the web,
but we're going to give the website and all the
other things that go with that. But maybe just some
final thoughts from what we had talked about, Joe and
kind of recapping everything if you could.
Speaker 2 (25:53):
The floor is yours.
Speaker 3 (25:54):
Yeah, thank you. I would say, you know, some takeaways
for your listeners are I use that Marine core leadership principle.
Know your marines and look out for their welfare. Know
your colleagues and look out for their welfare. Clear is kind? Unclear?
Is unkind? So that means be super transparent with not
only your customers, but your employees as well. And then lastly,
(26:19):
I'd say hire veterans. They make great teammates.
Speaker 2 (26:22):
Yeah, they sure do. What's the website for everybody?
Speaker 3 (26:24):
So it's www dot iron architech dot com. We are
always looking for good technical talent. We've been named the
best place to work nine times and I'm super proud
of We just got awarded something Dennis from the Department
of Labor, which is the Higher Vets Gold Medallion, and
so that's something that recognizes as companies that hire veterans,
(26:47):
and you know, with over thirty five percent of our
workforce as veterans and even higher with military spouses, we'd
love to have you in non veterans as well, so
we would be absolutely thrilled and honored if you.
Speaker 1 (26:59):
Cons congratulations well, Joe, thank you so much. For all this,
I want to thank you for not only your service,
but you continue with your team to do incredible work
out there and I'm so glad that we could feature
you on CEOs. You should know, continue success and thank
you so much.
Speaker 3 (27:12):
Thanks Dannis, appreciate the opportunity.
Speaker 1 (27:14):
Our community partner, M and T Bank supports CEOs you
should Know is part of their ongoing commitment to building
strong communities, and that starts by backing the businesses within them.
As a Bank for Communities, M and T believes in
dedicating time, talent, and resources to help local businesses thrive,
because when businesses succeed, our communities succeed
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