November 15, 2023 • 19 mins
Tarandeep Bawa is the President & CEO of ITegrity, Inc. He provides direction and leadership towards the achievement of ITegrity’s company culture, mission, vision, strategy, and long-term goals and objectives. Tarandeep is a seasoned management executive in the Federal and Commercial sectors with over 20 years of success in consulting, program/project management, quality improvement, and business development. Tarandeep has worked in management and operational capacities with SAIC, Motorola, and other small businesses supporting the public sector.
He possesses a Bachelors of Science from the University of Maryland and a Masters Degree in Information and Telecommunication Systems from The Johns Hopkins University. He also possesses PMP, ITIL, ISO20000, MCSE, CCNA, and Six Sigma Black Belt certifications. Tarandeep is a graduate of the nation’s first 8(a) Accelerator Program from the Small Business Administration and the Goldman Sachs 10K Small Business Program.
He possesses a Bachelors of Science from the University of Maryland and a Masters Degree in Information and Telecommunication Systems from The Johns Hopkins University. He also possesses PMP, ITIL, ISO20000, MCSE, CCNA, and Six Sigma Black Belt certifications. Tarandeep is a graduate of the nation’s first 8(a) Accelerator Program from the Small Business Administration and the Goldman Sachs 10K Small Business Program.
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(00:00):
M and T Bank prison CEOs youshould know powered by Hartley. Let's meet
Tarandeb Bawa. He is the founder, president and CEO of Integrity, providing
innovative and cost effective technology, engineeringand management solutions to the federal government.
Before we talk more about Taran Deep'scompany, I first asked him to talk
a little bit about himself, wherehe's from and his origin story. So
(00:24):
I am born. I was bornin India and I came to the country
at the age of two. Youknow, my parents came here with literally
one hundred bucks in their pockets,so you know, we were immigrants and
we came to a really underserved communitywhen I was here. But you know,
I'm still in the entire time Iwas here, I was in Maryland,
(00:46):
and in fact in Montgomery County.I went to elementary, middle school
and high school in Montgomery County,and I then followed on to do my
undergraduate studies at the University of Marylandand later on did my graduate studies and
received the master's over at Johns HopkinsUniversity. So I think it's safe to
(01:06):
say you could call me a Marylandboy. I've been here really my whole
life, definitely, and We havea lot of Terps that around the show.
For some reason, there's a lotof people that went to Maryland.
It's incredible. Yeah, now goTerps a good football and basketball program too.
Right now. Absolutely the football teamis looking great. They sure are.
(01:26):
Well. Listen, we're going totalk a lot about your company and
all the programs, capabilities and somefun things today. Before we do that,
in this series, we love togive people context about what you did
before that out of school, whatyou were interested in, and then I'd
love to hear the actual orgin storyabout coming up with your company over fourteen
years ago. But when coming outof school, what were you interested in?
(01:48):
What did you do? So,I mean my undergrad studies were in
information systems. I mean I justI just seem to do really well in
school in that and that's just kindof how I decided to go. From
a professional perspective. My first jobout of college was with a very large
company. Many of you folks probablyknow this, SA I see where I
(02:09):
did systems engineering work. I wasthere supporting work over at the Walter Reed
Army Medical Center and then later onended up going to a ridium which is
a subsidiary of Motorola, where Iwas working in their satellite network operations center,
running their telecommunications network, doing alot of systems engineering work there as
(02:34):
well. And that's the point atwhich I was approached by somebody who wanted
me to help run a program fora federal contract, which I was very
hesitant to do so at the time, but you know, looking back on
it, it was probably one ofthe best decisions I ever made. Let's
talk about the company now and thatorigin story, and also I want to
(02:55):
ask you how you came up withthe name too, because I always love
to ask about names. Sometimes there'sa personal story or there's a fun play
on words. But when you decidedthat you know there might be a hole
in the industry for something that I'mreally good at and knowing you have to
take this leap of faith and there'sa lot of money involved, and maybe
you're doing it out of your ownat the beginning, tell us about that
(03:17):
origin story about you know, I'mgoing to start my own company. Here's
my idea. Let's go What wasthat all about? How did it go
down? Sure, so first ofall, start with the name of the
company. You know, our companyand my philosophy on doing business is to
simply always do the right thing.And we were an IT based business,
so, you know, integrity justit just came to me. I woke
(03:38):
up one morning when I knew Iwanted to do this, and that's what
it was. And it's funny becauseI joke about it right now, everyone
always thinks integrity integrity, and theyalways call them that, and I joke
and say, you know, itwas too late to change the name,
and we just went with it.Sure, but I like it. It's
a nice kind of play on words. But it also makes sense for exactly
what you believe in in what thecompany. So I love that a lot.
(04:00):
That's nice. Yeah, absolutely,So, you know, I found
the integrity with the vision of creatinga company that was strongly rooted in the
belief that a company could be aforce for good, both for its employees
and the community that it serves.So from the very beginning, our mission
was clear. It was to create, build, and maintain innovative, reliable,
(04:25):
and technology management solutions for the federalgovernment, in all while upholding the
highest levels of integrity, professionalism,and customer satisfaction. And I saw an
opportunity to really lead a company thatprioritized not only outstanding performance, but also
the well being and growth of itsemployees. You know, I wanted to
(04:48):
build an organization where team members werevalued, challenged, inspired to deliver their
best work every day. And youknow I've worked tirelessly along with the team
to fall for that culture of teamwork, open communication, and professional development because
we all have the understanding and weknow that employees are truly the heart of
(05:10):
our success. You know, I'mglad you mentioned that because a common thread
tarn deep when we talk to allour leaders and CEOs and founders and companies
is the staff. But it's morethan staff, it's the team. It's
people. It means everything to howI lead a company. And even though
I instill my values in them,they instill their values in me. And
then everybody gets great customer service becauseacts of kindness, acknowledgement and all those
(05:33):
things that you obviously you care about. So I'm glad you brought that up.
Okay, so, if any ofour listeners have been introduced to integrity
to the first time, let's givethem a thirty thousand foot view about exactly
what you do. Yeah, Sowe are a technology engineering and Management services
(05:54):
provider to the federal government, providingtechnology, engineering and management salutions to various
customers and both the civilian as wellas the DoD space. All right,
let's talk about capabilities in some ofyour programs. I know that there's several
that you offer and when it comesto your clients, talk about those.
(06:14):
For us, sure, So Iwould say we're rooted around four major capabilities
right now, and those are cybersecurityand those are around you know, doing
assessments for systems penetration testing. It'salso around software development, which these days
is also called devsek ops, whichis the development of various kinds of software
(06:39):
applications around telecommunications. We do lotsof work revolving around that, but primarily
with you know, redoing and revampinginfrastructures for large, large efforts. And
lastly, is just truly engineering workthat we do. I mean some of
the work, for example, thatwe do right now is know, we
(07:00):
have mechanical and electrical engineers who areworking for the National Weather Service, you
know, in one of our contractswhere we are building spare parts for all
the weather equipment throughout the country.That's incredible, very cool. I don't
want to get too much over myskis on AI, but I know that
it's starting to drip into all ofour fields, including my business when it
comes to digital and radio, televisionof course, you know, when it
(07:21):
comes to journalism, all those things, and I imagine that it's already there
in your industry. So as youfind out and learn about AI, how
is it going to help you inthe future when it comes to integrity.
Well, we're still learning. Imean everyone is still learning AI right now,
and there's it's just it's just anextremely powerful tool that I think we've
(07:44):
It's going to take a little bitof time for us to figure out how
we're going to really be able toleverage that and build capabilities around that.
We're not there just yet, butit's something that we look to add to
one of our core capabilities moving forward. You know, the one thing that
I hear about AI, and alot of people get concerned about turn deep,
is about taking jobs away from humanbeings. And I don't think anybody
wants that, but they want tobe able to work smarter, quicker,
(08:05):
faster, and be able to comeup with maybe some ideas that they couldn't
have on their own or at leastin a timely fashion. And I imagine
you feel the same way. Youdon't want to remove people, but if
it can make the company better,smarter, faster, and with great customer
service, and you would welcome inas long as it's safe. Of course,
absolutely, no, Absolutely, there'sso many tools out there right now
(08:26):
that outside of AI that are goingto do all those things can make us
more efficient. That doesn't necessarily meanthat we're getting rid of people's jobs.
It just means that we're going tobe able to take that time that they're
going to save and focus on additionalefforts. Tarnany, let's talk a little
bit about competition out there. Idon't want to assume that anybody does exactly
what you and your team do.But with all that said, when you
(08:46):
are pitching yourselves to clients or somebody'scoming and say we're interested, how do
you differentiate yourself from any of thecompetition out there, Well, we're all
it's going to be rooted around takingcare of our employees, and that goes
with you know, incredible benefits,really high retention of employees as well.
(09:07):
But I think another thing that's justreally telling about how we operate our business
and I want to say how Iam as a CEO is you know,
we got this fantastic accolade last yearfrom the Small Business Administration. I was
personally awarded the Small Business Person ofthe Year for the entire state of Maryland.
Congratulate by the way, thank youvery much, Thank you very much.
(09:28):
And I was also told that thisis the first time that this had
happened in the history of the SBA. But in the same year, the
company also received the award for thetwenty twenty two mid Atlantic Prime Contractor of
the Year, and that's DC Maryland, Virginia, Delaware, Pennsylvania. And
you're talking thousands of contractors that wereeligible, and you know, to get
(09:54):
that kind of recognition, you knowwe're doing something right and it's great to
see that someone, especially the SBA, recognized that we were doing all those
right things. So what do youthink separated from you and your your team
from everybody else out there? Wasthere something that is evident beside maybe just
great customer service that they recognized youbeing one of the best. We don't
(10:18):
focus on the bottom bottom line.We focus about doing the right thing.
And we've always we've remained steadfast tothat because when you start cutting corners,
you know that's that's people recognize thatover time, and ultimately quality of your
deliverables to customers suffer. So whatwe do is we we've really hired the
(10:41):
best and the brightest in the industry. And going back to what I said
earlier that you know, employees arereally at the heart of our success and
I know retention. When it comesto your industry and a lot of industries
out there, it's really tough tokeep people interested, paid well, make
sure they have a good life balance. So it sounds like you have that
your team. So congratulations, becauseI know that's very hard in today's climate
(11:03):
when everybody wants to work from homeand have this great life and still get
paid really well. I do wantto talk about challenges, and I'm curious
when it comes to your industry,specifically when you're working with clients or the
industry in general, what kind ofchallenges are going on today. Well,
challenges are always going to be thesedays. I think still around recruiting the
(11:26):
best and brightest out there. Youtouched a little bit about retaining those,
but I think even finding the bestand brightest is really really challenging. The
market is it's had its ebbs andflows over the last couple of years,
but we're still in that challenging spotof finding really technical That's what we do
is we're very technical oriented organization andthat's just based around the capabilities that we
(11:52):
provide us is to really find thebest and brightest, and you know,
we have to sometimes go outside ofthe DC metropolitan area to find that,
and covid has kind of allowed usto do that because we have some customers
that will allow us to have folksson'll necessarily you know, they don't have
to be on site. So we'veexpanded our abilities and being able to recruit
(12:16):
outside this area. All right,let's talk about maybe a great story.
You've had the company for fourteen plusyears now, and I imagine there were
a handful of wonderful stories where yousaid, you know what, the team
and I knocked it out of thepark that day for that client. So
maybe in the last couple two,three, four, five years, is
there something that sticks out where yousaid, you know what, we did
good that day and that's why weget up every day. We really helped
(12:37):
out that client. You know,there are so many of those that I
could, we probably don't even haveenough time to talk through those. But
I'd like to tell you something that'sa little bit closer to me and close
to my heart sure on this isyou know. I had an employee who
approached me about three years ago,three and a half years ago, right
before COVID hit, and said,listen, we've got an organization that would
(13:01):
like us to sponsor backpacks for anelementary an underserved elementary school. Can we
do that? It's going to costX amount of dollars? Can we go
ahead and do that? I said, sure, that's fantastic. Let's go
ahead and get it together. We'llorder the supplies, we'll get everybody to
the office, and we'll make we'llput it together and deliver it. So
the morning that we were supposed tobe doing this and putting this all together,
(13:22):
I called the organization to find out, you know what, what school
is this going to. I'd liketo do a speech in front of the
employees, just let them know thattheir hard work is going to benefiting this
school. And come to find out, as I maybe had touched on earlier,
it happened to be the very sameunderserved elementary school that I went to
when I came to this country.Wow. So that was one of those
(13:45):
really full circle moments for me.And you know, we already had at
that point a mission to of course, and a passion to help the underserved,
but this this took it to anotherlevel. And you know, it
was so touching and it inspired meto do more and that's kind of what
we do now. I don't thinkthat was every opportunity, every opportunity I
(14:09):
get to give back to the community, I do. Well. I like
that. We're going to talk moreabout that. I don't think that was
happenstant I think the universe was startingto line up for you on that one.
So that's that's a very special story. So thank you for sharing that.
Let's talk about philanthropic and charity workbecause I know that's really important to
you and your team When you dohave the opportunity in the time to be
a part of those kind of things, what do you like to be a
part of? Oh? Wow,So, I mean it's so many things.
(14:33):
It's so for us, it's it'sabout taking an active role and giving
back to those who are just justunderserved. You know, it really stems
from my faith, my sick faithis to giving back to others. So
throughout the year, we organize givingback events directly to support the local charities
(14:54):
and nonprofits. And they range fromyou know, making sandwiches for the homeless,
assembling school supplies and backpacks for theunderprivileged local elementary schools, financial support
to charities, toy collections, andso in twenty twenty, when COVID hit,
we actually began a partnership with thelocal six Church to sponsor food donation
(15:18):
program that provides groceries to you knowand fresh produce each week to families throughout
the year, and we're talking aboutfour hundred families a week. And this,
you know, active generosity really hasbeen felt throughout the company because we
had employees come and engage with uson this, and they're now at a
(15:39):
point where they're reaching out to usregular and suggesting, you know, how
about we do this and how aboutwe do that? And I haven't said
no once to anything that they've offeredup. I guess as a testament to
our commitment and the outreach that wehad done. And note that regard I
just wanted to note that our itegritywas awarded the Leadership Montgomery Evolving Employee Volunteer
(16:00):
Program in twenty twenty one, andthis is an award that recognizes businesses serving
Montgomery County whose employee volunteer efforts havedemonstrated growth through service to the community.
And it's a commitment that I personallyand the employees hold steadfast. Great story.
Thank you for sharing that. Idid want to ask you about leadership,
(16:22):
But before I do that, howmany current staff do you have right
now? We have a little bitover one hundred, okay, so that's
a great number. And obviously you'vehad sustainability and growth over the fourteen years
that you've had the company. Andwhat's the ratio to people working at home
or in the office or maybe theyhave to be on site with security clearance.
Well, those that we have whoare in cleared facilities have to be
(16:44):
there, and the remainder of thoseare working from home and the folks that
some folks over at corporate staff comeinto the office. So I would say
probably about eighty eighty plus percent ofworking from home right now? Okay.
I always like to talk to ourCEOs and founders and leaders is about today's
climate and you obviously have a philosophy. You care about people acknowledgment acts of
(17:07):
kindness, but you also have toget the job done and with your philosophy
of how you like to run yourbusiness. Hearne. With all that said,
with one hundred employees, how doyou get to do that when you
don't get to necessarily see everybody inperson every day. I think everybody has
that question. It's a little differentfor everybody about how they want to answer
it. But how do you getwhat you want to do down to everybody
to make sure the execute but alsothat they have that great work life balance
(17:30):
as well. Well. It's it'sa top down approach and we have an
excellent management team. We have programmanagers for each of our contracts, and
it is staying engaged and communicating withthem everybody. I mean I reach out
to employees regularly as well, justto check in to see how they're doing.
(17:51):
My management team does that as well. I think that's important. And
what we also do is we doquarterly socials because I think it's important.
You lose a lot of that connectionby not seeing people, So we do
quarterly socials with all employees and theirfamilies. You know, These could be
top golf events, bowling events.We like to see people, we like
(18:14):
getting together, and I think that'sjust an important It's just really hard to
relationship build over video calls. Ithink in person is important. Agreed love
that that's wonderful. As we wrapup our conversation, and once again,
if we're to have our listeners beintroduced to integrity the first time, what
kind of takeaway do you want themto have with your company? Well,
(18:41):
I mean we stand as a beaconin or unwavering commitment to excellence, both
as a technology and management services providerand as a responsible corporate citizen. Our
journey has been one of tremendous growththat's been driven and by our dedication to
(19:02):
outstanding performance, h employee well being, and as we touched on many times,
community support. But I think whatreally sets us apart is again our
employees. You know, we've recognizedthat they are in fact the most valuable
asset, and our leadership team hereat the company isn't just dedicated to delivering
(19:25):
for our customers. There you know, there's equally as committed to the personal
and professional growth of our team members. And I think our approach emphasizes open
communication, teamwork, and a verysupportive work environment. And you know,
we're I think we're more than acompany. It's it's it's a community of
talented professionals that are shared by commitmentto excellence, growth and giving back.
(19:56):
And we're just really excited about theroad ahead as continue to serve our own
clients, our employees, and continueto merely make a positive impact on the
world. Outstanding, well said.All Right, if anybody wants to be
some of the best of the bestthat maybe gets a career opportunity with you,
they want to get educated and findout more about Ittegrity, or they
just want to take a look atthe website and maybe partner with you down
(20:18):
the road. What's the website address? It is a www. Dot Itegrity
Inc. Dot com. That's ite g R it t y i NC
dot com, Understanding Taranty. ButI can't tell you how much I appreciate
your time. You've put together awonderful business model fourteen years and running,
and it sounds like sustainability and growthhave been very important. But the takeaway
(20:41):
that I get beside what you're verygood at, is we also take care
of your employees and they mean alot to you. So I really appreciate
that. And it's a message thatall CEOs whe a current or future,
can take away from this conversation.So we really appreciate it. Continued success
and thank you for joining us onCEOs you should know, Thank you,
Dennis. Our community partner, Mand T Bank supports CEOs you should know
(21:02):
as part of their ongoing commitment tobuilding strong communities, and that starts by
backing the businesses within them. Asa 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.
M and T Bank prison CEOs youshould know powered by Hartley. Let's meet
Tarandeb Bawa. He is the founder, president and CEO of Integrity, providing
innovative and cost effective technology, engineeringand management solutions to the federal government.
Before we talk more about Taran Deep'scompany, I first asked him to talk
a little bit about himself, wherehe's from and his origin story. So
(00:24):
I am born. I was bornin India and I came to the country
at the age of two. Youknow, my parents came here with literally
one hundred bucks in their pockets,so you know, we were immigrants and
we came to a really underserved communitywhen I was here. But you know,
I'm still in the entire time Iwas here, I was in Maryland,
(00:46):
and in fact in Montgomery County.I went to elementary, middle school
and high school in Montgomery County,and I then followed on to do my
undergraduate studies at the University of Marylandand later on did my graduate studies and
received the master's over at Johns HopkinsUniversity. So I think it's safe to
(01:06):
say you could call me a Marylandboy. I've been here really my whole
life, definitely, and We havea lot of Terps that around the show.
For some reason, there's a lotof people that went to Maryland.
It's incredible. Yeah, now goTerps a good football and basketball program too.
Right now. Absolutely the football teamis looking great. They sure are.
(01:26):
Well. Listen, we're going totalk a lot about your company and
all the programs, capabilities and somefun things today. Before we do that,
in this series, we love togive people context about what you did
before that out of school, whatyou were interested in, and then I'd
love to hear the actual orgin storyabout coming up with your company over fourteen
years ago. But when coming outof school, what were you interested in?
(01:48):
What did you do? So,I mean my undergrad studies were in
information systems. I mean I justI just seem to do really well in
school in that and that's just kindof how I decided to go. From
a professional perspective. My first jobout of college was with a very large
company. Many of you folks probablyknow this, SA I see where I
(02:09):
did systems engineering work. I wasthere supporting work over at the Walter Reed
Army Medical Center and then later onended up going to a ridium which is
a subsidiary of Motorola, where Iwas working in their satellite network operations center,
running their telecommunications network, doing alot of systems engineering work there as
(02:34):
well. And that's the point atwhich I was approached by somebody who wanted
me to help run a program fora federal contract, which I was very
hesitant to do so at the time, but you know, looking back on
it, it was probably one ofthe best decisions I ever made. Let's
talk about the company now and thatorigin story, and also I want to
(02:55):
ask you how you came up withthe name too, because I always love
to ask about names. Sometimes there'sa personal story or there's a fun play
on words. But when you decidedthat you know there might be a hole
in the industry for something that I'mreally good at and knowing you have to
take this leap of faith and there'sa lot of money involved, and maybe
you're doing it out of your ownat the beginning, tell us about that
(03:17):
origin story about you know, I'mgoing to start my own company. Here's
my idea. Let's go What wasthat all about? How did it go
down? Sure, so first ofall, start with the name of the
company. You know, our companyand my philosophy on doing business is to
simply always do the right thing.And we were an IT based business,
so, you know, integrity justit just came to me. I woke
(03:38):
up one morning when I knew Iwanted to do this, and that's what
it was. And it's funny becauseI joke about it right now, everyone
always thinks integrity integrity, and theyalways call them that, and I joke
and say, you know, itwas too late to change the name,
and we just went with it.Sure, but I like it. It's
a nice kind of play on words. But it also makes sense for exactly
what you believe in in what thecompany. So I love that a lot.
(04:00):
That's nice. Yeah, absolutely,So, you know, I found
the integrity with the vision of creatinga company that was strongly rooted in the
belief that a company could be aforce for good, both for its employees
and the community that it serves.So from the very beginning, our mission
was clear. It was to create, build, and maintain innovative, reliable,
(04:25):
and technology management solutions for the federalgovernment, in all while upholding the
highest levels of integrity, professionalism,and customer satisfaction. And I saw an
opportunity to really lead a company thatprioritized not only outstanding performance, but also
the well being and growth of itsemployees. You know, I wanted to
(04:48):
build an organization where team members werevalued, challenged, inspired to deliver their
best work every day. And youknow I've worked tirelessly along with the team
to fall for that culture of teamwork, open communication, and professional development because
we all have the understanding and weknow that employees are truly the heart of
(05:10):
our success. You know, I'mglad you mentioned that because a common thread
tarn deep when we talk to allour leaders and CEOs and founders and companies
is the staff. But it's morethan staff, it's the team. It's
people. It means everything to howI lead a company. And even though
I instill my values in them,they instill their values in me. And
then everybody gets great customer service becauseacts of kindness, acknowledgement and all those
(05:33):
things that you obviously you care about. So I'm glad you brought that up.
Okay, so, if any ofour listeners have been introduced to integrity
to the first time, let's givethem a thirty thousand foot view about exactly
what you do. Yeah, Sowe are a technology engineering and Management services
(05:54):
provider to the federal government, providingtechnology, engineering and management salutions to various
customers and both the civilian as wellas the DoD space. All right,
let's talk about capabilities in some ofyour programs. I know that there's several
that you offer and when it comesto your clients, talk about those.
(06:14):
For us, sure, So Iwould say we're rooted around four major capabilities
right now, and those are cybersecurityand those are around you know, doing
assessments for systems penetration testing. It'salso around software development, which these days
is also called devsek ops, whichis the development of various kinds of software
(06:39):
applications around telecommunications. We do lotsof work revolving around that, but primarily
with you know, redoing and revampinginfrastructures for large, large efforts. And
lastly, is just truly engineering workthat we do. I mean some of
the work, for example, thatwe do right now is know, we
(07:00):
have mechanical and electrical engineers who areworking for the National Weather Service, you
know, in one of our contractswhere we are building spare parts for all
the weather equipment throughout the country.That's incredible, very cool. I don't
want to get too much over myskis on AI, but I know that
it's starting to drip into all ofour fields, including my business when it
comes to digital and radio, televisionof course, you know, when it
(07:21):
comes to journalism, all those things, and I imagine that it's already there
in your industry. So as youfind out and learn about AI, how
is it going to help you inthe future when it comes to integrity.
Well, we're still learning. Imean everyone is still learning AI right now,
and there's it's just it's just anextremely powerful tool that I think we've
(07:44):
It's going to take a little bitof time for us to figure out how
we're going to really be able toleverage that and build capabilities around that.
We're not there just yet, butit's something that we look to add to
one of our core capabilities moving forward. You know, the one thing that
I hear about AI, and alot of people get concerned about turn deep,
is about taking jobs away from humanbeings. And I don't think anybody
wants that, but they want tobe able to work smarter, quicker,
(08:05):
faster, and be able to comeup with maybe some ideas that they couldn't
have on their own or at leastin a timely fashion. And I imagine
you feel the same way. Youdon't want to remove people, but if
it can make the company better,smarter, faster, and with great customer
service, and you would welcome inas long as it's safe. Of course,
absolutely, no, Absolutely, there'sso many tools out there right now
(08:26):
that outside of AI that are goingto do all those things can make us
more efficient. That doesn't necessarily meanthat we're getting rid of people's jobs.
It just means that we're going tobe able to take that time that they're
going to save and focus on additionalefforts. Tarnany, let's talk a little
bit about competition out there. Idon't want to assume that anybody does exactly
what you and your team do.But with all that said, when you
(08:46):
are pitching yourselves to clients or somebody'scoming and say we're interested, how do
you differentiate yourself from any of thecompetition out there, Well, we're all
it's going to be rooted around takingcare of our employees, and that goes
with you know, incredible benefits,really high retention of employees as well.
(09:07):
But I think another thing that's justreally telling about how we operate our business
and I want to say how Iam as a CEO is you know,
we got this fantastic accolade last yearfrom the Small Business Administration. I was
personally awarded the Small Business Person ofthe Year for the entire state of Maryland.
Congratulate by the way, thank youvery much, Thank you very much.
(09:28):
And I was also told that thisis the first time that this had
happened in the history of the SBA. But in the same year, the
company also received the award for thetwenty twenty two mid Atlantic Prime Contractor of
the Year, and that's DC Maryland, Virginia, Delaware, Pennsylvania. And
you're talking thousands of contractors that wereeligible, and you know, to get
(09:54):
that kind of recognition, you knowwe're doing something right and it's great to
see that someone, especially the SBA, recognized that we were doing all those
right things. So what do youthink separated from you and your your team
from everybody else out there? Wasthere something that is evident beside maybe just
great customer service that they recognized youbeing one of the best. We don't
(10:18):
focus on the bottom bottom line.We focus about doing the right thing.
And we've always we've remained steadfast tothat because when you start cutting corners,
you know that's that's people recognize thatover time, and ultimately quality of your
deliverables to customers suffer. So whatwe do is we we've really hired the
(10:41):
best and the brightest in the industry. And going back to what I said
earlier that you know, employees arereally at the heart of our success and
I know retention. When it comesto your industry and a lot of industries
out there, it's really tough tokeep people interested, paid well, make
sure they have a good life balance. So it sounds like you have that
your team. So congratulations, becauseI know that's very hard in today's climate
(11:03):
when everybody wants to work from homeand have this great life and still get
paid really well. I do wantto talk about challenges, and I'm curious
when it comes to your industry,specifically when you're working with clients or the
industry in general, what kind ofchallenges are going on today. Well,
challenges are always going to be thesedays. I think still around recruiting the
(11:26):
best and brightest out there. Youtouched a little bit about retaining those,
but I think even finding the bestand brightest is really really challenging. The
market is it's had its ebbs andflows over the last couple of years,
but we're still in that challenging spotof finding really technical That's what we do
is we're very technical oriented organization andthat's just based around the capabilities that we
(11:52):
provide us is to really find thebest and brightest, and you know,
we have to sometimes go outside ofthe DC metropolitan area to find that,
and covid has kind of allowed usto do that because we have some customers
that will allow us to have folksson'll necessarily you know, they don't have
to be on site. So we'veexpanded our abilities and being able to recruit
(12:16):
outside this area. All right,let's talk about maybe a great story.
You've had the company for fourteen plusyears now, and I imagine there were
a handful of wonderful stories where yousaid, you know what, the team
and I knocked it out of thepark that day for that client. So
maybe in the last couple two,three, four, five years, is
there something that sticks out where yousaid, you know what, we did
good that day and that's why weget up every day. We really helped
(12:37):
out that client. You know,there are so many of those that I
could, we probably don't even haveenough time to talk through those. But
I'd like to tell you something that'sa little bit closer to me and close
to my heart sure on this isyou know. I had an employee who
approached me about three years ago,three and a half years ago, right
before COVID hit, and said,listen, we've got an organization that would
(13:01):
like us to sponsor backpacks for anelementary an underserved elementary school. Can we
do that? It's going to costX amount of dollars? Can we go
ahead and do that? I said, sure, that's fantastic. Let's go
ahead and get it together. We'llorder the supplies, we'll get everybody to
the office, and we'll make we'llput it together and deliver it. So
the morning that we were supposed tobe doing this and putting this all together,
(13:22):
I called the organization to find out, you know what, what school
is this going to. I'd liketo do a speech in front of the
employees, just let them know thattheir hard work is going to benefiting this
school. And come to find out, as I maybe had touched on earlier,
it happened to be the very sameunderserved elementary school that I went to
when I came to this country.Wow. So that was one of those
(13:45):
really full circle moments for me.And you know, we already had at
that point a mission to of course, and a passion to help the underserved,
but this this took it to anotherlevel. And you know, it
was so touching and it inspired meto do more and that's kind of what
we do now. I don't thinkthat was every opportunity, every opportunity I
(14:09):
get to give back to the community, I do. Well. I like
that. We're going to talk moreabout that. I don't think that was
happenstant I think the universe was startingto line up for you on that one.
So that's that's a very special story. So thank you for sharing that.
Let's talk about philanthropic and charity workbecause I know that's really important to
you and your team When you dohave the opportunity in the time to be
a part of those kind of things, what do you like to be a
part of? Oh? Wow,So, I mean it's so many things.
(14:33):
It's so for us, it's it'sabout taking an active role and giving
back to those who are just justunderserved. You know, it really stems
from my faith, my sick faithis to giving back to others. So
throughout the year, we organize givingback events directly to support the local charities
(14:54):
and nonprofits. And they range fromyou know, making sandwiches for the homeless,
assembling school supplies and backpacks for theunderprivileged local elementary schools, financial support
to charities, toy collections, andso in twenty twenty, when COVID hit,
we actually began a partnership with thelocal six Church to sponsor food donation
(15:18):
program that provides groceries to you knowand fresh produce each week to families throughout
the year, and we're talking aboutfour hundred families a week. And this,
you know, active generosity really hasbeen felt throughout the company because we
had employees come and engage with uson this, and they're now at a
(15:39):
point where they're reaching out to usregular and suggesting, you know, how
about we do this and how aboutwe do that? And I haven't said
no once to anything that they've offeredup. I guess as a testament to
our commitment and the outreach that wehad done. And note that regard I
just wanted to note that our itegritywas awarded the Leadership Montgomery Evolving Employee Volunteer
(16:00):
Program in twenty twenty one, andthis is an award that recognizes businesses serving
Montgomery County whose employee volunteer efforts havedemonstrated growth through service to the community.
And it's a commitment that I personallyand the employees hold steadfast. Great story.
Thank you for sharing that. Idid want to ask you about leadership,
(16:22):
But before I do that, howmany current staff do you have right
now? We have a little bitover one hundred, okay, so that's
a great number. And obviously you'vehad sustainability and growth over the fourteen years
that you've had the company. Andwhat's the ratio to people working at home
or in the office or maybe theyhave to be on site with security clearance.
Well, those that we have whoare in cleared facilities have to be
(16:44):
there, and the remainder of thoseare working from home and the folks that
some folks over at corporate staff comeinto the office. So I would say
probably about eighty eighty plus percent ofworking from home right now? Okay.
I always like to talk to ourCEOs and founders and leaders is about today's
climate and you obviously have a philosophy. You care about people acknowledgment acts of
(17:07):
kindness, but you also have toget the job done and with your philosophy
of how you like to run yourbusiness. Hearne. With all that said,
with one hundred employees, how doyou get to do that when you
don't get to necessarily see everybody inperson every day. I think everybody has
that question. It's a little differentfor everybody about how they want to answer
it. But how do you getwhat you want to do down to everybody
to make sure the execute but alsothat they have that great work life balance
(17:30):
as well. Well. It's it'sa top down approach and we have an
excellent management team. We have programmanagers for each of our contracts, and
it is staying engaged and communicating withthem everybody. I mean I reach out
to employees regularly as well, justto check in to see how they're doing.
(17:51):
My management team does that as well. I think that's important. And
what we also do is we doquarterly socials because I think it's important.
You lose a lot of that connectionby not seeing people, So we do
quarterly socials with all employees and theirfamilies. You know, These could be
top golf events, bowling events.We like to see people, we like
(18:14):
getting together, and I think that'sjust an important It's just really hard to
relationship build over video calls. Ithink in person is important. Agreed love
that that's wonderful. As we wrapup our conversation, and once again,
if we're to have our listeners beintroduced to integrity the first time, what
kind of takeaway do you want themto have with your company? Well,
(18:41):
I mean we stand as a beaconin or unwavering commitment to excellence, both
as a technology and management services providerand as a responsible corporate citizen. Our
journey has been one of tremendous growththat's been driven and by our dedication to
(19:02):
outstanding performance, h employee well being, and as we touched on many times,
community support. But I think whatreally sets us apart is again our
employees. You know, we've recognizedthat they are in fact the most valuable
asset, and our leadership team hereat the company isn't just dedicated to delivering
(19:25):
for our customers. There you know, there's equally as committed to the personal
and professional growth of our team members. And I think our approach emphasizes open
communication, teamwork, and a verysupportive work environment. And you know,
we're I think we're more than acompany. It's it's it's a community of
talented professionals that are shared by commitmentto excellence, growth and giving back.
(19:56):
And we're just really excited about theroad ahead as continue to serve our own
clients, our employees, and continueto merely make a positive impact on the
world. Outstanding, well said.All Right, if anybody wants to be
some of the best of the bestthat maybe gets a career opportunity with you,
they want to get educated and findout more about Ittegrity, or they
just want to take a look atthe website and maybe partner with you down
(20:18):
the road. What's the website address? It is a www. Dot Itegrity
Inc. Dot com. That's ite g R it t y i NC
dot com, Understanding Taranty. ButI can't tell you how much I appreciate
your time. You've put together awonderful business model fourteen years and running,
and it sounds like sustainability and growthhave been very important. But the takeaway
(20:41):
that I get beside what you're verygood at, is we also take care
of your employees and they mean alot to you. So I really appreciate
that. And it's a message thatall CEOs whe a current or future,
can take away from this conversation.So we really appreciate it. Continued success
and thank you for joining us onCEOs you should know, Thank you,
Dennis. Our community partner, Mand T Bank supports CEOs you should know
(21:02):
as part of their ongoing commitment tobuilding strong communities, and that starts by
backing the businesses within them. Asa 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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