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Am-Po alum: I'll be a $20-million man: Novotny's CSI among fastest growing companies [The Express-Star, Chickasha, Okla.](Express-Star, The (Chickasha, OK) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Aug. 31--Geographically, Ken Novotny hasn't moved far from his hometown of Pocasset, maintaining an office in the Bricktown area of Oklahoma City. However, his business, Consulting Services, Inc., or CSI, has skyrocketed it's way to the 28th annual Inc. 500 list of the nation's fastest-growing private companies, placing 91st on the list of fastest-growing companies in America, 10th in information technology and 14th in government systems. CSI is also the fastest-growing company in Oklahoma. With companies like Microsoft, Go Daddy and Oracle making the list in the past, CSI has some pretty impressive company. "If you want to know which companies are going to change the world, look at the Inc. 500," said Inc. editor Jane Berenston. "These are the most dynamic, fast-growth companies in the nation." ANOTHER KIND OF CSI CSI offers IT services, system integration, business process re-engineering and software development for government operations. "We take care of computer systems, software support and program management as well as quality assurance, configure management baselines and we are there to back it out if something goes wrong," Novotny said. "In 2004, my target goal for the next five years was to hit $20 million," Novotny said. "I fell short of that by $6 million, but I would like to be a $40 million company within the next three or four years." A contractor at Tinker Air Force Base for eight years, Novotny founded CSI in 2002. "But then, 9-11 happened, so I took on another project at Tinker until 2004," Novotny said. "So this started basically as a moonlighting job." The "moonlighting job" quickly grew into a wildly successful business, with $63,000 in revenue in 2002, jumping to $417,000 in 2003, $1.7 million from 2004 to 2006, $2.9 million in 2007 and a whopping $7.1 million in 2008. Novotny expects to reach $13 million to $14 million in revenue this year. "Next year's rankings will be even higher," Novotny said of the figures presented in Inc. Magazine's August issue. Thanks to several new long-term government contracts, including a $17.6 million contract with the Tinker AFB OKC-AIC IT Director, future revenues are expected to soar even higher. Novotny employs a highly-skilled labor force of 190 people within an 11-state area and meets a $425,000 payroll every two weeks. STILL SMALL BUSINESS While his company is growing by leaps and bounds, it is still considered a small business. "Big companies see only management, not employees and my peers are almost double my age," Novotny said. "I let my employees know I've sat in their seat as a contractor for eight years, so I know how to take care of people. It's not about the glory, I'd rather sit in my cubby hole. Glory is good and even great, but I'd rather spend time with my employees and ask them how their families are doing. It's the way I was raised. There's no politics, no stabs in the back. I'm always up front -- that's one reason we've been real successful." Novotny is a 1994 graduate of Am-Po High School and a 1999 graduate of Oklahoma State University with a degree in management information systems. "I was and I am a computer geek," he says. But before he was a geek, he was a water skier, competing since he was seven years old. "From the time I was 12 until I was 18 I competed in nationals. I took second place in 1992, I set five-state regionals three times and I won the Sooner State Games every year since I was 12," Novotny said. SKIING NOW A HOBBY After starting college at OSU, Novotny's skiing became more of a hobby than a competition. "It was fun and I got to use a boat and go out to the local watering holes," he said. "I decided an education was what I needed, but I still enjoy going to the lake." Raised in Pocasset, Novotny is the son of Mark and Cindy Novotny who now live in Chickasha, where Mark has owned and operated Auto Tune since his son was "knee high to a grasshopper." In addition, Novotny's grandmothers Margueritte Novotny and Virginia Rutledge also live in Chickasha. Novotny and his wife Amber have a son, Mason, 4, and daughter Adley is due within the next couple of weeks. For more information about CSI, visit www.csioklahoma.com. To see more of The Express-Star or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.chickashanews.com/. Copyright (c) 2009, The Express-Star, Chickasha, Okla. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email [email protected], call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA. |