CEO Soapbox: Bungee Jumping The Thames River And Hiring Trends

Editor's Note: The city of Creve Coeur is home to companies of all shapes and sizes. This is the second in an ongoing Patch effort to talk to the people who run them. We want to ask CEOs and local business owners about the issues and current events facing their company, the local business climate and other topics. If you have a suggestion for this series, please let us know.

Oakwood Systems Group Chief Executive Officer Charles Windsor recently answered questions in an electronic interview with Creve Cour Patch.

Windsor talks about what his firm, which was founded in 1981, does, what the company's hiring trends look like, and spills the beans on something his employees might not know about him.

Q: People hear a lot about technology and platforms these days. What does your company do?

Windsor: Oakwood provides business and infrastructure solutions utilizing Microsoft as the technology platform. We help clients – typically mid-sized and large corporations – plan, implement, and support solutions that are typically software-based. For example, we develop custom software for use on the web, in-house, or on mobile devices. We also create collaboration and content management platforms, integrate disparate applications together, provide business intelligence and business insight solutions, and we also work directly with the network system to provide identity, management, and messaging solutions.

Q. Every industry has important issues...what is the biggest one facing yours?

Windsor: Our industry is, overall, being impacted by a serious shortage of qualified workers. The largest population within our business is our consultants, and we look for technically qualified individuals who are a fit for our business model and our culture of collaboration, innovation, and client-focus. The demand for these individuals is high, and the competition for these workers is growing as more and more organizations begin to regard IT as a strategic differentiator.

With that being said, the technology shift underway to more mobile workers, remote computing using cloud based platforms and the manner in which software is being developed and delivered as a service are revolutionizing our business.

Q. How has your company been impacted by the recession and what steps have you taken to address it?

Windsor:Thanks to our team members, we were able to get through the recession with minimal impact on our business. We did not do a staff reduction; in fact we grew through the recession and continue to grow today. We have taken a measured approach to how we grow the business, and that approach allowed us to emerge even stronger and very well positioned as we see the economy start to recover.

Q. What led Oakwood to Creve Coeur and is that still the case?

Windsor: Creve Coeur is a very accessible area in which to build a business. Highway access, multiple routes in and out, and an active business community are all attractive features of Creve Coeur.

Q. Why move from CityPlace to a new location on Emerson Rd.?

Windsor: We wanted to create a new environment for our team that would foster collaboration and allow our continued growth. While we had the opportunity to stay at CityPlace, ultimately we were able to maximize our investment and create a new space from scratch by moving to Emerson Road. We enjoyed our twelve years at CityPlace, and there’s a lot we will miss about being there, and we are glad to have found another great home for our company and our team.

Q. How would you describe Oakwood's hiring trends in these economic times?

Windsor: We have been and continue to be actively hiring.  As I mentioned before, we took a measured approach during the most severe portion of the downturn; we did not hire “to the bench” as we call it in our industry, but rather hired in response to very specific analysis of our sales forecast. While we continue to hire strategically, we are always interested in adding the right folks to our team. We expect to grow our team approximately 25% which is on par with our growth last year.

Q. Your company deals with clients all over the country and around the world, but how would describe the business climate in Creve Coeur?

Windsor: Creve Coeur seems very receptive to new business as well as conducive and fostering to more established businesses like Oakwood. The variety of restaurants in the area has been great for client meetings as well.

Q. Do you or your employees have any favorite charitable projects in the area?

Windsor: We support a number of charities through our team members, including the Moonlight Ramble, the American Red Cross, The Humane Society, and the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. We also typically host a company-sponsored annual drive for canned goods or toys.

Q. Tell us something about yourself that your employees don't know about you?

Windsor: I’m a pretty open book, so I don’t know what that would be. Maybe they don’t know that I bungee jumped over the Thames River in London – with my family watching! It was so great, I went up and did it a second time.

Q. In five years, Oakwood will (complete this sentence)  in Creve Coeur.

Windsor: Still be thriving and growing.