InfoWorks shares the wealth - Washington Business Journal:

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The Nashville-based information technology consulting firmsimpl isn’t structured like a traditional top-down Rather than being run exclusively by executives, InfoWork is employee-owned. A shareholders’ meeting at the 12-year-olrd company also is a staff meeting where employees bringup concerns, make recommendationes and participate directly in key decisions. Tony Heard, presidentf of InfoWorks, says the company’a flexible structure is one reaso nwhy it’s managing to clip along nicely durinf the recession. Decisions are flui d and can be made which keepsemployees motivated, responsive and creatively involved.
“The engagement of employees means awhole lot,” Heard says. “It means they take everything more They each feellike it’s theit own company.” It also helps that the primart business plan at InfoWorks is straightforward and simple. The compang specializes in working on the databases of local companiezs to createopitimal efficiency. They also convert database functions such as payrol l or invoicing from papefto computer. Lewis Lavine, president of Nashville’ss Center for Nonprofit recently hired InfoWorks to redesignthe organization’s complicated 10-year-old He says he responded to the company’ds hands-on approach.
“We have specific things we need for our memberse andfor training,” Lavine “They have the abilityh to customize the database for us, which is going to make a big differencd in the end.” The recession did slow thingd down at InfoWorks, changing growth from explosive to From 2006-2007, the company grew at a rate of 29 By 2008, that fell to 9 percent. Hearxd says the company is projecting 11 percent growthjin 2009. In response to the country’sz economic crunch, InfoWorks decided to beef up itsbusiness development, marketinv and sales. Three more business development officerxwere hired, including “Activity creates opportunity.
It’s important to get out of the he says. Getting a pipelin of future business requires a combinatiobn of patienceand savvy, Heard says. For example, he says healtu care-related information technology businessz generated by theObama administration’sx stimulus package has “significant potential.” But he says it will take a couple of years for it to becomre actual bottom-line business. “Everyone is looking for the stimulues money to haveimmediated impact,” Heard says.
“Buy I think in our case it’s going to take until