The founders of VistaRMS have awfully good timing. Five years ago they took their fledgling company and rode it to the top of the skyrocketing telecom sector. Consider these numbers: The Herndon-based firm’s 1996 revenues were a modest $289,000. The next year they were $8.2 million, then $17.5 million in 1998 and nearly double that in 1999 at $33.8 million. Even though growth is slowing this year, that works out to 11,562 percent growth over four years — a fantastic rate even for the Fantastic 50.

The shared expertise and knowledge of VistaRMS' core managment, including Donald Harvey, CEO, and Kyelyn Hernandez, telecommunications manager, spurred the firm's rapid growth. Photo by Mark Rhodes

CFO Gene Wilhoite says the numbers grew because, "We’re fortunate that we’ve gotten into the right industry at the right time." The wave got rolling five years ago as telecom companies poured money into high-speed international networks, hosting networks; all types of plants that combine wireless, long distance and various high-speed fibers. "They’re all developing products at a rapid rate," he says. "To do that, they need technology people."

People, for instance, that VistaRMS provides, either on a project basis or long-term. Regular clients for the firm include companies such as UUNet, Qwest, WorldCom and Sprint. The company also provides technical expertise to emerging e-commerce providers. "The real key is establishing preferred relationships’’ with clients, Wilhoite says. "In doing that, and by delivering key solutions in terms of staffing to these people, it’s allowed us to successfully grow."

Wilhoite says the firm has other advantages besides good timing. Its core management team, including CEO Don Harvey, President Everett Holtz, and Vice President Caleb Berg, worked together in a handful of affiliated companies from 1988 to 1996, managing and staffing large-scale IT systems. Their shared expertise and knowledge of the industry served them well in growing the firm. Plus, the company has a seasoned team of account managers who create and nurture strong relationships with key clients, Wilhoite says. "We’ve been a real part of the success of Sprint, Qwest or WorldCom. We’ve been right with them as they’ve gone through different types of change-overs" in technology, he says. The company has grown from 40 employees its first year to more than 800 today. Besides its Herndon headquarters, the firm has offices in Atlanta, Colorado Springs, Colo., and San Jose, Calif.

Of course, the bloom is off the rose for the telecom sector, and that has slowed VistaRMS’ growth. Revenues in 2000 soared to $63.5 million (nearly double 1999 figures) but this year are expected to increase just 22 percent to $77 million. "Obviously it’s a slowdown," Wilhoite says. "The growth is not going to be as significant in the telecom arena over the next three or four years as it has been the last three or four." The firm’s first-quarter results for 2001 were on target, he says.

So now the firm is moving on two fronts: It is going "through a period of reinvestment" to expand its own infrastructure to serve existing clients. And it is expanding its effort to find clients among the large government contractors — a sensible move, given the number of such firms in the Washington region and the growth in federal spending there versus the slowing telecom sector. It currently has "preferred vendor" relationships with firms such as Freddie Mac, CACI, SAIC and the American Red Cross. Those established companies might not grow like a UUNet or Nextel, but it’s a good bet that they’ll be around a few years from now — and that means VistaRMS will too.

Return to Virginia Business - June 2001