Illinois 2016 Small Business Person of the Year: Dwayne Jackson
After noticing many good ideas were generated, but many were never appropriately executed, Dwayne Jackson in 2002 decided to put his more than 20 years of information technology experience to work and steadied his sights on starting an IT consulting company.
As president and CEO of Software Tech Enterprises Inc. (STE), Jackson had a distinct focus: solving client problems.
As the company grew, it began to make a mark on the industry with solution-based, IT consulting to federal, state and local governments, as well as Fortune 500 companies. During that time, Jackson tapped the SBA Illinois district office as a resource, attending workshops, receiving mentoring and frequently conducting assessments to ensure he was on a growth path.
In 2010, though, when STE joined forces with the U.S. Small Business Administration's government contracting 8(a) business development program, the company grew tremendously.
Via the SBA's program, STE was awarded five 8(a) sole source federal contracts totaling more than $14 million with four of those contracts from the Department of Homeland Security totaling approximately $10 million. Based on the performance of those contracts, STE was awarded the 2015 DHS Small Business Achievement Award.
Jackson attributes STE's success to its commitment to excellence and IT field expertise in aligning technology with its clients' business strategies. While many firms have the technical skills to develop and integrate software applications, few can combine those with a strategic perspective that helps customers accomplish their overall business goals and objectives like STE does. Under Jackson's leadership, STE's revenue has significantly increased year over year, customer retention and satisfaction has exceeded industry norms and office locations have been expanded to two cities, employing more than 70 full-time team members.
Dwayne Jackson
<b>President and CEO</b><b>Software Tech Enterprises Inc.</b><b>4801 Southwick Drive</b><b>Suite 630</b><b>Matteson, IL 60443</b>Telephone: (708) 922-9008
Fax: (708) 332-9554
Web site: www.software-tec.com
Email: djackson@software-tec.com