Ace Computers finds success selling to niche groups

John Samborski doesn't sell his products to everyone. And he's OK with that.

The founder and CEO of Ace Computers in Elk Grove Village says his computers are designed specially for select industries and markets, and those niches are proving to be very profitable for one of the remaining independent computer makers left in the U.S.

"We have a lot of niches we can go after," Samborski said. "I don't choose to dominate any one of them, but we're doing well with our current strategy."

Ace Computers builds computer, server and storage systems specfically for the government, education, health care and corporate fields. Samborski's client list includes all branches of the U.S. military, the Internal Revenue Service, State Department, University of Wisconsin-Madison and Northwestern University.

Ace Computers custom builds computers and systems based on the client's criteria, Samborski said. Those systems can range from desktop systems for classrooms or corporate networks to powerful supercomputers for the military, government and educational research.

In fact, Ace Computers is a leader in building supercomputers for the growing computer forensics industry. Samborski said the company has been building forensic computing systems for about 12 years, and those systems are now exclusively used by the IRS.

The Department of Homeland Security and the State Department also use Ace Computers' forensic equipment.

Samborski said the need to download and analyze huge amounts of data quickly sparked the need to develop a computer that could handle the load without overheating.

"All records are digital now, and most of the files are on a computer," he said. "When the IRS does an audit, they will seize the hard drives. They plug that into our unit and the machine will image the drive ... and using special software, they can analyze the data."

The company grew into a leader in the forensic computing field mainly from the ability to obtain components quickly from companies like Intel and Microsoft, according to Samborski. Also, he said since equipment orders tend to be small, large computer makers like Dell and HP shy away from this niche market.

"A small run - even a large order is 20 machines - is something they are not generally fond of chasing," Samborski said. "It's one of the areas that we find we're doing very well because we can move so much more product than anybody else in the field."

It's just another addition to the company's success story, which began in a similar fashion to other, more well-known tech companies that started in the '80s. Samborski was a student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1983 where his roommate began building and selling small kit computers.

They joined local Apple user clubs and attended local HAM radio fests to sell their products, he said.

"The big joke is that we just didn't drop out of college and become billionaires," he quipped.

After graduation, Samborski followed his career path as an engineer while his roommate continued selling his home-built products.

The roommate offered him the business in 1987, Samborski said, which he took over as a sideline to his regular job.

In 1992, Samborski said a change in his engineering job led him to quit and pursue Ace Computers as a full-time gig.

He opened a shop in Prospect Heights in 1992, and a few years later moved to a larger facility in Arlington Heights. In 2013, Ace Computers moved to its current facility in Elk Grove Village.

In 2001, the computer industry was falling on tough times, and that was when Samborski decided to focus primarily on the government market. The company became a certified government vendor and began bidding on contracts.

"Now we're a well-known prime vendor, and we're on some of the most prestigious and largest contracts that the government has," he said. "Out of the requests we get, we find 10 to 20 projects to chase. We're about 70 percent efficient in chasing those orders."

Growth continues for the company, as they plan to move to a facility in Des Plaines later this year that is twice the size of its current location.

And that growth hasn't gone unnoticed. Samborski said he has routinely receives offers to sell the company, but really has no intentions of handing the reins to someone else.

"I just have no interest now," he said. "I'm having more fun doing this than I ever have. I enjoy the contract stuff we're doing and the different kind of projects we do.

"It would take a lot for me to want to sell right now."

Ace Computers

<b>575 Lively Blvd.</b><b>Elk Grove Village, IL 60007</b><b>(877) 223-2667</b><b><a href="http://www.acecomputers.com/">acecomputers.com/</a></b>Best known product: Forensic computer systems

Top official: John Samborski, founder and CEO

Annual revenue: About $50 million

Number of employees: 40