Some entrepreneurs may believe it’s idealistic, or even boastful, for a Richmond-based consulting firm to have arrived in the Triangle just four months ago, and is on target to deliver a 200 percent growth rate.
The firm plans to add seven employees by December. When Local Tech Wire talked to Ironworks CEO Scott Walker about the firm’s uncomplicated mission, it doesn’t seem so far fetched.
The new office cubes or water cooler posters don’t carry a message about first-in-class production or other jargon. Ironworks comes to the table with one solid philosophy – never fail a client. It’s something the leadership demands.
In a nutshell, Ironworks provides Web technologies to solve business problems through the combination of strategy, technology and design on a per-project basis.
The firm that’s headquartered three hours north in Richmond delivers added-value customer benefits of usability design, business intelligence metrics and simple efficiency tests to ensure the project is delivered on time, on budget and with the promised results.
Regional focus
When looking to expand, the company considered a number of southeastern cities and landed in the Triangle.
“Our focus was to grow organically and geographically remain close to Richmond,” says Scott Walker, Ironworks Consulting, LLC CEO. “Factors such as a great talent pool, the university systems and market research that supports the way people buy consulting are among the the reasons why we’ve made the Triangle another home.”
Although brick and mortar didn’t sink in until four months ago, the consultancy firm has done business with Triangle companies for more than three years. The company currently has eight employees, and is on track to add 7 more by year end, says Will Loving, COO for Ironworks.
“We’re extremely pleased with our customer base and team members whom deliver the business out of Raleigh. We’re learning a tremendous amount about local relationships.”
The Raleigh-based team includes Elisa Parkin, Jon Shrader and Chad Grieves, a former Nortel exec, among others. The line up of Ironworks customers are household names — Carmax, Discovery Networks, Carnige Hall, American Cancer Society, Wellpoint and Independence Blue Cross and Blue Shield.
Ironworks: www.ironworks.com
