WashingtonExec Series: Want To Be GovCon Executive Of The Year?
WashingtonExec, in partnership with the Fairfax Chambers of Commerce, kicked off a new series profiling government contractors nominated for the 9th Annual Greater Washington Government Contracting Awards. Interviewed nominees include small, mid-size and large “Executive of the Year” as well as “Contractor of the Year” finalists. The winners will be announced tomorrow, November 1st, at the Ritz Carlton in Tysons Corner.
This quick bi-weekly series asks nominees direct questions as to how they achieved success and notoriety in the GovCon community.
Today we will hear from Craig Parisot, Executive Vice President and COO of Invertix. Invertix is nominated as “Contractor of the Year” in the $25 to $75 million division.
WashingtonExec: People always talk about corporate culture, but what is something that your company purposely focuses on to create the ideal company culture?
Craig Parisot: Invertix is proud to be a company that grows with our head held high and is not afraid to do things differently than everyone else. We subscribe to The Invertix Way – our own set of Golden Rules so to speak – which focuses on the relationship between our Customers, Partners and Shareholders, our Culture and Benefits, and the Talent and Quality needed to bring it all together.
We also stress the Three Cs — Collaboration (our skill), Coordination (our process), and Cooperation (our value) and have structured a flat organization where teams can readily form around needs without having to ask for permission to engage. We are clear about “what matters” and trust people to make high quality decisions that enhance the value of the company.
WashingtonExec: Obtaining top talent in the private sector is fierce. How does your company not only draw top talent, but maintain it?
Craig Parisot: Yes, this is a challenge, but one a company must master. Thankfully, we have been very successful in attracting a fair number of our industry’s top talent in key emerging technology areas. However, we have a large appetite for excellent talent. The best way to attract these types of people is to provide interesting work matched up with relevant customers while leveraging state-of-the-art technology. Culture is an equal number one factor for Invertix, and that is all about creating an environment where people can realize their full potential. Invertix invests heavily in employee development to build high performance teaming skills, provides fantastic facilities in which to work and collaborate with colleagues, flexible work schedules that are worthy of professionals, and opportunities to serve the communities in which we live and work. This is all conveyed in number of ways and embodied in The Invertix Way.
WashingtonExec: In your opinion, how does a company stay nimble when it is in a period of large growth and expansion?
Craig Parisot: Invertix first recognizes the power of focus, agility, and reinvention as a means to remain relevant in the marketplace and open to the world of possibilities available to an entrepreneurial firm like us. We also take strategic planning very seriously and in the 4th quarter of every year we put everything on the table for scrutiny to make sure we have the pieces in place to accomplish what we want to do. Year after year this has resulted in a renewed commitment to our mission space in support of national security – not as a defacto response – but as an approach that results in a strong commitment to our existing customers and an insatiable desire to take on difficult challenges. Our passion is to help defense, intelligence and security-focused organizations meet their mission demands by leveraging both partnerships and emerging technology.
WashingtonExec: How has the tightening of the lending market impacted you?
Craig Parisot: It hasn’t to date; our growth has been organic and the company is well capitalized. We have invested our own capital to build a strong strategic development organization as well as a strong infrastructure that supports our rapid growth as well as the complexity of the projects we are working. Our strategic growth plans don’t deviate much from this approach…but you never know.