THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, June 10, 1996 TAG: 9606080177
SECTION: BUSINESS WEEKLY PAGE: 10 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Cover Story
SOURCE: BY JAMES SCHULTZ, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE LENGTH: 59 lines
Maybe some companies wouldn't go for the job. Total dollar volume will likely remain under 1 million, and profit margins aren't expected to be enormous. Project logistics could be complicated.
But that's not stopping the Chesapeake firm Management Systems Applications Inc.
Because if MSA wins the contract, along with Ohio-based partner Mosler Inc., to put dozens of closed-circuit TV cameras on and around San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge, the payoff will be more than financial.
``It's a highly visible customer,'' said Tim Bowling, MSA vice president for business development. ``It keeps our skill levels up. We do a good job out there, and we'll be recognized everywhere.''
Not that MSA - a technical and management services company that specializes in the design, installation, maintenance and management of electronic security, computer and video-conferencing systems - ignores money.
Robust revenue growth - the estimated $36 million in earnings for the fiscal year ending in August is more than double the $16 million in 1991 - is what led Virginia Business Magazine earlier this year to rank the firm 13th on its list of the state's 50 fastest growing small businesses.
Beyond money and beyond nomination for the Small Business of the Year Award, aggressive attention to customer need is what distinguishes the company, according to vice president Bowling.
``If you can't meet and exceed your customers' expectations, give it up. Because someone else will,'' Bowling said. ``The customer is the final arbiter. If you do what you say you'll do, people will buy from you.''
The company was founded by Frances B. Havens in 1979. Chesapeake is the firm's corporate headquarters. MSA has 256 employees, with regional offices in Georgia, South Carolina, Maryland, New Jersey and Nevada, and overseas operations in Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Italy, Panama and Japan.
About 80 percent of the company's business is government-related. MSA, for instance, recently installed security systems for the Marine fleet of presidential helicopters. The company also supplies, manages and maintains 33,000 personal computers for the Department of Defense's worldwide network of dependent schools.
As evidenced by the bid on the Golden Gate Bridge project, Bowling said, MSA is looking beyond its traditional federal-military customer base. He believes direct sales to businesses of customized computer systems could dramatically boost company earnings in the next five to 10 years.
``I think $100 million (in revenues) is realistic,'' Bowling said. ``I think we can do that with 100 more people.'' MEMO: Staff writer Jennifer C. O'Donnell contributed to this report.
[Related stories on pages 10 and 11.] ILLUSTRATION: FILE
Frances B. Havens
KEYWORDS: SMALL BUSINESS by CNB