Initiatives August 2009 - Huntsville/Madison County Chamber of ...

Intuitive Research and Technology, continued from page 35 –
“David Seitz of AMCOM submitted information
about Intuitive among thousands of
firms. Once the nominations were submitted,
Intuitive competed with several larger
primes across the Southeast [District IV],”
Morand said. After Intuitive’s success in the
regional competition, the company was eligible
to compete for the national honor.
“This honor is well deserved. Intuitive
won the competition based on it management
style and employees – its greatest asset. This
award is not just for Intuitive, but this is truly
36 August 2009 Initiatives
an award for the community,” Morand said.
Intuitive has already made plans for the
next 10 years as the company continues to
grow and look into new opportunities.
“I see us bigger in 10 years. We set out to
establish a premier engineering and analytical
services company. We set up a road map 10
years ago and we have done a good job of following
it. I would like to see us move into the
non-military industry,” Brewer said.
Brewer sees the Department of Defense creating
spin-off companies in the community
the way NASA did in the 60s and continues
to do today.
Almodóvar says Army hardware sustainment
will be a major opportunity for the
company when the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan
are finished.
“I would like to see us less in services and
more into hardware. Sustainment of equipment
as it comes in from Iraq and Afghanistan
will be a large project,” he said. “ If you look at
other businesses, once you get to a certain size
you need to move into hardware integration
in order to sustain your employee base.”
No matter what direction the company takes,
employees will be at the center of its growth.
According to Brewer, Intuitive’s retention
rate is 90 percent. Of the 10 percent who
leave Intuitive, 90 percent of those go on to
work for the government. Those who don’t
work for the government might start their
own company. “Intuitive has been very fond
of mentoring those who start their own companies.
If someone has a niche skill, we can
use them,” Brewer said. That commitment to
employees has made the company a winner
two years in a row at the Chamber of Commerce
of Huntsville/Madison County’s Best
Place to Work ceremony.
Both laud the support they have gotten
from local community leaders and commend
the tremendous infrastructure in this area from
its universities, banks and insurance companies
to real estate companies that know how
to support and foster small businesses. Both
Almodóvar and Brewer agree that Huntsville
provides the near perfect environment for
starting up a high -technology business.
Ray Kendall has been with the company
for seven years. He proudly says that he was
employee number 13. He worked at several
different engineering firms ranging from
small businesses to large corporations. Kendall
recalls that when he first joined the company
things were still new and he was a bit
nervous.
“When it was a small company it was a little
scary. Rey and Hal’s planning and hard work
have kept the company a good place to work,”
Kendall said. He said that numbers have been
the only thing to change around Intuitive.
“We share a lot of pride because we are
an engineering company in Huntsville, the
engineering Mecca. I feel proud to work here
and proud to wear my Intuitive shirt,” Kendall
said about the award.
• Harrison Diamond