Lessons from a leading CEO Lessons from a leading CEO

women & business
Kay Stafford has been at the helm of CMA
Consulting, Inc. for nearly 25 years
Lessons from
a leading CEO
CMA Consulting, Inc.’s Kay Stafford
offers solutions of her own
Kay Stafford, chief executive officer of CMA
Consulting, Inc., looks for team players to join her
software development company, and she means it
quite literally.
“When I review people’s resumes, I check to see if
they’ve played team sports. I’d say 95 percent of the
time, those are the types of people who are team
players in the workplace, and they know how to
work well with others and accomplish goals,” she
said.
As CMA approaches its 25th anniversary, Stafford
reminisced on her nearly quarter-century at the helm
and discussed the challenges and rewards of being a
prominent woman in business.
The early years
CMA has emerged
as a full-service
technology business
CMA began in 1984 as a consulting business, hiring
individuals with specific skill sets to modify or
build new applications for clients in both the public
and private sector.
The hardest part early on was learning how the
government operates, in terms of requests for proposals
(RFPs).
“Being a small company, we’d receive an RFP and
have to respond to it and find people who met those
skill sets,” Stafford said. “In the process of hiring individuals,
we had to turn it from an expense into a revenue
generator.”
CMA has evolved over the years from being simply
a consulting company to becoming a full-service
information technology business, working with
clients to develop applications and design hardware
and software to meet their needs.
The company provides solutions for its customers
through numerous business divisions, including: business
solutions, consulting services and training, data
warehouse solutions, human resources information
systems, IT infrastructure and security solutions, science
and engineering solutions, supply chain solutions,
and WIC and public health solutions.
One of its areas of expertise is the Oracle
Authorized Education Center (OAEC) Program,
through which CMA delivers certified training with
instructors and prepares clients for increased productivity
and certification in the Oracle suite of products.
CMA has developed a modular system for the
Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women,
Infants and Children (WIC), making it compatible and
easy to deploy with each state’s policy and management
practices.
Data warehousing has become very popular,
Stafford pointed out, and CMA works with clients to
implement large-scale, multiterabyte data warehouses
integrating data, images and media content into a
single repository.
In addition, CMA has developed CMA Traffic
Solutions with Sensys AB, a Swedish company and
one of CMA’s strategic partners. It includes hardware,
a camera and sensor technology to record the license
plate numbers of motorists who run red lights, plus
the software for information and data management
so that these motorists may be ticketed for their
infractions.
Do a lot of research, and really
understand the market you’re
entering. Build a team with
people who have the
right expertise.
“
”
Near and far
There are approximately 86 employees at CMA’s corporate
headquarters in Latham, where the company
relocated to a 15,000 square-foot facility in
November 2004. Altogether, there are 410 employees
total throughout the company, which also has offices
in New York City, Washington DC, Texas and Arizona.
To commemorate CMA’s 25th anniversary, the
company will welcome all of its employees, both local
and those out of the area, to its annual holiday party
this year.
On a smaller scale, CMA has a staff picnic every
Friday as a way to socialize and foster that family
atmosphere within the organization.
Stafford, whose late husband is former New York
State Sen. Ron Stafford, has numerous family members
working at CMA; her son George is in
Washington DC, stepsons Damian and Parker work in
New York City and Latham, respectively, and several
cousins, nieces and nephews also count themselves
among CMA’s staff.
“There’s definitely a sense of security having so
many family members working here, and I learned
very early on how to maximize their varied talents,”
Stafford said. “Then again, everybody here is like
family.”
Stafford felt that sense of security and family support
on a very personal note in recent years, as she
underwent cancer treatment. “I worked every day of
the week, except the days when I was having treatment,”
she said. “I looked forward to getting up,
coming in to work and having a smile on my face.”
Thankfully, her cancer has been in remission for three
years this September.
How times have changed
The company experienced 40 percent growth last
year and is targeting Florida and California for con-
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