On the occasion of our 25th anniversary, I’d like to share the story of how Stemp Systems got started.
In the 70’s, colleges began to offer “computer science” as a discipline and I, like many, wanted to be a part of this new technology. I enrolled in my first computer class in 1976 at Baruch College where we programed in Cobol using IBM punch cards that were compiled and executed on an IBM System 360 mainframe.
Upon graduation in the summer of 1978, I joined the “Big 8” accounting firm of Peat Marwick Mitchel
and soon after passed the CPA exam. I continued to “tinker” with computers by writing small calculation programs for the firm’s HP 41CV programmable calculator. Results from this “calculator” were printed on thermal paper which we stapled into the audit work papers (and I’m sure they have totally faded by now).
In 1983, I purchased my first “Personal Computer” (or PC as they were called back in those days), an IBM-XT with an 8088 processor, 5 ½ inch floppy disk, 10 megabyte hard disk, green monochrome CRT monitor, and DOS 2.0. My father, an MIT trained engineer, called me a “gadget guy” and chided me for buying such an expensive “toy.”
I enjoyed learning about the PC and exploring how to make productive, profitable use of a computer. I became an expert in Lotus 1-2-3, one of the first spreadsheets and key applications driving demand for the PC. As an accountant, you can imagine how excited I was about using this amazing tool and, with it, I wrote elaborate macro driven financial reporting systems. Lotus and WordStar (one of the original word processing programs) proved to be invaluable tools for completing the homework assignments leading towards my MBA.
In 1984, the IBM AT was introduced and I was able to run my macros twice as fast as with the XT (but over 100 times slower than with today’s computers). By then, I had already started consulting with clients on the evaluation, selection and implementation of accounting software. These consulting activities gave me the opportunity to combine my accounting, auditing, and operations background with my developing technical expertise, as well as the cash to leave my full time job to explore my entrepreneurial calling.
In 1986, I founded my company, The Stemp Group, Inc. (precursor to Stemp Systems Group, Inc.), hired my first assistant, and started working in a small room on the third floor of my house in Jamaica Estates. We soon expanded to the finished basement which enabled me to hire a few techs and admin staff. My son, Sam, who now works for Stemp Systems, was born in September of that year. As a child, he used to sit on the laps of our techs and “help” them insert the 30+ floppy discs required to setup and configure a new Novell Netware server.
In 1990, with three kids and a staff of 12 running around the house and up and down three flights of stairs, I knew it was time to move the office out of the family home. We relocated to the World Plaza in Whitestone where we occupied approximately 5000 square feet and the business grew to a staff of about 15. In 1992 I was approached by the CPA firm of Mahoney Cohen, at that time the 13th largest accounting firm in New York City, and merged my consulting practice with the firm’s auditing practice. I became President of Mahoney Cohen Consulting Corp, and moved the office to 40th Street across from Bryant Park. Two years later, I realized that I could not, as an entity inside of an accounting firm, provide my clients with the highest level of customer service and support that was required by increasingly complex technical requirements, and in July 1994, left Mahoney Cohen.
I incorporated as a new entity, Stemp Systems Group, Inc., and moved into a spare office of Liberty Brass Turning Company, a client of mine in Long Island City. My original plan was to work totally solo but six years later, in 2000, the workload and family obligations made that impossible. I soon sought assistance from Ben Brukner, a Computer Science major at Queens College. When Ben wasn’t attending classes, he helped me with technical research, equipment ordering, and installation and repair. I had known Ben and his family since he was a young child through our common affiliation with the same Orthodox Jewish congregation. Upon graduation in 2003 and with a bit of arm twisting, Ben decided to forgo a career as a computer programmer and join Stemp Systems full time.
A few days before Ben started, Aleem Quadri, who had answered my New York Times job placement ad, also joined Stemp Systems. Aleem, an Indian-born computer science engineer, had previously worked for five years with the global Aviva Insurance in Dubai. After marrying an American-born Pakistani woman in an arranged marriage that took place in Dubai, he immigrated to the United States to re-join his wife and child who had returned to New Jersey to be with her parents. Upon arriving in the United States, Aleem first found a contract position with Pfizer Inc., as a systems trainer and, five months later, he answered the ad (yes, a real, old-fashioned, printed newspaper ad) for the position at Stemp.
With the addition of these two brilliant, young, tech guys, and Sam, then 16, performing more substantial systems implementation support, the business started to grow. About a year later, Stemp initiated its full-time help desk with the hiring of Kurt Fritz, a former cruise ship activities director and an Apple Macintosh expert. With more business came more bookkeeping, so in early 2005, Alina Rus was hired as bookkeeper. During that time period, we also began to formalize and enhance the Stemp Standards that I initiated in 1986 to define our service and quality expectations.
After hiring a couple of additional techs, space in that office became very tight. Our next move brought us closer to the East River and a swim away from the United Nations to our current office on 11th Street, still in Long Island City. This office had room for us to almost double in size from our then staff of eight. As our business grew and our staff increased, we expanded to a suite just across the hall from our existing office. And now, with continued growth and the need for still larger office space, we have started to build a new space in our current office building designed to facilitate increased collaboration and knowledge sharing for the entire team.
In our 25 years, we have grown in a slow, controlled, manner. I have shifted my role from the day to day management of our technical direction and staff to focusing on sales, marketing, recruiting and company vision and culture. Ben has risen to Chief Operating Officer, overseeing our account management, healthcare consulting and finance teams. Aleem drives all technology as Chief Technology Officer and manages our team of technical consultants and systems engineers who implement our technical solutions and respond to our proactive monitoring and alerting systems. As Controller, Alina manages the office supervising a team including a bookkeeper and a receptionist. Kurt has been promoted to Technical Account Manager handling project management and implementations, and Sam is involved in a range of technical projects including the design and support of our new Cisco Phone System product line. Ben and Aleem have also become my business partners, formally strengthening their bonds and stake in our company.
Our services have expanded beyond the implementation of accounting systems for wholesalers and manufacturers to working with several industries implementing and supporting their industry specific software. Stemp Systems helps healthcare organizations with Electronic Health Record (EHR) implementation, real estate developers with tenant management systems, general contractors with job cost accounting systems, and law firms with document management, among other industries. Our focus has totally shifted from selling hardware and software to customer service and support of the critical technology, systems, and business software which serve as the foundation for our clients’ key business operations. To accommodate the expanded work schedules of our clients, we shifted from a single 10-hour weekday to multiple shifts, providing 16 hours of technical support coverage on weekdays and eight hours on Sundays.
The Stemp team at our annual summer BBQ event in July 2011
Today, Stemp Systems is a team of 28 highly motivated and committed men and women, and we continue to actively recruit additional exceptional techs. We have an extremely diverse team and benefit from this diversity of background, perception and experience. I have found it to be incredibly gratifying to witness and be part of the personal and technical growth of my team, and the growth of Stemp Systems.
Most of all, I am so appreciative of all of our clients for their support and belief in me and my team, even in challenging times. Most of our clients have been with Stemp for close to 10 years, some for over 20, and some for the full 25 years. I highly prize and greatly cherish the personal and professional relationships I have built with so many of my clients and their staff. To those clients, I, along with my team, say thank you.
