Member Insights – Technology

Jan 4, 2022

From data storage and social media to digital payment solutions and productivity apps, technology can help us better compete with companies of all sizes to grow. How has technology benefitted you most during the pandemic?

 

Mary K. Davenport
 

“We believe the service we provide as an IT staffing firm is important work, and our role in helping people find jobs is quite rewarding. Because of our investment in technology, we were able to stay engaged in the important work we do with little disruption. Internal meetings, interviews with candidates and conversations with clients were still carried out to the standard we’ve set for ourselves.

The benefit is that our clients were not impacted. In fact, we added clients and we were able to provide transparency where other organizations could not. We were able to help a variety of talent find work after they were negatively impacted by the pandemic. Most importantly, we were able to stabilize and even grow our team when many people were downsizing.

Without our commitment to technology and understanding the functionality of our tools and best uses to drive business, we might not have made it through the most tumultuous year in our 30+ years in business.”

 

Javondlynn M. Dunagan
 

“JMD Defense, LLC is a safety education business with a mission to empower, train and educate women about responsible firearm ownership.

In April 2017, I founded the Ladies of Steel Gun Club®.  As a result of the pandemic shutdown, I utilized Zoom to my advantage and created “Introduction to Firearms” classes that were attended by registrants from several states across the country. I also wanted to engage the ladies’ gun club during the shutdown, so I hosted a weekly Zoom happy hour from March through May 2020 that consisted of games like musical chairs, movie and music trivia, scavenger hunts and firearm education bingo. Since our members vary in ages from 28 to 85, we’ve had to work through a few technology challenges to ensure that everyone is up to speed and able to participate. I have recently created additional online safety education courses and expanded my online training offerings.”

 

Marisel Melendez
 

“First and foremost, I would have to thank our loyal customers. Running a restaurant for nearly 25 years speaks volumes about the relationships and customers we are committed to.

Ponce Restaurant grew from my mother’s survival mode: as a single mother of three, the one thing she knew best was cooking. She learned the business, and we evolved with the times (learning existing technologies), and we continue to this day.

When 2020 began I was optimistic for a better vision of our establishment, but 2020 had other plans for us! I’ve always said that we had to keep up with the times because we don’t want to be left behind. With that, about two years ago we started adding online order/delivery platforms like Grubhub, Uber Eats and Postmates – all the technology that we had already adopted was the source that got us through the pandemic. We are truly blessed to have had established a system that our customers were familiar with, and it made all the difference to change the trajectory and stay in business.”

 


 

Thomaie Hilaris Neris
 

“Through the silver lining of the pandemic’s cloud, our Ergoseal team discovered how technology allows us to better serve both our employees and our customers.

At the onset of the pandemic, we worked with our MSP and had our office team working remotely within 24 hours of the state’s initial shutdown in March 2020. For a small manufacturing team, the concept of remote work was unusual; now it is globally commonplace. Consequently, we provide our employees with much-needed flexibility in their working environment, helping them manage their work-life activities.

We also discovered the benefits of video calls to increase face time with customers. Pre-pandemic, we relied on travel to have in-person meetings. We are now able to offer our customers Quarterly Business Review meetings to discuss their needs and help build our partnerships with an improved cadence. While we still aim for in-person meetings, the expanded technology platforms have enabled us to personally connect with our customers.

The pandemic revealed the innovative human spirit both in our team and across the world.”

 

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