Papa Samb / It Secure Solutions
Founder & CEO
Immigrant from Senegal, graduated at ASA College(Brooklyn, NY) in Network Administration and Security.
Worked for various Organizations as a Consultant and formed IT Secure Solutions in 3 different States( NY, NJ, and the recent GA location).
Lauren Chaney and Ashlyn DiNardo/Birch Communications
Birch Communications is a leading technology service provider to small, mid-sized, enterprise and wholesale businesses. They meet the needs of business customers that are under-served by other providers by offering a diverse portfolio of integrated technology solutions coupled with a relentless focus on customer service. Their mission is to provide high-quality, reliable communications, broadband, cloud and IT services to business customers at the best possible value while giving each of their clients the personal attention they deserve.
Michael McClellan/Designs in Motion
Designs In Motion is a full-service creative design firm, specializing in the enhancement of your company’s external and internal communication tools. Whether it’s print media, a unique web presence, or helping to create that dynamic ad campaign, you can rest assured that they will make your business stand out from your competitors. Their expertise in the creative arena has enabled their clients to achieve significant increases in visibility and brand awareness. Designs In Motion was founded in 1998 and is committed to offering excellent value to their customers through enhanced design solutions and outstanding customer service.
Courtney Spencer/Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce
The Gwinnett Chamber will be the forum for business, government, education, healthcare, arts/culture/entertainment, and philanthropic and public-service communities to come together to advance our region’s economy and enrich Gwinnett’s quality of life. The mission of the Gwinnett Chamber is to strengthen existing businesses, facilitate the growth of quality job opportunities, and enrich the community’s quality of life. The Gwinnett Chamber serves over 2,000 members throughout metro Atlanta by delivering pertinent and useful programs that strengthen and connect businesses locally, regionally, and globally. The Gwinnett Chamber uses its strategic marketing and communications capabilities to support its members, promote its programs, and enhance economic development efforts.
CLICK HERE to watch the video of this program on YouTube.
On this episode of Midtown Business Radio I featured two Atlanta area companies that help business from a couple of directions. John Mamon, CEO of mPoweredIT, came by to talk about their outsourced IT solution. He introduced us to Brian Keen, President/CEO of Health Cooperative Strategies.
mPowered IT is an IT support services provider focused on delivering the entire IT value chain to small and medium medical practices and businesses. Offerings include fixed fee IT support, cloud services, backup and disaster recovery, and managed network security.
John shared how he came to starting his service company that enables medical practices and small to mid-sized businesses focus on their core functions rather than spending unproductive time trying to maintain and manage their IT hardware, software, and infrastructure.
We talked about the fact that for most small- to mid-sized businesses it makes sense to outsource the IT management function in order to maximize reliability of vital IT elements, their security, and compliance, while at the same time, spending less than would be required if they were to hire a skilled expert themselves.
Brian talked about how Health Cooperative Strategies collaborates with associations, chambers of commerce, and other large groups such as GPO’s to create self-funded health plans. In this way, these organizations are able to offer large-group-type health plans that in some cases, equals the benefits and member expense as a 10,000+ employee company.
We talked about how, before the ACA, health plans were able to offer discounted rates to organizations such as these for insuring large, mostly-healthy groups for inclusion in the plan. The recent level of implementation of the ACA changed that, making it impossible for companies participating in exchanges to offer such a discounted, minimal-risk group plan.
Health Cooperative Strategies fills that void. They are able to work with these organizations who seek to provide such benefits to help them create a self-funded plan and/or to combine with other similar groups to forge an even-larger group that helps them offer outstanding benefits for a comparatively low rate.
Special Guests
John Mamon, CEO/Founder, mPoweredIT 
Brian Keen, President/CEO, Health Cooperative Strategies 
Mike Russell, ETS Solutions
Mike Russell is a technology entrepreneur with over 13 years of experience in the IT industry. Mike is the President and Founder of ETS Solutions, your trusted technology advisor. Mike took his experience managing companies and law firms and formed Elite Telecom Services in 2002, rebranding his company to ETS Solutions in 2014 to include Cloud Services. Mike and his team consult with businesses about their technology configuration and assess any pain points (cost, relocation, phone hardware, bandwidth needs). ETS provides multiple solution options so companies can make the ideal business decision. The ETS team then provides ongoing customer service for the length of the service contract. Mike has had much success and been recognized for many accomplishments over the years, including the Channel Partners 360 Award in 2013. Mike has a B.S. Degree from UNC-Chapel Hill and an MBA in Accounting & Finance degree from Kennesaw State University.
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Alisa Michael, Network 1 Consulting/IT Support
Alisa Michael works with Network 1 Consulting as a client manager for their law firm clients. She brings over 17 years experience in the legal arena and is proactive in managing clients’ needs and expectations with an outcome of client satisfaction and retention. Our mission is to help our clients achieve greatness through technology.
Network 1 Consulting is a 17-year-old, IT Support company in Atlanta, GA. We become – or augment – the IT department for law firms and medical practices. Our IT experts can fix computers – but what our clients really value are the industry-specific best practices we bring to their firms. This is especially important with technology, along with regulations and cyber threats, changing so rapidly. We take a proactive approach to helping our clients use technology to gain and keep their competitive advantage.
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Brent Bridges, Bloom Sugarman
Brent Bridges has served as Executive Director of Bloom Sugarman since 2009. He enjoys wearing the many hats that life at a boutique firm requires and is committed to the legal administration profession. He is an active member of the Atlanta Association of Legal Administrators, where he is serving his second year on the Board as Director of Membership.
An Alabama native, Brent moved to Atlanta shortly after college and worked in predominantly marketing related roles for most of this career before landing in legal. During a decade-long stint in San Francisco, he started his own marketing consulting and design firm, which continues to thrive today.
Outside of work, Brent spends as much time as he can with family and friends, traveling, catching a movie or show at the theater, or helping out with the youth at his church.
With Atlanta’s competitive legal market, you need the best in IT Solutions and professional image. To help you get that “Big Law Firm” image on a “Small Law Firm” Budget, Peachtree Offices offers 4 great options for a Virtual Office in Atlanta. Choose the features your firms needs and enjoy competitive pricing with no long term agreements.
This week I sat down with two experts from Zydexo to talk about the variety of supplemental and outsourced IT solutions they provide. Going in I knew the company placed a focus on providing supplemental and permanent placement of the gamut of IT professionals. What I didn’t know before talking with Sugra Naqvi, Business Developement Manager, and Jerry Lawrence, Senior Talent Acquisition Manager, was the breadth and scope of the IT solutions they provide. These include contract staffing of vital IT talent experts for key time-limited projects, but also software development, educational offerings, and IT consulting services.
Both of these folks have been with the company for over 11 years, a testament to the professional culture within the company. And as you listen to this fun interview you can clearly appreciate their respective passion for their work and the brand they represent, as well as the pride they take in delivering what they know is a high level of professional service and customer experience.
Let’s face it–supplemental staffing can be a rather vanilla subject on some levels. It can be as bland as, “I need an X Technician.” “I find good ones.” But when that sort of engagement is coupled with a measure of personal buy-in to the importance of what the “X Technician” will be doing and its financial impact on a client’s business and a high level of customer service, those can be long-term relationships. And those are engagements companies readily feel as though revenue dollars invested to secure the X Technician was absolutely worth it.
Special Guests:
Sugra Naqvi, Business Development Manager, Zydexo 
Jerry Lawrence, Senior Talent Acquisition Manager, Zydexo
Talking Public Relations with Stephanie Richards, MA, of SowGrow Public Relations and Managed IT Services with Mike Remy, CEO of Dimensional Solutions Managed IT
This week we’ll learn how a good PR expert can help a company get exposure in local and national media outlets that helps expand their brand’s reach and recognition. Stephanie Richards founded SowGrowPR in 2006 and focuses on B2B businesses in need of getting their stories told. She has successfully obtained media coverage for numerous clients across a wide range of media outlets including Inc.com, Sold, and Selling Power, numerous speaking engagements at industry trade shows, and more.
Mike Remy, CEO of Dimensional Solutions Managed IT explains their ala cart menu of service options available to their clients. This lets the customer choose only the elements of outsourcing they need to achieve the highest level of IT reliability, troubleshooting, help desk services, security assessments, and more. By providing an in-depth free consultation with their client they are able to identify problem areas and help their client company reduce fixed costs, helping to prevent downtime or catastrophic data loss. They give the small to medium company the ability to have large company IT performance without an onsite IT department.
Special Guests:
Stephanie Richards, MA, CEO/Founder of SowGrow Public Relations 
Mike Remy, VP, Enterprise Solutions of Dimensional Solutions Managed IT Services 
Richard Young/Farmers Insurance
As your personal agent, Richard Young believes in keeping you informed and aware of Farmers Insurance products. It is his mission to help you develop the right plans to meet your insurance needs. Through dedication, knowledge and a tireless work ethic, Richard will be the agent that his customers will want to send their friends and families to. He will strive to protect his clients’ assets.
Kyle Glave/NOVAtime Technology
In 1999, NOVAtime Technology was founded with the mission to continually research and develop the capabilities of Workforce Management solutions. Driven by forward-thinking people and the latest advances in technology, NOVAtime has gained recognition as a technical leader of the industry and is now one of the largest Time and Attendance providers in the United States. Our solutions automate and simplify time and resource management through the use of innovative technology that controls labor costs and promotes the growth of business.
