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Alumni Profiles
Growing a Business
Gary Williams, BBA 72
Cofounder, President, and CEO, The Harbour Group
In 1996, Gary Williams and partner John Winslow founded the Harbour Group, a business and technology advisory consulting firm, with one account and a handful of employees. Today the company works with dozens of clients in energy, manufacturing, telecommunications, healthcare, and other industries and just established an Austin office. The company also has offices in Dallas, Houston, and Tampa.
In the extremely competitive environment of technology consulting, if you’re afraid of change, it’s a very scary place, says Williams. “If you’re grounded in good business fundamentals like giving high-quality service, having integrity, and surrounding yourself with the best and brightest people, then change doesn’t scare you any more,” he says. Although growing steadily, the company maintains an entrepreneurial environment, manifested in an external focus and the agility to make changes in short order.
And how does a relatively small firm attract and retain hard-charging BBAs and MBAs? “Sometimes it’s easier to recruit into a small firm because people feel like they can have a greater impact, and it’s a more personal place,” says Williams. Another benefit to being a small firm is that employees get plenty of interaction with executive management. What really matters in employee retention is making sure they’re challenged, he says.
The Harbour Group’s Austin office, just opened in January, is poised to bring in work from the company’s other offices that will benefit from proximity to Austin’s high-tech resources.
Before co-founding the Harbour Group, Gary Williams was senior vice president of Affiliated Computer Services. Previously, he was the Information Technology Consulting Partner with Coopers & Lybrand. He is a member of the McCombs School Information Systems Advisory Council. For more information, visit www.thgcorp.com.
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