Growth leads to need for larger facility for ComTec Solutions

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You’re probably not going to find too many people who will say Rob Moyer, the president and founder of ComTec Solutions, has impeccable timing for major decisions.

Including Moyer.

It was back in 2009 that he decided leasing office space was no longer wise and that ComTec should purchase its own facility on Elmgrove Park in Gates. This was, of course, in the midst of the Great Recession.

In January of this year, with the firm’s client base continuing to grow, he realized expansion was necessary, so he bought the 21,000-square-foot building across the street.

Barely two months later he was asking his staff to work from home because of the coronavirus pandemic.

“I picked two really good economies to make a growth move, didn’t I?” he said.

The thing is: everything seems to work out just fine. Now in its 25th year of operation, ComTec Solutions is thriving in both sectors of expertise, managed IT services and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP).  The company has been on the Greater Rochester Chamber of Commerce Top 100 list three times in the past (2011, 2012 and 2018) and will be again this year.

“Some companies do IT and some do ERP, but with us you can get software and hardware under one roof,” Moyer said.

The employee total has grown from around 35 last year to just shy of 50 today.

“We have room for probably 80 people in the new building, so we’ve got seats to fill and we’re very actively hiring,” he said.

While the IT client base is strong, Moyer said ERP services continue to thrive. As a certified platinum partner of Epicor, ComTec’s ERP service is essentially one-stop management for all aspects of a business.

“It handles their quoting, order margins, financing, you name it,” Moyer said. “As they grow into the product, we’ll take them through the life cycle.

“Back in 2007/2008, people would say, ‘You guys are in manufacturing?’ Now it’s ‘Thank God we’re in manufacturing.'”

ComTec’s IT sector provides the tools to clients for network monitoring, and they also partner with a cyber-security firm for 24/7 protection.

“There’s no such thing as being bulletproof, but if we see something outside the norm, it’s addressed immediately,” Moyer said.

The company also will do some internal testing for company, ensuring employees are educated in what to look for and how to avoid phishing trickery. Geo-blocking barriers are in place to lock out IP addresses from a country if there is a breach.

“It’s a constantly moving target,” Moyer said.

ComTec provides services to several government and aerospace providers, so it is imperative that the servers and network used by those firms are certified secure.

The pandemic actually brought increased demand from IT clients, who sought support in helping them mobilize the workforce from remote locations.

“It’s funny; I was telling someone the other day that we just relocated and they said, ‘Oh, you’re downsizing,'” Moyer said.

Not only is ComTec adding employees, but they’ve brought the hiring process in-house. Debbie Wehrle was hired as human resources manager, enabling the company to find what it believes are the right fit for the company culture.

“That’s very important to us, and so is a focus on our clients,” Moyer said. “I know that sounds cliche, but we drive that home with our employees every day. I think sometimes, when you grow, you lose focus on customers and we never want that to happen.”

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