Posted on: Monday, November 1, 2004
Leadership corner
Interviewed by Catherine E. Toth, Advertiser Staff Writer
Age: 53 Title: President and owner Organization: CTA Solutions Inc. High school: Newtown High School in New York College: Bachelor of arts in communications, University of Miami Breakthrough job: Working in the music industry in Miami. "It was an incredible place to learn," Bloom said. Little-known fact: Bloom ran a pirate radio station, called Sunshine Radio, out of his dorm room at the University of Miami. The station, which played solely rock 'n' roll, was ordered to shut down by the Federal Communications Commission. He later worked for musician Bob Dylan, managing one of Dylan's bands. Major challenge: Trying to grow the company while continuing to learn how to be a good manager. A. In a year into (running) the staffing company, I realized there was definitely a need for helping people get computer literate. So we bought a small education company (Computer Training Academy), built classrooms and created the education component. Then as the industry grew, we got into networking ... and software development. As the industry matured, our technology power matured with it. A. Interestingly enough, the largest customer in Hawai'i and the Pacific is the U.S. military ... That's created the opportunity for us to grow not only in Hawai'i but now around the world ... There are no Fortune 1000 companies headquartered in Hawai'i. If you're looking for large customers locally, the federal government is No. 1. There's nobody really larger and as expansive as far as a footprint around the world and as far as the technology requirement. And that has given us a great opportunity in Hawai'i to use our expertise and show off our capabilities and do some very interesting work ... And for a company like ours, it's given us that "proving ground." A. We look at (both) as very symbiotic and close. That's the thing about technology, it's rapidly moving, it's never static ... When we first bought the education company, we did it to educate our employees who weren't looking for jobs but didn't have computer skills. It was a catch-22. How were they going to get jobs if they didn't have the computer skills? ... Not only were our employees in need of these skills, but our customers were looking for people with these skills. A. It's a challenge, but for people who like the challenge, this is the place to be because it's not static. I tell people, "Don't get into this industry if you're looking for a cruise job or you don't want to push yourself because you will never feel comfortable." ... Every 18 months technology reinvents itself. It's incredible ...
The way I look at it, our customers aren't leveraging the technology they own. They probably, at most, use about 10 (percent) to 15 percent of the powers they have on their computers ... For us, our position a lot of times is just showing our customers how to leverage what they already own.
A. One of the biggest areas for me is data. We do a great job of collecting data, but we don't do a great job of getting that information to the right people at the right time — and in the form you want to see it in ...
The problem is there are so many copies of wrong data out there, and nobody knows what is the authentic source of that data. It's like a bacteria spreading, and I see that as a huge opportunity ... finding that data and getting it to the right person, then go back and figure out ways to reduce duplication. You should collect data once and use it multiple times. There's all kinds of issues in that.
A. Right now individuals don't own their own data. Everybody else has data about you but you. You may have a couple of pieces, if you ran your credit report or asked your doctor for X-rays. But don't have the rich fabric of information. But imagine if you did. Think about what if, somewhere in your electronic bank vault, you had all the history of all your medical visits and what was done to you from the time you were born until now and you want to share that with next doctor you see. Think how much better that doctor could do his or her job because they had such a good set of information about you. They could make a better decision ... It's not just, "Where are the tanks or planes or where are our revenues coming from?" but (it's about) every decision made about their health and life. That all goes back to data. A. It's how we practice what we preach ... If you love what you do and you're willing to learn and there's someone there to help you — I've had some very good teachers in my life — it's important to share that knowledge. It's a critical piece and it's something we don't do enough of.
Name: Jeff Bloom
Q. When you first acquired the company in 1986, it was solely a staffing agency. How have you grown since then?
Q. About 60 percent of your business is with various government agencies, mostly with the military. Why did you decide to get into this market?
Q. How does the company's staffing and education components work together?
Q. What's the challenge of working with technology, which changes all the time?
Q. What is the most pressing issue involving technology for this industry?
Q. But how does that relate to consumers?
Q. In 1998 you created HiTech Quest, a nonprofit organization that provides mentoring and scholarships to Hawai'i students. Why was that important to you?
