March 13, 2024
This paid piece is sponsored by Direct Companies.
What a difference a year makes.
In the past 12 months, Sioux Falls-based Direct Companies has doubled the number of services it can offer clients.
It has grown from a team of 45 people to about triple that.
And the potential for further expansion is just being realized.
“It’s fast growth, but it’s strategic growth,” founder and CEO Paul Zweifel said. “We’ve identified multiple opportune acquisitions in the last year, and we now are actively integrating these new businesses into Direct Companies.”
Direct Companies is a family of businesses that largely are tech-focused, including:
- Process and machine automation
- Custom software and data management
- Phone systems
- Managed IT
- Security system services
“We’re continually looking for more opportunities to grow and add value to our family of businesses, customers and employees through acquisition and continuing the innovation of new products and services,” Zweifel said.
In 2023, Direct Companies added significantly to its managed IT business through the acquisition of Sioux Falls-based Workplace IT Management, which continues to operate under that name.
“The Workplace IT acquisition complements our family of businesses because of their excellence in managed IT services and strong commitment to customers and employees,” Zweifel said. “That’s what’s made them the best in the market, and their strong and important culture fits in well with our own culture. The acquisition has gone exceedingly well and is already adding value to our family of companies and our customers.”
Joe Henderson, who has been with Direct Companies for nearly three years, serves as director of IT and oversees the Workplace team.
“Our motto was always being there for the customer, and that’s why this merger is working so well because Workplace has the same model of direct employee to technician contact,” he said. “Our model is able to adapt to basically any size business, making it a budget-friendly, stable and secure management model.”
While organizations might have internal IT turnover, partnering with Workplace IT helps ensure consistent service, he added.
“The combined company broadens our bench of IT resources and gives us additional support in areas like human resources, accounting and marketing,” Henderson said.
Workplace IT customers now easily can access additional services offered through the broader Direct Companies, he added.
“A lot of that naturally is occurring through conversation as customers call in with one issue and now our team can communicate internally and dispatch additional resources as needed rather than having to outsource those,” Henderson said.
A lot of customers are just realizing the wide scope of what Direct Companies can provide, everything from cameras to door control systems, phone systems, office cabling, wireless broadcasting, database management, data collecting, automation and enhanced cybersecurity, he added.
“There are so many products and services related to technology that Direct Companies supports well, and we’re enjoying sharing that story.”
Early 2024 also brought another new acquisition with the addition of New Covenant Consulting LLC, now Direct Design & Fabrication. Founded in Council Bluffs, Iowa, by Donald Volentine, a journeyman wireman, operations manager and field service technician, it began out of his home in 2014 and grew as he evolved from consulting into a product-focused company.
“The business grew extremely organically thanks to relationships with vendors and a homegrown team,” Volentine said. “Most of the time, I brought in people with no experience and trained them.”
The 20-person company started out building and designing industrial control panels – equipment that controls all motion in a factory or processing plant.
“We’re extremely diverse in the industries we serve, which has helped us to be resilient,” Volentine said. “We’ve shipped all over the globe, lots of business in North America and as far as the Middle East and Australia.”
The company’s diverse customer base, though, didn’t make for a good acquisition fit in many cases, he said. That changed with Direct Companies.
“When I was introduced to Direct Companies, I could tell there was good symmetry between what they do and what we do,” Volentine said. “As an owner, I’d hit my ceiling on an ability to attract next-level talent and continue to homegrow my workforce, and that’s addressed by becoming part of Direct Companies, along with a new customer base to help bring stability and growth to this division. It’s like gaining an extremely elevated toolbox.”
New Covenant Consulting became part of Direct Companies at the beginning of 2024.
For Direct Companies, adding the design and fabrication business was driven by the team’s quality work and engineering skills in designing and fabricating electrical and mechanical systems, Zweifel said.
“With this business, we can turn concepts or ideas into reality for our customers,” he said. “While we’re working on integrating this team into our culture, we’re already excited about the added value we can bring for customers who are industrial process plants like ethanol, food, power, chemical, municipal or manufacturing businesses. We’ll be able to take 3D designs, concepts or prototype developments and do turnkey builds of process skids, manufacturing equipment and custom control, IT and electrical cabinets.”
While it’s only months in, “we’re moving fast,” Volentine said. “We’re actively hiring, including an electrical lead and mechanical lead, and we’re looking at building up the team for more effective capacity. As a single-member owner, there’s only so much you can do for employees, and this is creating a situation to bring us to the next level. Lots and lots of barriers got knocked down with this deal.”
To learn more and begin connecting with Direct Companies, click here.
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