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Columbus, Ohio - April 1st, 2022 marked The Computer Workshop’s 34th year providing training to government agencies, corporations, companies, and individuals.
In 1988, many would not have given us even a 1% chance of making it since many small start-ups do not. Statistics show about 20% of start-ups fail in the first year, but then it drastically changes – only about 50% make it to 5 years, 65% fail during the first 10 years and 75% fail in the first 15+ years.
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The Early Years
So, as I look back at some of the memorable moments (and there have been thousands), I must mention our celebration when we made it to the 2-year mark! A good friend of mine moved back from West Virginia and became my partner. She knew more about the PC and I grew up on a Macintosh – so we made a good team – the dynamic duo! At this point we were still growing at a very good rate and felt we really had a good chance to beat the statistics! By the end of 1988, we had begun seeing the trend upwards. By the end of our second year, we had grown nearly four time since the year prior. During this time, we were awarded our first State of Ohio contract, and we were so very thankful and appreciative – it would take contracts like these to continue to be successful!
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Putting Family into Family-Business
Another very memorable time was between December of 1992 and April 1995, when my children decided to join me in my endeavor. I can’t express in words how wonderful it is to get to work with your children and I have to say, this company would not be a widely recognized company without their help, wisdom, and management abilities! They have grown with the industry which makes them invaluable, and they have the vision and ability to continue the journey to make The Computer Workshop one of the top training centers in the industry.
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We knew the next milestone would be to make it to the five-year mark. We worked hard, delivered quality classes, and provided great service to our customers because that is what it would take. We changed our name from T & M Computing to The Computer Workshop and incorporated in 1990. (At that time, training was referred to as “workshops”. Our first logo being a toolbox of computer hardware). We were the third true training center in the market at that time – the competition was tough, but there was plenty of business for everyone.
|  Team TCW in 1998 |
Hard Times
Of course, being in business for 34 years, there are not always highs and successes. In 2004, our business experienced a setback and it was the first time we had to lay off employees. As owners and managers, we were devastated to have to make those decisions and we tried to be very strategic and thoughtful of each employee’s situation in making those decisions. Luckily, it was a short period of time, and we were able to bounce back, until we were faced with the economic crash of 2008. We continued to do what we knew best and fought hard. Gratefully, we were able to navigate through another adversity and continue to our next milestone.
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 Team TCW in 2019 during our grand opening of our
training facility in Dublin, Ohio | Challenges will always be with us, no matter what industry we are in, no matter where we are at in life. Whether it is the COVID-19 Pandemic, loss of great employees, or some other unforeseen circumstance. The good in these challenges is, we have always had great employees that have been willing to pull us through tough times. Each one is like family and contribute to our success. It would take a book to share all the compliments they have gotten over the years and there are not words that can express enough how much we appreciate their work and dedication.
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The “ah-ha” Moments
But, with all these business milestones, I think some of the most memorable moments are when the lightbulb comes on for our students. I can’t count the number of times we have heard a student share that what they learned in class saved them hours of time! I love it when they say how friendly and efficient our staff is; how knowledgeable their instructor is on the subject they are taking; how much help the instructor was in solving one of their work problems; and how thankful they were for the knowledge they got that helped them get a promotion or better job.
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Why did The Computer Workshop get to celebrate the start of their 34th year in business – all the above. All the successes, all the challenges, all the opportunities to learn, all the dedicated employees and all our clients who find what we have to offer very valuable to their success.
We are looking forward to a long future of providing outstanding training to our clients throughout the United States. We look forward to celebrating our next milestone with you.
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