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By Carol J. Castaneda
Upper Marlboro, MD. - Former Ohio resident
Ty Barnett learned more than defense while playing football under
Coach Wayne Woodrow “Woody” Hayes of Ohio State University. He learned valuable lessons about life and business: Never give up.
“No matter what anybody tells you, you keep
going,” said Barnett, a former running back who played alongside
Paul Warfield and Matt Snell. “When Desert Storm hit and the money
started to dry up because the government needed to fund the war, we
refused to listen to our banker. We never gave up. On the football field you can’t give up in the middle of a game, and business is no different.”
Today, Barnett, formerly of Orrville, Ohio,
is chairman and chief executive officer of Diverse Technologies
Corp. (DTC) in Upper Marlboro, Md., a thriving professional services
provider of information technology, financial management and
logistics support to local, state and federal governments and private industry. Barnett’s love of football landed him a spot on Orville, and Wayne County’s Hall of Fame.
His perseverance has paid off in Barnett’s
business relationships as his company grows. George Hurlburt can
attest to that. Hurlburt, director of the test and evaluation
community network at the Patuxent River Naval Air Warfare Center, has worked with Barnett on a logistics contract since the mid-1990s.
“Ty’s a very strong man with high moral character and a man of his word, and we’ve enjoyed working with his company,” Hurlburt said.
Barnett - a former Navy commander, Supply
Corps - knows about logistics. During his 20 years in the military,
he held a variety of leadership and management positions related to supply systems and logistical planning for the Navy. So did his president and chief operating officer, Stephen Mills.
Mills, a retired Marine Corps officer, helped the government evaluate acquisition logistic support data for the V-22 Tilt Rotor Aircraft.
“Being in the Supply Corps, I saw the importance of having a good support system,” Barnett said. “It’s critical.”
It’s one of the reasons Barnett, who resides
in Virginia, decided to take a chance and start his own government contracting business in 1988, when he had three teenage sons and a wife to support.
“I saw people in logistics who did good work
and not so good work,” he said. “I felt I could make a difference”
by providing the government with skilled and experienced people. “When we get a job, we take it seriously from start to finish.”
Barnett’s determination paid off. His first
contract with the Navy’s Standard Accounting & Reporting System
(STARS) system grew from three to 75 people and $2.9 million in revenue in 1992 - only four years after he started his company.
That success has continued. In 1995, DTC won a logistics contract from the Patuxent Naval Air Warfare Center.
“We have certainly enjoyed a long-term
relationship with DTC,” Hurlburt said. “We believe it’s been
effective, and because we began working with the company under the
Small Business Administration’s 8(a) program and when it graduated,
we have had a long-term relationship with DTC that gives us a more stable base and has allowed for team building to occur.”
Since DTC has been at Patuxent base, they’ve
logged tens of thousands of pieces of equipment. “We’re helping the government ascertain the equipment that is on base, and the equipment that is needed,” Barnett said.
Barnett’s extensive military experience in
the administration of planning and budgeting for various
telecommunications programs also came in handy. It helped DTC to
become known as the only small business in the United States to be
awarded a contract to work on the largest financial system in the world: STARS. The system serves 11,000 naval customers and operates from 2,545 facilities around the world.
Barnett’s diligence helped DTC to
successfully graduate from the SBA’s 8(a) program in January 2000
and become a recognized and proficient Minority Business Enterprise
(MBE). An example of Diverse Technologies’ work as an MBE can be
seen in Pennsylvania, where DTC helps customers integrate and manage
communication of criminal justice information for the state’s 67 counties and numerous law enforcement and judicial agencies. Recently, DTC also earned MBE certification in New Jersey.
Diverse Technologies’ recognized partners include Accenture, Deloitte & Touche, SAIC, Microsoft, Oracle, Cognos, Grant Thorton, KPMG, Resource Consultants Inc. and Unisys.
“You win with people,” Barnett aid. “I’ve
always had tremendously good people working with me. Just like in
football, you can’t win without a good team and you can’t do it without giving it your all - 100 percent of the time.”
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