Paul Riedl Jr., CEO of River Run Computers, Inc.
Address: 2320 W. Camden Road, Glendale
Website: www.river-run.com
Industry: IT Services
Employees: 56
Family: Julie (wife) and Maddie, Gracie and Charlie (children)
What’s new at River Run Computers?
“ARMS 3.0 – this is River Run’s Automated Remote Management Service, and it allows us to help our clients save time and reduce costs (of) most issues that arise. ARMS monitors our clients’ networks at all hours of the day and helps our employees work smarter by being able to drill down with verified information in a more timely manner.”
Do you plan to hire any additional staff or make any significant capital investments in your company in the next year?
“Yes, we plan on adding field engineers, support desk engineers, project managers and client service representatives. We are also investing in an upgrade to our training lab.”
What will be your company’s main challenges in the next year?
“Finding the right people to join our existing team to help us exceed our clients’ expectations, as well as standardizing the delivery of our services as we add to the team. We are finding that as we grow and maintain set standards, we are able to service our clients more efficiently and in a more timely manner.”
How have you managed to grow River Run’s annual revenues from $1 million to $8 million in the past 20 years?
“By being focused on the client and the client’s needs. We take time to understand the focus of their business and how IT is able to help them achieve their goals. This allows the client to focus on their business and allows us to create more value for our clients.”
How competitive is your industry in southeastern Wisconsin? How does your company distinguish itself from competitors?
“IT is a very competitive market, which is why we have to stay focused on our clients’ needs and train our people not only in the technical skills of their job, but also in the soft skills needed to take care of our clients.”
What’s the hottest trend in your industry that businesses should know about?
“The cloud. There are benefits and roadblocks to moving to the cloud, and we need to make sure that clients understand the pluses and minuses as they relate to their business needs.
“Security is another very hot topic in our industry. More and more companies are taking their IT and data security very seriously.”
Do you have a business mantra?
“The primary mantra is to take great care of the client and the sub-mantra is transparency. We work to create transparency in all that we do for our clients and all the work we do back at River Run. Transparency makes it easier to take care of clients and manage the business. Our people know exactly what they need to do to keep our clients up and running.”
What was the best advice you ever received?
“The best advice I received was from (former Allen-Edmonds CEO and owner) John Stollenwerk. He said, ‘Make sure to include Julie and the family in all the news about the business, both the good news and the not so good news. They can and will help you through anything.’ This is definitely true!”
What’s the funniest thing that ever happened to you in your career?
“A client called me on a Friday afternoon very stressed that her PC was not working. So I walked her through the basic troubleshooting steps, and she asked me to meet her at her office in Brookfield to work on the issue. When I arrived onsite, I noticed a plug lying next to the outlet and asked the client if she had tried this one. She said yes. I decided to plug it in anyway, and sure enough the machine sprang to life. It turned out her monitor just needed to be plugged in!”
What do you like to do in your free time?
“I spend time with my family. I play soccer, coach a U10 Soccer Team for the Whitefish Bay Region of the Milwaukee Kickers Soccer club, and I enjoy spending time with family and friends waterskiing and boating.”
