Entrepreneurship Grant Award

Cornerstone Software Services, Inc.

Cornerstone Software Services, Inc. was awarded an entrepreneurship grant for $100,000 to be matched with a $100,000 investment. Based in Tallahassee, Cornerstone offers information technology staff augmentation services for clients including state and local government as well as private businesses. Thanks largely to the WIRED grant, Cornerstone is also rolling out a software product in 2010.

“I began working on this product 10 years ago, but being a small company, I had to remain billable. I wasn’t leading – I was just one of the guys,” explains Cornerstone President Keith Rowe. “There is so much pressure on a small business from a financial perspective. The WIRED grant relieved a lot of that pressure and really allowed me to move from an implementer role to a visionary role.”

Since taking a step back from day-to-day operations, Rowe has accomplished a major goal: obtaining a registered trademark for the software product, custodias®. Optimized for small to medium consulting firms, custodias® is a time and billing system. The partially web-based product allows consultants to enter project time from any location with Internet access, while the back office part of the process is housed locally by the client.

Rowe recently gave custodias® a major facelift in anticipation of its introduction to the marketplace. “End users are not satisfied with a plain user experience anymore. They want a desktop application experience inside their web browser. If your product can’t do that, your chance of getting new business is limited,” asserts Rowe.

Cornerstone, which has provided IT staffing to the state of Florida for more than a decade, already has a stellar reputation with clients in Northwest Florida. The company maintains high standards for its employees, and clients appreciate the training Cornerstone provides.

“All employees must be certified in at least one applicable technology. We provide training kits and pay for certification exams,” Rowe states. “There is no ‘legal’ requirement to be met for someone to say they are a software engineer, but it is important to us that our employees are knowledgeable and not learning on the client’s dime.”

In addition to training and certification, Cornerstone offers employees above-average wages and a robust benefits package not often seen in a small IT firm. “The grant funding has allowed us to maintain good benefits while our peers are cutting salaries and benefits. When the grant goes away, we are optimistic that we will continue the momentum and increased revenue stream to keep those benefits in place,” says Rowe.

In addition to the funding, Cornerstone reaped an unexpected benefit of the WIRED grant. “Going through the grant application process allowed me to reevaluate our business plan. That was when I realized I needed to step back from being billable and really embrace a leadership role,” Rowe explains. “That realization and the steps I’ve taken since then are what will really propel this company to the next level. We’ve been sustainable, but now we’re growing and able to introduce new products.”