Hartford Business Journal

HBJ 052322 Issue

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7 HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM | May 23, 2022 Deal Watch Partners since high school, Nutmeg Technologies' Lisa and Jeremy Smith place latest bet on new $1.1M Enfield HQ Lisa and Jeremy Smith, CEO and COO, respectively, of Nutmeg Technologies, in front of the Enfield office building they recently purchased for their growing company. HBJ PHOTO | MICHAEL PUFFER By Michael Puffer mpuffer@hartfordbusiness.com I t took Nutmeg Technologies President Lisa Smith about two months to be certain she wanted to pay $1.1 million for a 14,241-square- foot office building in Enfield for her growing company. Her husband, Jeremy Smith, was another story. "Sixty seconds for me," quipped Jeremy Smith, Nutmeg's chief operating officer. "I'm a bit more practical," Lisa Smith followed. The Smiths have been like this since they were a teenage couple at South Windsor High School. Jeremy is a hard-sprinting, multitasking risk-taker who has a knack for technology and can't sit still. Lisa is the grounded, analytical thinker who handles the finer points and makes sure the bottom line pencils out. Jeremy said he managed a Dairy Queen, making upwards of $50,000 annually, before he dropped out of high school his senior year. He also said he handed over his checkbook to Lisa early in their courtship. He was good at making money, not holding onto it. And he was convinced they'd be together for the long run. Jeremy preferred work to high school. He quickly got his GED and has since stacked up several certifications. As a young adult, he worked for a series of technology companies, including one of the earliest voice-over-internet-protocol enterprises. Now in their mid-40s, the couple has grown what was once Jeremy and his father's two-man electrical contracting business into a roughly 30-person information technology and communications company. Company revenues grew 34% in 2021. That followed two years in which revenues grew roughly 20% annually, according to Jeremy Smith. "We've been together since high school," Lisa Smith said. "So, we started everything together and have been building it up for the last 20 years." In April, the Smiths purchased an Enfield office building at 270 George Washington Road from window and door maker/distributor Marvin. The property is more than twice the size of their current Windsor office building and offers enough space for employee teams to have clustered workstations. "This is a place for collaboration," Jeremy Smith said during a recent tour of his company's new office building. "Our help desk team, our staff are better when we are together. When our teams need to collaborate on technical discussions, engineering, customer service — this is where we want to do it." The Enfield building also offers other efficiencies and creature comforts. There are quiet alcoves for reading or reflection, along with a large lounge/conference room. At the Windsor office, Nutmeg had to reclaim the employee lounge for workstations. At the Enfield building, the former Marvin atrium showroom will serve as a lounge and conference room. Two walls and a hallway are peppered with windows of various designs. The room can be divided by an enormous, telescoping glass-and- wood door that Jeremy Smith said would cost $250,000 to install. "It's fun," Smith said of the new Enfield office space. "I came in here and I was happy. I see the Nutmeg logo up here. I see different windows with different colors. It's a happy place to come into." Company evolution The Smiths' Enfield office purchase is the latest in a series of leaps of faith. None was more daunting than the launch of the business, a roughly seven-month period in which the couple took no pay. Their only income was a part-time accounting job Lisa Smith took on the side. Ace Technologies Inc. bought Nutmeg Technologies in 2007. At the time, Nutmeg was selling telephones and parts to large companies. The Smiths expanded that business to include installation and service. In 2013, they dipped their toes into IT after a client asked if Nutmeg could provide that service. "It was similar to what we did," Jeremy Smith said. "We provided managed services for telephone systems for big businesses. So now I just needed to find some really smart computer people to take this thing off the ground." Dan Farkas, the first IT professional hired at Nutmeg, came from Hartford Steam Boiler. He quickly recruited a friend, Michael Picozzi. Today both are on Nutmeg's management team. Farkas said the company has grown steadily, largely propelled by positive referrals and project-based customers who liked their results and stayed with Nutmeg as a regular service provider. "A lot of our growth comes from project leads," Farkas said. "We will do a project and help with a network transition, then we get the IT maintenance contract." Nutmeg had three employees when it negotiated its first IT contract. Today, it has about 30 employees and is growing. "This gives our employees a better work life," Jeremy Smith said of the Enfield building. "This is an expensive building, an expensive lobby area to maintain for an IT company. Not many people who are looking for an office space would acquire this building. There is a lot of space here and a lot of space people won't use. But this gives [our employees] a better work environment." AT A GLANCE Company: Nutmeg Technologies Industry: IT Top Executive: Lisa Smith, President Current HQ: 276 Addison Road, Windsor Future HQ: 270 George Washington Road, Enfield Website: nutmegtech.com Phone Number: 860-899-2000

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