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“Keep your focus on the customer and success will naturally follow.”

That piece of advice was handed to Leo Reap years ago and he never forgot it. Whoever passed it on may not have realized they were shaping the culture of a company that would eventually hit its 18th anniversary, with plans to celebrate many more.

Gary Lutz and Leo Reap founded IT Resource on November 1, 2000. The two had lofty goals, a similar mindset, and knack for figuring things out. This combination turned out to be just what they needed to succeed. 18 years later, IT Resource has moved and/or expanded their office space five times to accommodate a consistently growing number of team members, which currently sits at 30. While there have been bumps along the way, there have been far more successes than roadblocks and the duo has no plans to stop.

Leo Reap and Gary Lutz are pictured with their first employee, Tim Felstead. Tim is an IT Consultant who is still with our company today.

Looking back on the last 18 years, Leo attributes the company’s success to putting customers first, last, and always. That method of thinking got them their very first customer and still holds true today. If given the chance, Gary and Leo would tell their younger selves not to get too caught up in the day-to-day technical details, but to run the company as if it’s larger than it is and let others handle the details.

Our first office was located at 212 1/2 Washington, in Grand Haven, MI.

This industry has proven that no two days are the same so as you can imagine, we’ve been put in some very unique situations. Leo recalls an installation in the under deck area of a 155′ motor yacht – which is only 4′ high, with steel floors. It was 90+ degrees and the installation took 14 hours. At the end of the day the install was a success and the project turned out to be one of the most unique scenarios to date.

Gary’s most memorable experience had nothing to do with internet connections, or data security, but rather the opportunity to simply talk business. While flying in the private jet of a very well respected client, the client began discussing his personal business story with Gary. That conversation, and having the opportunity to learn from someone who had experienced a great deal of success in business, shaped Gary in more ways than one.

In 2007 we moved to our current location at 701 W. Randall in Coopersville, MI. The original office was 3100 square feet and it housed our corporate headquarters and a network data center. We’ve since experienced 2 expansions on this site to accommodate our growing team.

When you’re deep in the trenches it can be hard to look up and see what’s going on around you. But every successful business owner eventually recognizes that a-ha moment, where they feel like their hard work has finally paid off. For Leo it was the day we closed our first $1,000,000 deal – not only did it feel great, but it also showed our team that we could compete with the big boys. For Gary, this moment came over time, as he realized that many of the predictions they had made over the years on how technology would change, had come true.

In the last two years IT Resource became majority stakeholders of 3 different IT companies, located in Florida and Illinois. Their plans for the future include more of the same – continue to focus on customers first, and look for other opportunities to expand their footprint in the Midwest.

If you’ve got questions about email security, IT infrastructure, network security, or data backups, contact us today. We’re here to help guide you in the right direction.