A young Spokane computer seller and consultant called WindStar Group Inc. has enjoyed explosive growth in its first four years, and now is contemplating expansions that it hopes will make it a regional powerhouse.


The company, which was founded in 1994 by two longtime IBM technicians here who left Big Blue during its national downsizing that year, arguably already has become Spokanes largest independent computer-systems seller and consultant.


Launched in the homes of its founders, Jim Barry and Alex Bulat, WindStar has grown from annual revenues of just $175,000 in 1994 to $4.6 million last yearand anticipates topping $8 million in revenue this year. It currently employs about 25 people, and has been adding employees at a rate of about one every four to six weeks.


Though WindStars growth paceabout 4,500 percent over the past three yearsis expected to slow as it seeks more controlled expansion, company officials predict it will reach annual sales of between $20 million and $25 million and will employ a work force of 50 people within five years.


The company, which occupies about 2,800 square feet of floor space in an office-park building at 2607 S. Southeast Blvd., expects soon to add its first two employees outside of Spokane. They will be located in the Tri-Cities, where WindStar already has some clients, says Barry.


Initially, the two new hires will work out of their homes there, but the Tri-Cities could end up being the site of WindStars first branch office, says Steve Trabun, the companys sales and marketing manager. He says the company also might eventually open offices elsewhere in the Northwest, perhaps in the Seattle area and in Alaska, two locations where WindStar is starting to land more work. Increasing market reach Currently, the bulk of WindStars customers are located in Eastern Washington and North Idaho, but the company is looking increasingly outside the Inland Northwest for new clients, and expects to do more work in Western Washington, Oregon, and Montana, Trabun says.


WindStars offerings are diverse, but boil down to selling, installing, and supporting computer systems and software, designing and implementing technology upgrades and conversions, and providing a host of other related services ranging from disaster recovery to training to software programming.


It serves mostly businesses, institutions, and government agencies. Among them are some of Spokanes largest employers, such as Sacred Heart Medical Center, Washington Water Power Co., Northwest Farm Credit Services, and Medical Service Corp. of Eastern Washington. WindStar, however, also has done work for small law firms, dentists offices, and real estate brokerages.


The company is a vendor for a host of manufacturers of computers, software, and peripherals, and regularly identifies new sources to meet customer needs. For instance, when URM Stores Inc., the big Spokane grocery cooperative, asked WindStar to assist it with a computerized ammonia control system at its North Spokane warehouse, WindStar knew it didnt have expertise in that specialized field and sought out a company that did, Programmable Control Services Inc., of Spokane, says Trabun. Other times, WindStar has had to conduct a national search to find vendors of specific products that its customers need, he says.


Meanwhile, the company has been aggressive about adding in-house most of the expertise its clients will need, says Bulat. WindStar employs technicians who are trained in virtually every major computer platform, networking and communications system, and database and programming language.


The key factor is that when you have that depth of skills, you dont have finger pointing on a project, says Bulat, referring to situations where multiple vendors end up blaming one another when something goes wrong with a computer system.


Some of WindStars growth can be attributed to the reputations Barry and Bulat had built with Inland Northwest companies while working for IBM, which WindStar still represents.


We brought in relationships when we started this business, says Barry, WindStars president. Ive got people (customers) I work with with whom Ive had 25-year relationships.


He says such relationships have enabled WindStar, at its young age, to land some major contracts.


In one current job, WindStar is acting as project manager to prepare the new Sunset Hill headquarters of Northwest Farm Credit Services to accommodate the big ag lenders vast computer system. Barry says WindStar handled the project from the design stage through installation, including wiring the building for Farm Credits high-speed computer network.


It also recently completed an upgrade of the computer systems at Farm Credits 46 rural offices. In that project, WindStar dedicated five employees to the task full time for eight weeks. The systems first were assembled, configured, and tested in Spokane, then repacked for shipping to various offices, where WindStar employees helped to install them, Trabun says.


He says that WindStars role often involves more planning and consulting than sales and installation.


On some occasions, he says, WindStar has been hired by clients to analyze their computer systems and advise them about what upgrades or expansions they likely will need to become or remain technologically up to date.


Barry says the company has strived to reach a stage with its customers at which they feel comfortable having it come in annually to help plan technological changes for the coming year. Weve had customers ask us for input on their technological budgets, he says. That gets you out of the vendor standpoint and into more of a partnership.





WindStar expects to employ 50 people within five years.