Randy Parsons 20 years of excellent service at QAT Global
Randy is the Project Manager here at QAT Global and just so happens to be the very first employee that Ken and Rollie, the founders, brought onto the team. He did not plan on falling into the technology industry. Randy’s first job after graduating from college was as a chemical engineer at the Omaha Public Power District (OPPD). While working at OPPD, he started getting into the IT side of engineering since there was no one there to focus on it. At the time, Ken was working at OPPD as well and noticed the interest and talent Randy had in the IT department. In 1996 after Ken had left OPPD to start QAT Global, Randy was recruited as the first employee, and his story began.
There is a saying that talented people are attracted to other talented people with great integrity, that is definitely the case with Randy. After about a year of working at QAT Global Randy convinced his girlfriend, Julie, to join the team as a developer. Julie has been an invaluable employee to QAT Global and is still working here today. By 1997, Randy and Julie were married, and they have driven to work together every day since. They have been a prime example of being able to work together in perfect harmony for over 20 years.
Like most employees, Randy’s role has changed and grown throughout the years. He started out in a data analyst position where he worked on internal products to be built and sold, security models, and workflow models. During his early years, he was also a project engineer and focused on staff augmentation. When you are the first employee to any business, you witness how the company grows within its industry, as well as staff coming and going. As technology changed and members of the team left, Randy stepped in and really helped to streamline everything. During that shift, he realized that he enjoyed doing that so much he moved out of his project engineering position and became the full-time project manager that he is today.
As the project manager, Randy handles all the office management tasks such as payroll, invoices, and all government-regulated paperwork. He is also in charge of the office, network, and phone infrastructures to keep communication running smoothly. Randy commented that being able to work in different areas of the company has helped him to grow a lot, but that he has found exactly where he wants to be and could never see himself leaving his current position or QAT Global. Randy loves that as a project manager he can help anywhere he is needed, “it is never boring here even after 20+ years”.
“There is something special about working for a smaller company; I have gotten the chance to touch so many pieces of the puzzle.” That is one of the numerous reasons why Randy has chosen to stay with the company for over 20 years. The variety of work that is offered here keeps things fresh and new and enables our staff to get excited about their work. When talking to Randy, he said: “QAT sets the standards for a great work-life balance.” He loves that his position is not overly demanding and that it offers great flexibility in the sense that he can work and fix a lot of problems from almost anywhere (including the middle of the ocean). Randy talks about how trusting the culture is, and that it is refreshing never having to worry about anyone not getting their work done.
Having that level of trust is an invaluable quality for employees like Randy who have a passion for traveling. Randy and Julie have fallen in love with the warm weather and the sightseeing that comes with cruises. They try to make it a point to go at least twice a year and are already getting pre-vacation excitement for their next adventure around Europe this September. From day one, Randy has been a huge factor in QAT Global’s success. His attention to detail, hardworking mentality and commitment to this company could never be replaced or duplicated. We thank him for his twenty years of service and look forward to all the years to come.
