Staffing Industry Analyst, Inc.
SI Review
2/15/2008 - Case Study: Dynamic Hispanic
She truly exemplifies the American Dream. Nina Vaca came to the United States from Ecuador with her parents as a young child and has achieved success through hard work and determination ever since.
She truly exemplifies the American Dream. Nina Vaca came to the United States from Ecuador with her parents as a young child and has achieved success through hard work and determination ever since. She developed a strong work ethic early on, assuming responsibilities at her parents' travel agency when she was just 10 years old. Now, in yet another family affair, Vaca heads Pinnacle Technical Resources, a Dallas-based information technology solutions company.
Fast-Paced, Organic Growth
Founded in October 1996, Pinnacle provides vendor management solutions, information technology staffing, professional staffing and payroll services to Fortune 500, Fortune 100 and even a few Fortune 10 companies. The company expected to generate $135 million in 2007 and projects to reel in $180 million this year. Pinnacle's growth has been entirely organic, and the plan is to keep it that way, Vaca explains.
In addition to its Dallas headquarters, Pinnacle also has satellite offices in Ohio, New York, Houston, Los Angeles and Virginia. The company has 1,000 people in 40 states under its umbrella and then manages another 1,500 people, Vaca says.
Most of the companies Pinnacle works with are in the technology, financial, media, transportation, healthcare, retail and government sectors. Its clients include Verizon Wireless, AT&T, EDS, Pepsico, SBC, Lehman Brothers, Sun Microsystems, WellPoint, BMW and Merrill Lynch. The company has never lost a client in the 11 years it has been in business, Vaca stresses.
"[Vaca] is a preferred vendor for us for technology temporary staffing and is doing an excellent job," comments Gwen Wilson, director of supplier diversity for Verizon, adding that, "She provides us a product at a price we can afford. She's competing for contracts and winning. Her company holds its own. Her company competes against other major corporations and wins. She provides us with quality work and services."
Under Vaca's leadership, Pinnacle has become one of the fastest-growing firms in America. In fact, the company ranked number 78 on the Inc. 500 list, number three on SI Review's sister publication Staffing Industry Report's list of America's fast-growing firms, number four on the Dallas 100, number 13 on the Hispanic 100 and number four on the Technology Titan Fast 50.
Vaca attributes much of her company's success to finding not only the right people and the right bank, but also using a Web-based system called Progata, which the company developed in house to manage its human resources, operations, accounting, vendors and workflow. The system eliminates the need for data-entry workers and greatly reduces the chances for errors.
"Aside from being a general ledger system, Progata manages everything we do," explains Vaca. "It's linked. It's Web-based and linked to all areas of the firm. ... 2,500 people are logging on to Progata and reporting their time sheets. It's really the tool we use to manage our business. We're accurate. We're flexible. We're nimble. It allows us to deliver services faster, more consistently. Clients are always impressed by the speed at which we work."
"In 2008 we expect to see a continuing trend of our clients migrating into the role of overall staffing vendor management, which we leverage with our proprietary technology [Progata]," says Jim Humrichouse, president of Pinnacle and husband of Vaca. "Currently, Pinnacle is engaged in numerous conversations in this regard, with new programs expected to come online in the first quarter of 2008."
Forget the phone: For Vaca, one of the most important aspects of her job is meeting people face to face. She estimates that she spends 50% of her time on planes, trains or in cars. Vaca uses a Motorola Q, a device similar to a BlackBerry, to keep in touch with everything that's going on at the office.
A Family Affair
Pinnacle's strong leadership includes not only Vaca and Humrichouse, but also Vaca's brother, Freddy Vaca, who serves as senior VP; her other brother, Chris Vaca, who is a vendor manager; and her sister, Jessica Narvaez, the company's head of human resources.
But at Pinnacle, non-family members are just as important and contribute just as much to the company's success as family members, points out Vaca, who credits everyone for all of their hard work. "We have incredible talent in every department. I have people who have been with me since the beginning. I want to emphasize how proud I am of everyone. I really consider everyone part of the Pinnacle family."
Strong Community Involvement
Both Vaca and Pinnacle are very civic minded. In September 2007, Vaca became a board member of the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. "She's a real dynamo," says USHCC President Michael Barerra, who has known Vaca for four years. "You always feel comfortable working with her. She's a person of passion, integrity and commitment. She's always in search of excellence. She is really involved in the community, and she's truly a servant leader. She leads to serve. She's one of the most recognizable Latinas out there right now. She truly reflects the spirit of Latina-owned entrepreneurship. The mother of four children, she has managed to not only be a great leader but also a great mother, which makes her a great person."
"She is a strong advocate not only for the Hispanic business community but also the minority business community as a whole," says Wilson. "One of the things that impresses me about Nina is she's very selfless. If there are legislative issues on the table, she'll go down to the business owners to make sure they're OK. She's a strong leader politically. We're all hoping one day she'll be mayor of the city. She would win, hands down. She's an incredible person. Very intelligent. A strong business owner who is always in control and very helpful to everybody."
Pinnacle supports a number of organizations that benefit students and business owners. For example, the company donated a large amount of money to the Dallas Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Foundation, which provides Hispanic students with college scholarships. Pinnacle also partners with other organizations including Northwood University, Paul Quinn College, Texas State University, the Women's Business Council and the Anna Maria Arias Memorial Business Fund, which recognizes 10 women annually who are considered to be trailblazers in the Hispanic community.
In the past, Pinnacle also has been involved with the United Way, Boy Scouts of America and Mi Escuelita Preschool, an early childhood program dedicated to teaching English and developing early learning skills to at-risk children of all cultures.
Awards Recognize Achievement
In 2005, Vaca was named Entrepreneur of the Year by Ernst and Young. That same year, she also was named one of the 50 Most Important Hispanics in Technology and Business by Hispanic Engineer & IT magazine. She also is a two-time winner of the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce's prestigious Businesswoman of the Year award and Hispanic Business Magazine's Entrepreneur of the Year award for InfoBusiness. Additionally, she was named one of the Top 25 Women Business Builders nationwide by Fast Company magazine and is a recipient of the Anna Maria Arias Award, presented annually by Latina Style magazine.
Vaca holds a degree in speech communication and business administration from Texas State University, which named her a distinguished alumna in 2005. She also holds a Doctor of Laws (Honoris causa) from Northwood University in Cedar Hills TX. Her other education includes Harvard Business School's corporate governance program, Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management advanced management education program and Dartmouth College's Amos Tuck School of Business' executive program. When she's not busy running Pinnacle, she enjoys distance swimming, biking and sprint distance triathlons.
Success didn't happen overnight. Rather, it has come through years of hard work. Vaca has become one of the most prestigious and influential people in the Hispanic business community, and her information technology solutions company has been a success as well.
Company: Pinnacle Technical Resources, Inc.
Headquarters: Dallas TX
Founded: 1996
Founder: Nina Vaca
Industries Served: vendor management solutions, IT staffing, professional staffing and payroll services