MANUFACTURING & TECHNOLOGY
IT SUPPLIERS, RANKED BY NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES
Top 10 AVNET, INC. 2211 S. 47th St., Phoenix, 85374 // 480-643-2000 // avnet.com EMPLOYEES 2,500 PRINCIPAL Rick Hamada, CEO HIGHESTRANKING WOMAN MaryAnn Miller, senior vice president, chief human resources officer and corporate marketing and communications INSIGHT ENTERPRISES 6820 S. Harl Ave., 17th Floor, Tempe, 85283 // 480-889-9500 // insight.com EMPLOYEES 1,500 PRINCIPAL Ken Lamneck, CEO HIGHEST-RANKING WOMAN Glynis Bryan, chief financial officer KONICA MINOLTA BUSINESS SOLUTIONS USA 4415 E. Cotton Center Blvd., Phoenix, 85040 // 602-244-9944 // kmbs.konicaminolta.us EMPLOYEES 200 PRINCIPAL John Stringer, vice president, southwest market HIGHEST-RANKING WOMAN Lisa Fischer, southwest market admininstration director; Korbi McDonald, AllCovered managing director ONENECK IT SOLUTIONS 5301 N. Pima Road, Suite 100, Scottsdale, 85250 // 855-663-6325 // oneneck.com EMPLOYEES 186 PRINCIPAL AND HIGHEST-RANKING WOMAN Teresa Snyder, vice president, marketing
A LEADER IN TECHNOLOGY
CASSONDRA TAYLOR ADVANCED BRANCH MANAGER BY JOYCE HADLEY COPELAND
60
Cassondra Taylor parlayed an early aptitude for technology and a natural inclination for business and leadership into a career, beginning with a college internship at Sentinel Technologies, Inc. “It was a great fit from the start,” Taylor says of the Chicago-based business technology solutions provider. “I really enjoyed the pace, the challenge, the culture within the company and the customer base.” When she was offered a full-time job after graduation, there was just one problem: She didn’t want to live in the cold anymore. Fortunately, the company maintains an office in Tempe. So after nine months of learning the ropes, she transferred to the Phoenix area, where there has been plenty of opportunity to advance as the company grows. Twelve years after joining Sentinel Technologies, Taylor is the advanced branch manager for Arizona operations. The company likes to train and promote from within, and Taylor believes her own path from technical team member to manager has made her a better leader. “A lot of what my engineers do now I started off doing,” she says. “I’ve worked with many of them my entire time at Sentinel, so they know and respect that I’ve been in their shoes and I understand what’s involved. I’ve worked the evenings and the weekends and the out of town and all of the rest of it.” With her parents as role models,
Taylor looks to Sentinel executives for guidance and career mentorship. “Sentinel’s kind of a unique company in that almost all of the executive management on board today has been with the company almost since the beginning, over 30 years,” she says. CEO Dennis Hoelzer earned her loyalty by building a family-friendly company with a commitment to customer service. She also admires the leadership of Brad Faubion, general manager, southwest operations, for retaining engineering talent in an industry known for job-hopping. “Almost all the engineers have been here as long or longer than I have been,” Taylor says. “It’s very unusual to find a team that has such longevity working together. I believe his leadership style and his mentoring with me has been very, very integral to my continued success.” One perk of moving into management is having her nights and weekends free to spend time with her husband and 2-year-old daughter, who loves the beach. “We like to go over to San Diego and down to Mexico,” Taylor says. She and her husband also enjoy yoga and being active outdoors. The latest family project? Raising chickens. “We got them as chicks and they just started laying eggs, so it’s been very exciting,” she says. “My husband and daughter are enjoying seeing that cycle of life.”
UNICON, INC.1760 E. Pecos Road, Suite 432, Gilbert, 85295 // 480-558-2400 // unicon.net EMPLOYEES 113 PRINCIPAL John Blakley, CEO HIGHEST-RANKING WOMAN Patience Breinholt, vice president of human resources IT1 SOURCE 4110 N. Scottsdale Road, Suite 300, Scottsdale, 85251 // 480-892-2914 // iT1.com EMPLOYEES 78 PRINCIPAL Bryan Clifton, principal HIGHEST-RANKING WOMAN Lauren Young, director of operations SOLÜ TECHNOLOGY PARTNERS9380 E. Bahia Drive, Suite A202, Scottsdale, 85260 // 480948-9322 // solutechnology.com EMPLOYEES 52 PRINCIPAL John O’Brien, vice president HIGHEST-RANKING WOMAN Donna Johnson, recruiting manager SENTINEL TECHNOLOGIES INC.1241 W. Warner Road, Suite 112, Tempe, 85284 // 480-820-7141 // sentinel.com EMPLOYEES 40 PRINCIPAL Brad Faubion, general manager, Southwest operations HIGHEST-RANKING WOMAN Cassondra Taylor, advanced branch manager, Arizona ENTERPRISE TECHNOLOGY SERVICES730 N. 52nd St., Suite 100, Phoenix, 85008 // 602-4268600 // etechservices.com EMPLOYEES 28 PRINCIPAL James Siragusa, president HIGHEST-RANKING WOMAN Jennifer Terry, controller SOLUGENIX CORPORATION1365 N. Scottsdale Road, Suite 100, Scottsdale, 85257 // 602-3344550 // solugenix.com EMPLOYEES 15 PRINCIPAL Shashi Jasthi, president and CEO HIGHEST-RANKING WOMAN Jemma David, director of enterprise support
WHO’S WHO IN BUSINESS // 2016
Manufacturing_Master.indd 60
5/17/16 5:44 PM