technology ment and facilities manager with a prestigious IFMA (International Facilities Management Association) certification. Younger son Caleb, who is currently studying industrial design at Virginia Tech, was instrumental in both helping Jim understand the complex workflow of the ever-growing lab and in rebranding PSI after more than two decades of a staid IBM-blue personality. Despite the level of excellence to which members of the PSI team hold themselves, “staid” is hardly the word for a company culture that earned a 2013 recognition from Virginia Business magazine for being one of the Best Places to Work in Virginia. The company, recognized in the small employer category, was cited for its familyoriented policies that include a sizeable break room with games, a board for team members to give one another public recognition and an annual “Talk Like a Pirate Day” celebration. PSI’s innovation in team building, though, pales in comparison with the company’s innovation in the lab. It was PSI’s creative scientific thinking that first gained Bruce Smith’s business and has kept it for nearly two decades. Smith is a chief scientist at the Floyd facility of Hollingsworth and Vose, a high-tech materials manufacturer. He was first referred to PSI when a major part of the product line was causing consistent problems in the marketplace. The product? A floppy diskette. “We had narrowed the problem down to one raw material but all of our information and in-house testing indicated there weren’t any issues,” says Smith. After an initial meeting with Smith, Jim threw out the standard means of testing as not sensitive enough for the job at hand. He instead suggested a blend of spectroscopic analyses he imagined on the spot. “That got us down to the backbone of the material, down to 20
APRIL 2015
PSI does serious work, but the crew keeps a sense of humor.
the structure of how the polymer was put together,” says Smith. “Lo and behold, he was able to show the microscopic contamination.” As Jim’s entrepreneurial spirit has guided him toward greater innovation and more expansive services, PSI has taken on testing of everything from ammunition and tear gas to breast implants and medical devices that are safely absorbed into the body. (There
The PSI break room’s snaps board provides a place for team members to compliment each other’s work.
was even one case involving a red smudge on a shirt that turned out to be lipstick. “We didn’t say much after that,” says Caitlyn.) The team of scientists and support staff has grown to 32 members alongside the lab’s ever-expanding capabilities. “It’s a great group of folks, very personal,” says Smith. “Jim’s business has grown and prospered over the years, and I’ve never seen that level of personal attention compromised.”