Company: Propeller Resources, Portland, OR, USA
Company Description: Propeller Resources brings a new brand of management consulting focused on bringing agility to large organizations and enabling them to act with greater speed, responsiveness, and control to capitalize on opportunities, react to threats, and thrive in an increasingly volatile business landscape. Propeller helps big move fast and act small.
Nomination Category: Company/Organization Awards Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Startup of the Year

Nomination Title: Propeller Resources

Describe for the judges the activities and accomplishments of the nominated organization since the beginning of July last year (up to 525 words):

Amy Weeden and Jeff Foley founded Propeller because they realized traditional management consulting wasn’t keeping pace with the speed at which markets and industries change. They recognized this critical environment demands a new model of management consulting – one laser focused on helping firms nimbly negotiate an increasingly volatile landscape.

Jeff and Amy developed the shared conviction that business success hinges on people, and that finding and curating the right people is the secret to a highly effective consulting firm. This belief is evident at Propeller where the team reflects the commitment and urgency that they have maintained over the past two years.

Propeller was incorporated in July 2012. In its first half-year, Propeller generated $8,550 at one client. During its second year, Propeller’s performance grew to $1.4M with 13 people and four clients, and it is now tracking to earn $5.7M with 35 employees and five major clients. In the last year alone, they have dedicated hundreds of hours mentoring Propeller employees and others.

It’s not just employees they focus on. When their clients struggle with strategy, they spend whatever time is necessary to bring clarity and comfort to those who need it most. Jeff and Amy celebrated their first first million-dollar day in June 2014, leveraging relationships to create win-win partnerships with clients. Amy is spearheading Propeller’s geo expansion plans, defining the next move from a short list of cities, while Jeff is directing business development, leading the team driving Propeller’s client portfolio expansion.

As a consulting firm, Propeller engages in multiple projects at multiple clients simultaneously. However, there is a common thread that ties this work together. None of the projects are easy, but they are all high impact. From improving efficiency and patient flow at one of Portland’s busiest hospitals to increasing the effectiveness of a major client’s call center network to helping create the engine to connect a major retailer directly to their consumers, Propeller associates have approached each engagement with the same tenacity and focus that Amy and Jeff brought to the company behind the scenes, “building the machine” as we say. They bring the vision and talent to help big companies move fast and act small.

Amy and Jeff go out of their way to show their people how much they value them as employees and individuals and are constantly seeking new ways to encourage and maintain employee development and engagement. Both freely and selflessly hand out gracious “thank-yous” and recognition. They regularly and liberally laud their employees and each other for their contributions while deflecting attention from themselves. They lead by example.

A single belief guides Propeller: always do the right thing. Whether it’s for employees or clients, Jeff and Amy innately understand that what Propeller does is a people business and these relationships are personal. The team they’ve built lives by the same creed. This belief drives the core principles of hiring great people, staying focused on clients, and helping companies move fast and act small.

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Provide a brief biography of the person or persons who lead the nominated company (up to 125 words):

Amy Weeden and Jeff Foley launched Propeller Resources together in 2012 with the vision of creating a new kind of management consulting firm – one laser focused on helping companies navigate an increasingly complex business environment, while developing the best traits of their employees. Combining years of experience at prestigious firms such as Watson Wyatt, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Arthur Andersen, and Intel, they eventually found themselves at the same boutique consulting firm in Portland where they joined forces to help drive growth from Director level positions.

Jeff and Amy are both active in the community, having been involved with organizations such as the Opal Creek Ancient Forest Center, American Red Cross, TriMet’s Public Safety Panel, and the Portland Business Alliance.

Choose one (even if both apply):

The CEO (or other principal manager) of this company is a woman, and at least 40% of the management team is comprised of women.