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DRT Strategies, Inc.

 

2010 Stevie Award Winner

Company: DRT Strategies, Inc., Arlington, VA
Company Description: Founded and incorporated on December 19, 2003 by Susan Kidd, President, DRT Strategies, Inc. is headquartered in Arlington, Virginia and received its 8(a) designation in December 2006. We are a woman-owned, minority-owned, small disadvantaged business specializing in IT consulting, project management, enterprise system requirements and design, and business strategy development/transformation.
Nomination Category: Company/Organization Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Fastest-Growing Company of the Year

Nomination Title: DRT Strategies, Inc. - Driving Resolution Together

Describe for the judges the growth of the nominated company during the eligibility period (up to 500 words):

In 2004, after working for several large organizations, Founder and President,
Susan Kidd, decided to take a chance at forming her own consulting company,
DRT Strategies, Inc. Taking her own personal experiences in the work place and
studying companies that she admired such as Southwest Airlines and Disney
Pixar, she envisioned creating a similar company culture within the consulting
industry, with a corporate mission that embodies her values and beliefs and
focuses on employee professional growth, satisfaction, and work-life balance.

During the first year, Kidd, a mother of a 4-year-old daughter and infant son,
juggled family-life and the demands of launching and self-financing her own
company as the sole employee, to create a true employee-centric professional
services firm with a culture based on teamwork, information sharing, and
collaboration. The following year, Kidd began adding to the DRT team with a
specific interview and hiring approach that resulted in an outstanding group of
professionals who are able to hit the ground running and achieve meaningful
results from the start. With this, DRT’s revenue growth between 2004 and 2005
increased by 86%.

After working primarily in the Commercial market for over two years, DRT received
its certification as a minority-owned company per the U.S. SBA's 8(a) business
development program in 2006 and began preparation of a new marketing and
business development plan focusing our limited resources on our target accounts
in the Federal Government. After DRT’s first year as an 8(a) certified company,
revenue increased by 523% from 2005 to 2006. Through our perseverance and by
taking risks, DRT continues to experience significant growth in the Federal market
by delivering high quality services and building strong, trusting relationships
with
our clients resulting in a growth rate of 367% in total revenue between 2006 and
2009.

Since entering the Federal market in 2007, we have increased our portfolio of
clients and contracts to include ten (10) Prime contracts and four (4) subcontracts
within the following agencies:

• U.S. Agency International Development
• U.S. Department of Agriculture
• Small Business Administration
• Department of Justice
• Environmental Protection Agency
• Department of Labor
• Department of Homeland Security
• FEMA
• U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services
• U.S. Navy

In 2009, DRT was ranked #21 in ‘Washington Technology's FAST 50: Top 50
Fastest Growing Government IT Companies’ with 112.1% compound annual
growth rate in ‘government revenue’ and 125.3% in ‘total revenue’ from 2004-2008.

And in 2010, DRT was honored in the ‘Inc. 500|5000 List of the Fastest-Growing,
Private Companies in America,’ ranked #821 overall with a 3-year growth rate of
367%, #105 in the Government Services Industry, and #76 for the Top Companies
in Washington, DC.

More than 90% of DRT’s growth is attributed to client referrals and once again, our
2010 revenue is estimated to double over last year’s revenue.

Annual Revenues
2004 - $117,670.45
2005 - $218,502.34
2006 - $1,361,368.78
2007 - $2,196,861.18
2008 - $3,032,727.83
2009 - $6,344,756.00
2010 - $13,000,000.00 (Projected Revenue)

DRT Strategies is 100% financed by Kidd without any loan or investor assistance
and is debt-free. To ensure a stable flow of revenue to support our growing
employee base and associated operational expenses, Kidd has demonstrated
responsible and conservative financial practices since inception of the company,
reinvesting at least 85% of profits back into the company to support its growth.

List the URLs (web addresses) of any online news stories, press releases, or other documents that you would like the judges to see that support your entry. IMPORTANT: List each URL on a separate line, begin each URL with http://, and enclose each URL in square brackets. For example, [http://www.yourcompany.com/pressrelease.html]:

DRT Strategies Press Page
http://www.drtstrategies.com/press

2010 ‘Inc. 500|5000 List of the Fastest-Growing, Private Companies in America’
Ranked #821 overall with a 3-year growth rate of 367%, #105 in the Government
Services Industry, and #76 for the Top Companies in Washington, DC
http://www.inc.com/inc5000/profile/drt-strategies

2010 ‘8th Annual Greater Washington Government Contractor Awards’, DRT
Strategies President, Susan Kidd honored as a semi-finalist for ‘Executive of the
Year’ for 2010 (finalist and winner announcements pending and will not be
announced before this submission)
http://www.fairfaxchamber.org/index.php?src=gendocs&ref=GovCon%20Awards%20
Main%20Page&category=council_govcon

‘Washington Technology's FAST 50: Top 50 Fastest Growing Government IT
Companies in 2009’ (Ranked #21 with 112.1% compound annual growth rate from
2004-2008) (2010 List pending and will not be announced before this submission)
http://washingtontechnology.com/fast50lists/fast-50-lists/2009
http://washingtontechnology.com/fast50lists/fast-50-lists/2009/21-drt.aspx

Stevie Awards for Women in Business (links of winners and finalists in 2007,
2008, and 2009)
/women/2007-honorees-part-2
/women/2008-honorees
/women/2009-honorees

Youth Leadership Foundation YLF (About the organization link and the Spirit of
Service Award Dinner page- DRT Strategies served as a mentor and sponsor and
designated YLF as our corporate charity)
http://www.ylf.helpingkids.org/site.php?s=about&c=about
http://www.ylf.helpingkids.org/site.php?s=news_and_events&c=event_2009_sos

Dun & Bradstreet Certified Top Performer
https://prod.openratings.com/certified/index.pl?page=pr&orderid=1270945
https://prod.openratings.com/certified/index.pl?page=pr&orderid=1184951

2008 Top 100 MBE Award
http://top100mbe.com/Announcement.htm
http://www.top100mbe.com/pdf/2008winners.pdf

Fifty Influential Entrepreneurs in Business National Awards Gala 2007 presented
by the Minority Enterprise Executive Council (link to criteria to choose award
winners)
http://www.meecouncil.com/html/9th_annual_criteria.HTM

Top 500 Asian American Owned Businesses in the U.S. by DiversityBusiness.com
http://www.diversitybusiness.com/Resources/DivLists/2008

Washington Women’s Foundation Donors
http://thewomensfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2007/05/wawf-2004-annual-report.pdf

Greater DC Cares annual ‘Servathon’ Event (one of DRT’s annual philanthropic
events)
http://servathon2009.kintera.org/faf/help/helpEventInfo.asp?ievent=301774&lis=1&kntae
301774=E36A6D7431444098A2CDB21709A4CD6C

Washington Humane Society Fashion for Paws (one of DRT’s philanthropic events)
https://secure.e2rm.com/registrant/LoginRegister.aspx?EventID=24950&LangPref=en-CA

Provide a brief biography of the person or persons who lead the nominated company (up to 100 words):

Susan M. Kidd is the founder and President of DRT Strategies, Inc. – a certified 8
(a) management consulting firm headquartered in Arlington, VA, specializing in IT
consulting, project management, enterprise system requirements/design, and
business strategy development/transformation.

Ms. Kidd possesses 19 years of professional consulting experience which spans
over a diverse set of industries including Federal and State government agencies,
as well as commercial clients within the Transportation, Health Care,
Manufacturing, and Financial industries. She holds a Master’s degree in Business
with a Management concentration from Johns Hopkins University and a Bachelor
of Science degree in Computer Science with a minor in Mathematics from the
University of Maryland.

DRT Strategies, Inc. - 8(a) Certified, Certified Woman’s Business Enterprise
(WBE), Small Disadvantaged Business (SDB), Minority Business Enterprise
(MBE), Local Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (LDBE)

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.