Entrepreneur
Jeanette Hernandez Prenger

Company Information
ECCO Select
1301 Oak St., Ste. 400
Kansas City, MO 64106
(816) 960-3800
www.eccoselect.com
1750 Tysons Boulevard, Ste. 1500
McLean, VA 22102

Type of Business
Consulting services

Year Founded 1995

Employees 33, plus more than 200 consultants nationwide

Keys to success “Learn from your mistakes, hire people smarter than yourself and make sure you spend your time and money effectively.” -Jeanette Hernandez Prenger

The vivid orange and purple walls of ECCO Select in downtown Kansas City say it all. As do the lime-green office walls of the company’s founder and CEO, Jeanette Hernandez Prenger. The lively colors of the 6,000-square-foot space appropriately reflect the consulting service company’s bright future and the 60 percent bottom-line growth it has experienced since 2010.

But there were a few bumps along the company’s 17-year path, according to Prenger, who started ECCO Select in 1995 with one client and one employee. The company office at that time was a corner of her bedroom. “I was it,” said Prenger. “I was asked to modernize a legacy IT system for TWA, the company’s first client. Then I’d go home, work on my business plan and prepare proposal responses.”

Within a year, ECCO Select had 12 contract consultants. Today, Prenger oversees two locations, 33 employees and more than 200 consultants who contract for services in information technology, accounting/finance, health care, human resources, marketing and more. ECCO’s customer list includes Fortune 1000 companies and, more recently, public-sector clients responsible for 40 percent
of ECCO Select’s overall business.

The company’s accomplishments and community involvement also recently earned Prenger a surprising invitation from House Speaker John Boehner to attend President Obama’s State of the Union address earlier this year.

“I was surprised to be chosen,” said Prenger.

“It was quite an experience.”

Downturn is Upturn

In its early years, ECCO Select took advantage of a corporate shift that included headcount reduction along with a strong need for defining and modernizing technology and information. Prenger, an information technology manager at Sprint before starting ECCO Select, understood that need very well.

“I was a client of companies like mine,” said Prenger. “I was able to replicate what I liked about other placement and consulting firms and eliminate what I didn’t like.”

ECCO Select’s initial focus was on medium-to-large-scale project management for clients that found contracting for specific services a better financial decision than hiring people, especially in information technology. Using this model, the company flourished throughout the late ’90s.

“I was able to recruit highly skilled talent, many the caliber of the Big Four consulting firms, that understood the emerging technologies,” Prenger said. “They were able to design solutions and develop software for our clients without the high costs associated with those firms.”

New Rules

But everything changed on Sept. 11, 2001. The post-9/11 economic and political confusion stalemated much of the private sector, including many of ECCO’s current and potential clients. Project management opportunities dried up as the stock market plunged and the private sector struggled to understand this new business environment.

“Our worst year ever was 2002,” said Prenger, who considered closing down and going back to work in the corporate world. “Like so many, we had to quickly come up with a way to survive.”

While strategizing about saving her company, Prenger was faced with another important incentive to keep going.

“My two college-age sons came to me and said they wanted to work for ECCO,” said Prenger. “They had great ideas and drive, and I wanted the company to survive.”

Prenger took the company back to basics by staffing call centers and by adding supplemental staffing and other professional services to business units outside of IT.

“One-on-one supplemental staffing saved the day,” she said. “We simply switched directions once we understood where there was demand.”

New Challenge

In 2001, longtime ECCO client Sprint, which has a corporate goal to contract for a certain percentage of services with diverse suppliers, approached Prenger (whose father is Hispanic) about becoming certified as a minority-owned business. She worked with the National Minority Supplier Development Council and the Women Business Enterprise National Council and, in 2002, ECCO received Minority Business Enterprise and Women Business Enterprise (MBE/WBE) certification.

“The public sector’s sell cycles are very long, which makes it hard for small businesses to compete,” said Prenger. “Past performance is huge with the government, and at that time, we didn’t have a track record with the public sector.”

Many of the opportunities to contract or subcontract as a minority-owned business were on the coasts, so Prenger became a frequent flier. She spent considerable time in Washington, D.C., developing business with agencies that had an Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization, which promotes women- and minority-owned businesses. There were numerous agencies competing for public-sector business, and
Prenger was constantly challenged to differentiate her company and prove she could deliver.

Surviving Another Recession

During that time, the economic downturn of 2008 hit, and companies were once again reducing headcount faster than ever. Relying on the company’s post-9/11 experience, Prenger focused on the ever-changing private-sector opportunities, such as helping clients “cull” the mountains of resumes they received when looking for full-time employees.

“There were so many people out of work who responded when a company put its feelers out,” Prenger said. “We knew how to find the right people for the right job quickly.” ECCO also continued hammering away at its unique project management and IT experience, as well as its supplemental staffing capability. Slowly, the public-sector business began taking off.

In January, ECCO Select opened a second location in Tysons Corner, Va., a hub of federal activity in the Washington, D.C., area. Today, the company holds multiple prime contracts and subcontracts with federal government clients, such as the departments of Defense and Agriculture. ECCO recently was awarded an impressive contract with the Air Force, managing on-site information and records.

Prenger still spends considerable time on the road as the company “rainmaker,” promoting ECCO’s capability and minority-owned status and attracting qualified, high-tech talent. Her efforts continue to pay off as the company’s $16 million bottom line in 2011 and 2012 (up 60 percent since 2010) is tracking toward $20 million in 2013. ECCO also has recently added another
4,000 square feet of space to its downtown Kansas City location.

A Family Affair

Prenger is accustomed to being one of the few women in a male-dominated field. Pre-ECCO, she headed up various IT teams at the Federal Reserve Bank, DST and Sprint.

“I was lucky to have wonderful support from my husband and parents,” said Prenger. “It’s a team approach and has worked great with the business and our family.”

The team approach continues as ECCO’s talented staff now includes Prenger’s husband, Kevin Prenger, as one of five company vice presidents, older son Darren as the director of business development and
younger son Joe as the recruitment lead for professional services.

Accolades for Accomplishment

Prenger’s hard work has resulted in a lengthy list of honors, including recently being chosen by Enterprising Women magazine as a 2013 Enterprising Woman of the Year. ECCO was also named a Supplier of the Year by the MidAmerica Minority Business Development Council in 2012 and a USDA Woman-Owned Small Business Contractor of the Year in 2011. The company was part of the 25 Under 25® class of 2003.

Prenger’s busy schedule includes serving on many local boards, such as the Truman Medical Center Foundation, Boy Scouts of America Heart of America Council, the Lyric Opera and Park University. She is the chair of Junior Achievement of Middle America and on the national board of the Latino Coalition, which serves the Hispanic business community.

Prenger is a devoted board member of the Orphaned Starfish Foundation, headquartered in New York City, which supports technology needs in orphanages around the world. She is excited about the organization’s latest project, a technology center that will open in Costa Rica this fall.

Not Your Average Email

In January, Prenger received a phone call from House Speaker John Boehner’s office asking if she was available the night of Feb. 12. A few days later, she received an email inviting her to be the speaker’s guest for the State of the Union address.

Prenger sat in the gallery with other honored guests, including first lady Michelle Obama, Dr. Jill Biden, American Red Cross CEO Marsha Evans and entertainer Tony Bennett. She also attended a private reception following the president’s address.

“It was quite exciting and truly such an honor,” Prenger said.

When Prenger looks back at ECCO’s winding path, she sees several reasons for her company’s success.

“I went into a marketplace I knew well and had years of experience in,” said Prenger, who has an unusual combination of technological and communication skills. “But even so, we learned early on to respond quickly to change and always be seeking new opportunities.”

Her advice to those just beginning their entrepreneurial journey?

“Be flexible and remember when one door closes, another one opens,” said Prenger. “Learn from your mistakes, hire people smarter than yourself and make sure you spend your time and money effectively. You’re in control, and the company’s future will depend on how much you want to succeed.”