E-Business Builders

In late 1997, three friends talked over several pints of Guinness and toasted to building the company "we've always wanted to work for," recalls Doug Ramirez ('90). That foretelling pledge led Ramirez and pals, Jay West and Chris Little, to create Dominion Digital Inc. -- or DDIG ("dee-dig") as the partners call it.

In four years Dominion Digital has grown to 30 employees, who get into the nuts and bolts of business processes. The digital business builder provides strategy, technology and creative design consulting to companies seeking to transform their businesses for the Internet. The company serves the mid-Atlantic region from two offices in Richmond and Charlottesville. Ramirez says, "I think of our company as a trusted advisor and creative change agent."

Last year, the Richmond Times-Dispatch reported, "More than an architect and builder of e-businesses, Dominion Digital literally transforms businesses as it automates them."

The company founders are the kind of guys who like to take apart an engine just to see how it works. They're big on studying and tweaking business processes. Ramirez describes a methodology of breaking down what a company actually does day-to-day into small parts, then figuring out which parts can be improved by changing the process, replacing a part or enhancing via technology.

The company uses a multifaceted team approach to help clients conceive, build and launch e-businesses. And their clients have included universities, financial services and industrial businesses.

"The real revolution is to get an everyday business to think about the way it operates," says Chief Executive Gary Henry, who joined the original trio in August 2000 after 25 years with General Electric. "The vast majority of companies haven't even begun to look at their businesses in a very deliberate way. There's vast opportunities for them to see greater productivity."

Despite the dot-com downfall and an economy that has been hostile to tech-business, Dominion Digital has still in-creased revenue. The company's earnings increased from nearly $1 million in 1998 to $3.8 million in 2000. And their success has earned more than economic windfalls. Dominion Digital received the 2001 Ernst & Young Virginia Entrepreneur of The Year Award for e-Business Services. "I think we're just starting to scratch the surface of how technology, process and people can be combined to improve a company's competitiveness," says West.

Learn more about this digital business builder <www.dominiondigital.com>.

Michelle Hite ('88)