Frank Gaspari and his leadership team share financial insights, honor dealers and employees, and define their unique position in the office technology industry.
Above: Frank Gaspari, CEO of FLEX Technology Group, kicks of the company’s 2023 Annual Leadership Conference.
Attendees wait enthusiastically for the FLEX Technology Group 2023 Annual Leadership Conference to begin.
Flex Technology’s Group’s “One of One”-themed Annual Leadership Conference was a tremendous celebration of 2023’s accomplishments, which included detailed financial insights of the past year, and explicit plans and goals for 2024. Other key highlights included substantial acknowledgement of FLEX Technology Group’s dealers and employees, and engaging team-building games.
FTG’s recent performance warrants additional emphasis. Indeed, posting double-digit growth during this past fiscal year, a record $434 million in revenue, and achieving an equally impressive 9% organic growth in 2023 are substantial accomplishments.
Flex Technology Group is One of One
Ron Nielson, EVP of sales and marketing, who took the stage following Frank Gaspari, CEO, explained the meaning of the “One of One,” the theme of the meeting.
Ron Nielson, EVP of sales and marketing, who took the stage following Frank Gaspari, explained the meaning of the “One of One,” the theme of the meeting. According to Nielson, FLEX Technology Group is the only dealer or manufacturer organization in the industry that is truly both national and vendor-agnostic.
Nielson spoke to the millions of dollars the company has invested to develop proprietary technologies that enable FLEX Technology Group to manage entire fleets of devices from all manufacturers seamlessly. These investments are a major contributor to their position as “one of one.” He also spoke to investing in the company’s employees. The message here, one which Gaspari underscored as well during his keynote prior to Nielson’s, was that you have to reinvest in your people and infrastructure – not only to grow and profit but to remain sustainable over the long term.
Karen Roscher, CFO, FLEX Technology Group
FLEX Technology Group Key Meeting Points
I was also extraordinarily impressed by CFO Karen Roscher, who went into explicit detail about the company’s cash position and EBITDA, and how critical their steady growth trajectory has been to not only invest in the areas Nielson spoke to but to continue building and enhancing an efficient infrastructure for invoicing and collecting. I was privileged to spend some quality time with Roscher a trailblazing executive who holds one of the top three positions at FLEX Technology Group.
Gaspari underscored Roscher’s value and referenced her essential contributions to the company’s success several times throughout the meeting. Roscher also discussed the 2023 acquisition of Advance Business Systems headquartered in Cockeysville, Maryland, as “a tremendous one. [Advance Business Systems] is a great addition, and we really look forward to how we can help them continue to grow,” said Roscher.
It’s also noteworthy to mention that Advance Business Systems won one of the top awards Gaspari presented to several of FTG’s dealers – the “Founder’s Award.”
Advance Business Systems’ leadership team, including Jeff Elkin, president (2nd from right), with Frank Gaspari (far right), accept the 2023 FLEX Technology Group Founders Award.
Another of the many FLEX Technology Group dealers acknowledged was Flo-Tech, which won the Chairman’s Cup Award. Among other aspects of the dealership, the FTG leadership team had a lot to say about the challenging but ultimately substantially successful changes Flo-Tech made as a result of the pandemic. A dealership that specialized in the legal vertical, among others whose workforce did not return to the office post-pandemic, Flo-Tech made several leadership and personnel changes, which in large part involved a lot of moving employees from one area of the business to another.
Several key members of the Flo-Tech team, including John Byxbee, president (center, left of the podium), with Frank Gaspari (fourth from left), accept the 2023 FLEX Technology Group Chairman’s Cup Award.
Emphasizing the importance of diversity and inclusion, VP of Human Resources Terri Patillo spoke about the company’s involvement with six groups representing different types of people: LGBTQ, Women, Latinx, Parents, and Veterans.
Terri Patillo, VP of Human Resources (right), and Karen Roscher (left) honor Fuji Uyehara, Tax Manager & DEI Committee Member of FLEX Technology Group with The DEI Champion Award. FLEX Technology Group established the honor in 2023 to help recognize employees who go above and beyond in contributing to our company culture by supporting initiatives that promote diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) across FLEX Technology Group.
The majority of the meeting was spent communicating FLEX Technology Group’s 2023 performance and 2024 goals in detail – and acknowledging several dealers and employees with a variety of awards. The remainder was spent on a myriad of team-building activities and contests. One contest required contestants to put a straw on toothpicks sticking out of an apple – using only your mouth – and I actually WON – to my shock and exhilaration.
In short, the FLEX Technology Group meeting was educational, succinct, and fun, and provided substantial intimate networking opportunities. Thanks to attending that meeting, I met several dealers and key players from dealerships I did not know and had the opportunity to spend quality time with several of our vendor partners.
