Since DLT was founded, we have had a giving spirit – contributing to charities, having fundraisers for employees who need us. Two years ago, the executive management team decided to formalize our giving and formed The DLT Foundation, which has become a shining example of promoting ethical behavior within business and the community. Funded through an annual corporate donation and employee fundraising events, the employee-run foundation focuses its philanthropic resources in the communities where their employees, vendors, customers and their families live and work. The foundation is dedicated to making strategic investments to meet the most critical needs in the community. The DLT Foundation generally provides funds to organizations or individuals that, by their efforts, transform and affect the quality of the way people live. Some of the efforts that the foundation supports are in the areas of research for disease and medical treatments, emergency response efforts, community enrichment programs and individual developmental needs. The foundation has provided its support to the Parkinson’s Foundation, Toys for Tots, Martha’s Table, Cystic Fibrosis, American Cancer Society, Muscular Dystrophy Association, The Dominican Sisters of Mary, the Lorton Community Center, Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, Burmese Refugee Camp and many other worthy causes.

As you know, shooting 18 holes can be just as important to doing business as board meetings and monthly reports. Golf is as entwined into the culture of the corporate world perhaps as much as the monthly P&L sheets. And at DLT, whether playing it or supporting it, golf is as popular as anywhere. Through the DLT Foundation, the charitable arm of DLT Solutions, we have sponsored several golf tournaments near and dear to our employees’ hearts. In 2010, DLT sponsored the Ashley Rose Classic, a Down Syndrome Awareness golf tournament to benefit the Down Syndrome Research and Treatment Foundation.

Marketing trinkets; chackis; event swag. Call them what you will, one thing is certain; although these little event gifts normally cost less than a few dollars, they can make a huge impact on the success of your presence at a conference, trade show, or seminar. And at DLT we participate in a lot of each. Show participation enables us to keep up to date on the latest federal IT industry trends, gain competitor insight, and further our already solid relationships with vendor partners and customers. In addition these events are a terrific opportunity to increase the visibility of the DLT brand, generate leads, and drive incremental sales.

At a recent company all-hands meeting, when the President and CEO of DLT Solutions referred to the company as a miniature e-Harmony.com, he wasn’t kidding. Over the years, at least 12 employee marriages have begun in the halls of DLT Solutions (and probably more than twice that many courtships). Maybe there’s something in the water. The more likely reason for DLT being the Love Connection of federal IT integrators, however, is the fact that recent college graduates are a large portion of workforce at DLT.

Every year around the holidays, DLT Solutions helps our employees get into the holiday spirit with activities like the Toys for Tots toy drive and the infamous Ugly Sweater contest. One event in particular though, is as popular as it is delicious – the annual gingerbread house building competition!

One evening in 2005, a DLT employee was involved in a near-fatal motorcycle accident. When co-workers came to work the next morning and learned the extent of his injuries, the outpouring of support was immediate. “His hospital room was like a revolving door of DLT employees. I don’t think there was a time when one of us wasn’t there,” said Government Manager, Sarah Lash, who still vividly remembers getting the news of what had happened.

As DLT celebrates our 20 year anniversary of providing the best-in-class IT solutions to the public sector, it’s a good time to pay tribute to the man that gave DLT our start. DLT was founded in 1991 in Herndon, Virginia by Tom Marrelli. Tom found himself in Washington DC by way of his birthplace in Sicily (Italy), and by way of Cleveland Ohio, where his family emigrated and he grew up. Tom’s original idea for DLT Solutions was to create a “reseller” and GSA Schedule holder in support of Oracle Corporation, a small growing business in those days who was having commercial challenges working with the federal government. Today, we’re an Oracle Platinum Partner, one of their largest government partners, and one of their largest partners worldwide.

Among the challenges of doing business as a VAR in the Federal IT space are staying up to date with technology, winning new business, and aligning yourself with best-in-class vendor partners. At DLT, we were able to conquer these issues by aligning ourselves with a DC-area business development consulting firm, Export Management Services, Inc. (EMSI). EMSI was co-founded in 1996 by Ed Jones and Van Ristau. As a consulting and international trade professional services company, EMSI helped corporations large and small increase their business within the public sector – both domestically and abroad. One of their more notable successes was helping Xerox build their public sector business within Central Europe.

The applications and benefits of modern day geospatial technology are vast. From providing soldiers with improved environmental intelligence to helping a city government track potholes and street maintenance, recent years have seen a rapid increase in the ways our public sector customers are using geospatial technology.

Throughout his career, DLT Solutions’ President and CEO Rick Marcotte has been a proponent of ongoing personal and professional growth. As CEO of DLT, he recognized early on that leadership includes setting the right tone for his employees with a great understanding that people are an organization’s greatest asset. To that end, Marcotte has implemented many key initiatives aimed at shaping DLT’s environment into one that is conducive to learning, empowerment, social responsibility and leadership. Rick’s efforts paid off when DLT was honored with the Star Workplace 2010 SmarCEO GovStar Award. This honor recognized DLT as one of Greater Washington’s top government contractors for our dynamic, fun workplace environment.