A Year at Solvaria: 2017

A Look Back at Solvaria's 20th Year in Business 

2017 was a record year at Solvaria for many reasons. First and foremost, we are so grateful to have the opportunity to continue working with such great customers and partners as we continue to grow our business. Looking back at the last 12 months, we couldn’t be prouder of what we’ve accomplished.

Most notably, we celebrated the huge milestone of reaching 20 years in business. Since 1997 our organization has changed and evolved along with the technology we support, but we’ve stuck to the same core values that have allowed us to succeed over the last two decades. As many of you know, we celebrated our 20th anniversary by asking Richmond’s technology community to help us give back to the future of our industry through a donation to CodeVa. We successfully raised $1,000 for each year we’ve been in business and made a $20,000 donation to the organization. We announced the donation in early November as we Bet Big on Tech with nearly 150 friends and supporters of CodeVa at our charity casino night at the Hippodrome, rounding out what was already an awesome year.

Here’s a quick recap of other notable happenings at Solvaria in chronological order:

Opened a New Office Space: In true Solvaria fashion, we started the year with a bang by moving into a new office space many of you have seen by now. With our previous office located off Westerre Parkway in Henrico, we made the decision to put down roots in Glen Allen after hiring five new consultants in 2016. We were so proud to host many of you at our open house in February to show off our new digs that have suited us so well this past year.

Achieved Microsoft Gold Partnership Designation: After spending the last few years as a Microsoft Silver Partner, we achieved Microsoft’s Gold Competency in Data Platform as of Q1 2017. The Gold Competency in Data Platform is Microsoft's highest level of certification and is only awarded to companies that have demonstrated expertise in SQL Server administration and in building enterprise-scale data solutions both on-premises and in cloud environments. Businesses that achieve this level of competency are among the top one percent of Microsoft elite partners worldwide, so we’re very proud of the hard work of our consultants to help us achieve this designation.

Won Best Places to Work: Also in Q1 of this year we were named as one of the Best Places to Work in Virginia by Virginia Business. Companies from across the state entered the two-part survey process to determine the Best Places to Work in Virginia. Companies were then evaluated on workplace policies, practices, philosophy, systems and demographics, as well as an employee survey to measure the employee experience. Our first year on the list, Solvaria ranked 35th in the small employer category.

Hired a VP of Business Development: We were very excited to welcome Kevin MacMillan to our sales team as Vice President of Business Development in July. Kevin has worked in Richmond’s IT community for more than 20 years and has been tasked with leveraging Solvaria’s relationship with Microsoft to provide full-time and supplemental database services of SQL Server, Azure and Power BI to customers across Virginia.

Named to Inc. 5000 List of Fastest Growing Companies: We were extremely proud to have been named among the 5000 fastest growing companies in the U.S. by Inc. Magazine. Landing at number 2711 on the list, this designation reflected our three-year sales growth of 127%. This list is known as the most prestigious ranking of the nation's fastest-growing private companies. The list shows the most successful independent small and midsized businesses influencing our American economy.

Supported Causes we Care About: In addition to our donation to CodeVa, Solvaria supported two additional organizations through sponsorships. These included the Virginia Home for Boys and Girls 28th Annual Golf Tournament and the MathScience Innovation Center’s 50th Anniversary. The Virginia Home for Boys and Girls is a nonprofit organization dedicated to serving children in crisis. The organization helps children across Virginia with emotional and behavioral health concerns by facilitating the healing process using a teaching-family approach. MSiC operates as one of the few places where students and teachers work collaboratively on engaging, relevant, and work-force related Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) content. Annually, over 170,000 students learn STEM and SOL focused lessons both at the Center and in classrooms.

We want to thank you again for your support this past year. We’re looking forward to many more years of doing business together.

Bring on 2018!