Jim Norwood - A3 Missions
Jim Norwood works alongside Jeff Williams at theClubhou.se.
“Always mission-focused,” is how Jim Norwood describes A3 Missions, a veteran-owned business based out of theClubhou.se within the Georgia Cyber Center. Jim took some time to speak with Chase Lanier recently to give theClubhou.se community some insight to their business and how it has grown in recent years.
Jim founded A3 Missions in 2015 alongside prior military personnel with backgrounds in the Army and Air Force. “My cofounders were industry colleagues whose skills as subject matter experts complimented mine,” Jim explained. Kept bare bones at the start, A3 Missions was a self-funded business, and everyone on the founding team agreed to very little pay in the first year. They budgeted in order to plant seeds of opportunity, and in year two were able to have a realistic payroll for everyone. Around that time, A3 joined theClubhou.se; Jim stating, “It’s a fantastic facility with perfect location for collaboration.”
Gathering together over 60 years of combined service in uniform, government service, and industry supporting organizations, the team at A3 has extensive networks on which they rely for their business. Jim shared, “To be a successful company in this industry, you have to recognize that everyone is a friend, and everyone is a competitor.” Many of the contracts that A3 wins are in partnership with other companies, which enables everyone to not have to be an expert in everything they undertake, though use the expertise they have, to fulfill a mission. Potential partners are assessed for their overall skill set and past performance reviews. Everything is situation dependent, though they always work with Prime businesses.
Honoring Your Commitments : “This value drives quality delivery and service throughout the entire lifecycle of the mission.”
“Creating something that represents your character and thought process,” is what motivated his venture into entrepreneurship, says Jim, “and building a team.” Throughout his career, Jim learned the importance of building such a team of reliable people who work hard. Jim is the Chief Operating Officer, concentrating on new opportunities and contracts for the company, managing growth, and recruiting. With its focus on IT, Cyber, and analytic products and services, A3 Missions provides a variety of support roles for government contracts. They regularly provide personnel as sysAdmins, System Engineers, and in Cyber System Engineering. Along with serving as multiple contracts’ Help Desks, they offer malware analysis, data management, intelligence resource support, logistics planning, and operations staff. When Jim is looking for new employees to fulfill their mission, he considers an applicants experience, certifications, and how their personality will represent the A3 Missions brand. A carry-over from the military is structuring their team to push decision making to the lowest level, always being dependent on the shared vision of the mission. This is what enabled A3 to, “provide a unique service that is better than the Wal-Mart company out there,” says Jim. He explained that through quality hires, A3 has enjoyed the continued success of repeat clients.
In theClubhou.se fashion, Jim says honoring your commitments is crucial to continued growth: “This value drives quality delivery and service throughout the entire lifecycle of the mission.”
According to Jim, the most important traits of entrepreneurship have been perseverance and flexibility. “Don’t bite off more than you can chew,” he exp[lains, “and be deliberate in the opportunities you pursue. Build a industry network of people and companies with similar interests and values.” He shared that, “people think that running and managing a business is simple. It’s a very complex thing that constantly presents new challenges.”
“My cofounders were industry colleagues whose skills as subject matter experts complimented mine,”
Jim explained, pictured alongside co-founder Jeff Williams.
Jim’s typical day begins with email at 0630, followed by various business meetings throughout the day covering insurance, 401k management, teaming negotiations, NDA/Teaming agreement review, legal, recruiting, time card reconciliation, employee training management, business development, contract management, etc. “I try to wrap up work around 5:30 PM, Jim shares, “but I often take calls/do email periodically through the evening.”
A3 Missions keeps a professional presence on LinkedIn and has their corporate website which details everything they are involved in. Marketing in cyber security is different than other business. Jim shared they had recently had a campaign at the Augusta airport, hoping to be seen by those coming to the area to conduct business at Fort Gordon and the NSA.
During 2020, A3 Missions added nine people to their company, totalling 27 to wrap up the year. There is potential for them to double those numbers over 2021. Up next for A3 Missions is to complete the heavily recognized ISO 9001certification. This will ensure their quality practices are in line with industry standards.