Will the real slim shady please stand up…

As the pandemic began, recruiters, along with the rest of the world, had to modify our way of doing business (and life in general).  Suddenly, working from home wasn’t just a convenience – it was a necessity. As the Director of Talent Acquisition at CC Pace, remote work wasn’t a seismic shift for my team as I’ve long believed that recruiting can be done effectively from home. We could continue to source, screen, and pipeline candidates from our home office and still manage to meet candidates face-to-face throughout the interview process… just with one small change (enter the video chat).  However, that small change had a bigger impact than I ever anticipated.  

With remote work becoming the norm, professional ‘norms’ started to evolve – and not all for the better. New challenges emerged that were unprecedented. As if recruiters didn’t already have a tough time finding top-notch candidates that fit in with team and company dynamics, a slew of new challenges were introduced. Among them is the fake candidate. 

Fake candidates come in many forms. If you’ve been involved with recruiting or hiring for technical positions, you’re probably chuckling to yourself (or cringing if I’m bringing up suppressed trauma) because you know what I’m talking about. If you’re one of the lucky ones who hasn’t been personally victimized by fake candidates, allow me to elaborate. 

Breaking Down the Fake Candidate Personas 

First, we’ll start with the ‘classic counterfeit’, which is a candidate who has a fake resume. These are real people who concoct a fake work history tailored to fit the needs of the position they are seeking. These resumes generally include fictional skills and fictional employers. In my experience, counterfeit candidates are doing this to get higher-paying jobs and are prevalent within the corp-to-corp contract/freelance world.   

Then there is the ‘bait and switch’ applicant (this is a particularly infuriating one). This approach happens when unethical companies bring candidates to the US, sponsor their visas, and tremendously inflate their resumes, marketing the candidate as a highly skilled technical consultant. Again, the company is trying to recoup its investment quickly. This scenario might sound familiar to the ‘counterfeit candidate,’ and so far, it is. Cue the ‘bait and switch’. This happens when a technical interview is scheduled, and a very senior, highly skilled technical person takes the interview and lands the job, only to have a lesser qualified or even unqualified individual show up for the job.  Seriously, who would ever think that this is acceptable?! But sadly, it happens.   

My final example (save the best for last, right?) is a new emergent class of faker: ‘the moonlighter.’ You’ve heard of this! Just as the nickname suggests, this is the candidate who has the skills and experience to land a great job. However, instead of landing a great remote job (with a great salary), they decide to accept two full-time jobs (or maybe more!) and work them simultaneously, doing just enough to get by. Not only is that unethical (and a sure way to get fired fast), but it’s also giving the rest of the remote workers a bad name. 

While we’ve tried to make light of these new challenges, in all seriousness, they have really complicated the job market. It impacts recruiters and employers in the worst of ways.  Experienced recruiters have become very savvy at identifying these folks early in the process, although you can never be 100% sure 100% of the time.  However, you can look at individual red flags and make a reasonable judgment. Here are a few of the red flags that can help you identify the real candidates from the pretenders. Note -some ‘legit candidates may show one or two of the signs below, but if more than a few of these concerns arise, further investigation may be warranted. 

When verifying a candidate on their LinkedIn profile, be wary/concerned if: 

• They don’t list their full name 
• No details or limited information is provided (especially education) 
• They don’t have a photo (or use a stock photo, cartoon image, etc.)   
• A very low number of LinkedIn connections  
• They show no upward progression in their job history; only senior-level positions are visible 
• Work history only shows large worldwide companies (which makes it difficult to verify on social media) 

When conducting a video interview, be aware of: 

• Video: Not turning on the camera and/or, when asked to use video, giving an excuse as to why they cannot do this. 
• Long Pauses: When answering questions, the candidate appears to be reading a script or ‘Googling’ to look for answers. 
• Mute: If you notice audio going on and off, along with a delay in answering questions, your spidey senses are probably going off (and for good reason!). 
• Other Red Flags: 
  • Sharing strange phone numbers that don’t line up with past or current physical locations. 
  • Giving generic descriptions of their role and projects they have worked on.  
  • Lacking knowledge of the companies they have worked for in the past.  
  • Requiring 100% remote, even if the position is located in the area they claim to reside.  

Hopefully, these tips help to protect your organization from hiring a fake candidate (or you feel like you have a support group if this is something you’ve experienced yourself). While you can’t be 100% sure every suspicious resume is a fake, our goal is to find the right, real candidates for our clients – every time. At CC Pace, we’ve instituted a lot of standard procedures to help us identify and eliminate the fake candidates from the get-go so that you never have to experience a counterfeit candidate, a bait-and-switch, or a moonlighter at your organization! Give us a call if this is something you need help with! 
 

In recognition of April being Volunteer Month, CC Pacers came together in support of Northern Virginia Family Service (NVFS). NVFS is a nonprofit organization that has been helping families become stable and self-sufficient since 1924. Their mission is to improve their quality of life and to promote community cooperation and support in responding to family needs. NVFS provides a variety of support services including homelessness and housing, workforce development, youth initiatives, and more to a diverse community all over Northern Virginia.

CC Pacers are big game players and jumped at the chance to participate in this drive aimed at creating fun times and memories for families! Together they donated items, packed gift bags, and delivered over 20 Family Game Night Bundles to Northern Virginia Family Service at their Oakton offices for distribution to families within their programs. Each bundle consisted of board games, card games, candy, popcorn, and fidget toys to provide hours of entertainment.

Visit NVFS’ website and learn how you can get involved with this wonderful organization!  And, feel free to share with us how you helped make a difference during Volunteer Month.

“Our people are our most important asset” is one of the phrases you will not only hear CC Pace CEO Mike Gordon emphasize frequently but is a belief that he has cultivated a corporate culture around. With that philosophy in mind, the Superior Performance Award (SPA) was created. This special award is a way for employees to recognize fellow employees, by nominating a team member who they feel has had a pivotal positive impact towards the success of CC Pace. For the recent performance period, the peer-to-peer SPA honorees are Laura Campbell and Jon Buckhout for their outstanding contributions. 

 LAURA CAMPBELL has had the lead role in developing our Client Success Program. The program is designed to increase engagement with our consultants and clients and has proven to be highly effective in producing additional value for both the client and CC Pace. Laura was praised by her peers for being a team player extraordinaire, who has made CC Pace better as result of her efforts contributions, and the immense value she brings to so many areas of the company.  

JON BUCKHOUT has been a consistent top-performing consultant for CC Pace since joining us in 2008. A key player at a major client, Jon is a sought-after subject matter expert in the mortgage loan arena educating lenders across the country on addressing standards in the mortgage industry. He exemplifies the attributes we look for in consultants with his ability to convey this information in a cohesive manner and form so many lasting connections. 

In addition to our SPA recipients, a Service Award was presented to LAUREN IEZZONI for celebrating her 10 Year Anniversary with CC Pace. Lauren is our Graphics Manager with the Midas touch where everything she produces turns to gold when it comes to CC Pace’s branding. Her sense of design and visual elements have taken our corporate branding to a new level. Lauren’s talents, willingness to help at a moment’s notice and constant enthusiasm are extremely appreciated by the entire CC Pace team. 

 Cheers and a big thank you to our award winners! 

Surely, we’ve all heard about the 16 Myers-Briggs personality types identified in the workplace, and while they are useful, they are not necessarily the stuff that promotes a good laugh. We at CC Pace are all about working hard and having a bit of fun while doing it, so we thought we’d take a crack at pinpointing some of the traits that identify a few of the more common roles in the corporate world. Let’s see how many you can relate to:

If your average Coke consumption is 5 or more a day … you might be a Developer

If you think knowing binary takes someone from a “6” to a “10”… you might be a Software Engineer

If you have a retrospective for your daughter’s Kindergarten graduation … you might be a ScrumMaster

If you missed a “;” and couldn’t sleep for 2 days … you might be a Java Developer

If you can keep smiling on the outside while crying on the inside … you might be a Receptionist

If you camp in a random forest, get bitten by a Python because you couldn’t C# … you might be a Data Scientist

If bagels and donuts day at work seems like an Instagramable moment … you might work in Marketing

If the phrase “Hello from the other side, must have called a thousand times” means more to you than a line in an Adele song … you might be a Recruiter

If a large part of your day consists of fielding questions like a White House Press Secretary … you might be a COO

If your future Disney vacation is visually planned on your kitchen wall … you might be an Agile Coach

If the definition of a good day includes eliminating the idea that things work … you might be a Test Engineer

If Mad Max doesn’t come close to the amount of chaos you deal with daily … you might work in Human Resources

If you find yourself measuring the flow efficiency of the Starbucks queue … you might be a Kanban Trainer

If you jam out to the hold music while on a call with your bank … you might work in IT Support

If a year that starts in April doesn’t weird you out … you might work in Accounting

If you feel you need to follow up on yesterday’s follow-up… you might be a Project Manager

If you like your coffee hot and your calls cold … you might be in Sales/Business Development

If everybody stops the chit-chat when you login to a Zoom meeting … you might be the President

At CC Pace #MakingADifference is a big part of our culture through our corporate outreach program.  This fall CC Pace hosted a Back-to-School outreach initiative to benefit Lorton Station Elementary School, located in southern Fairfax County. Lorton Station is a Title One school which is a designation for schools that serve low-income families. The federal funds Lorton Station receives as a Title One school help to provide classroom materials, clothing and additional support personnel, but often these families also need supplementary assistance.

Our Back-to-School campaign was a huge success that consisted of both CC Pacers contributions and a corporate donation. Together we were able to donate more than 350 items including clipboards, markers, folders, notebooks, pencils and much more. Dawne Ward, CC Pace’s COO dropped off the donations earlier this week to Lorton Station’s parent liaison. The school expressed how very appreciative and grateful they were for all these supplies.

Our outreach program allows our employees to take an active role in contributing to the betterment of our local communities and non-profit organizations.  A big shout out to all our employees who participated in this outreach event – You get an A+ for #GivingBack!

Always in the Race, this is the Team Stallions motto! The pandemic hit in 2020, it shut down many activities worldwide including cricket. Cricket was affected at both the international and local recreational levels, so the CC Pace sponsored Stallions had to hunker down too! Luckily those days are behind us, and we can get everyone caught up on all things to do with the Stallions!

Happily, the Washington Metro Cricket League (WMCL) re-opened for the Spring 2021 season. Opening the season against a tough team, the Herndon Hawks, the Stallions got off to a fantastic start. Except for losing two games in the league stage of the season, the Stallions steamrolled into the play-off games and won every game. After a drought period of 6+ years and despite reaching the playoff stage in almost every season, in presumably the toughest division of the DMV area, the Stallions went on to win the championship!

While many would think the team should have been more than satisfied and content with their championship season, they are wrong. Not the Stallions – Always in the Race! The Fall 2021 season started with a loss, but the team never looked back and reached the play-off stage with impressive wins in the league stage. The play-off games were played with once-in-a-lifetime intensity. The quarterfinals and final games were each pushed into the last over and the Stallions prevailed. Winning the final by ONE run – lots of nerve-wracking stuff for the folks watching from the sidelines! Proudly, the Stallions won another championship! This was a historic moment as it was the first time any team had won back-to-back championships!

The Spring 2022 season started well, but the Team Stallions fell short of winning the championship. The Fall 2022 season has had a rough start, with many players having conflicts. Despite all this the Stallions have still put up some amazing fights and brought home the wins. All eyes are on the Stallions as they march onwards into the fall semi-finals – will they repeat the glory and go all the way? Only time will tell.

No matter what happens, the Stallions are no longer just a team, but more like a brand! One thing you can count on is that this team is Always in the Race! 

What makes a good recruiter? Well, it depends on who you ask. I’ve been in the industry for over two decades and generally see my fellow recruiting directors answer that question one of two ways. The first answer: a high-volume recruiter – someone who can source numerous candidates quickly and move on to the next requirement. This recruiter excels at meeting goals, is generally very organized, and is a transaction-oriented individual. The second response (and the answer I firmly subscribe to) is a high-value recruiter – someone who is more focused on building strong relationships with both candidates and hiring managers than they are on transactions and numbers.  

As a candidate, you don’t want your career treated like just another number, so finding a high-value recruiter is important. You want someone who can help you identify if a position is a fit for now versus the right fit based on your values and long-term career goals. If you’re wondering how to tell a high-volume recruiter from a high-value recruiter, I’ve put together some of the top attributes to look for to ensure you aren’t selling yourself short next time you’re on the job hunt. 

High-Value Recruiters Get to Know YOU vs Your Resume 

High-value recruiters take the time to get to know you beyond your resume. They are great listeners and pick up on the subtle details that indicate if a position is going to be a good fit for your personality, career goals, and values. The relationship-oriented recruiter is focused on your long-term aspirations and considers how those align with an opportunity versus simply submitting you for positions for which you may be qualified. For example, if you have a relatively low-risk tolerance, make sure you have a recruiter who can walk you through all the considerations that moving from a full-time employee to a contractor imposes. This sort of move is more than just a salary and benefits conversation – it requires a level of consulting that a recruiter focused on value and your long-term goals are going to be willing to have, even if it means a missed hire for them in the short term in order to ensure the best fit. A great recruiter puts the candidate before the position at all costs as they are more interested in finding the right fit for both sides. 

High-Value Recruiters Have a History of Success  

As a candidate, you want to work with a recruiter who has been there, done that. It’s not just about the years of experience, but it really does make a difference when you work with a recruiter who has a relationship with the client and has a history of successful hires.  Don’t be afraid to ask the recruiter to reference their past success at the company you’re interested in! This will help you understand the insights your recruiter may have that you couldn’t possibly get from a job posting or even a Glassdoor review.  

This is one area in which a relationship-oriented recruiter will add value to your job search in more ways than you may imagine. For example, what does the recruiter know about the company culture that you don’t know? They have relationships with candidates who work there, so they have a clear sense of what it’s like to work for the client and can accurately describe the company culture, projects, and expectations. They know and understand client nuances (e.g., manager personalities, team dynamics, corporate culture) and have awareness of what you need to do in order to succeed in the interview.  

A high-value recruiter will not only take the time to prepare you for the interview process but will also prepare you for success once you land the job. Great recruiters are the face of the company and it’s their job to ensure that candidates walk away from the experience feeling positive about an opportunity, even if it ends up not being the right fit. 

High-Value Recruiters are an Open Book  

A high-value recruiter should talk to you like a good friend and tell you what you need to hear over what you want to hear. As a job seeker, you want someone who will give you candid, honest, and constructive feedback and advice before you get to the interview. You don’t want a ‘yes man’ who only tells you what you want to hear – you want someone who can help you grow and put you in the best position possible to make a great impression on the hiring manager. A stellar recruiter will be honest with you, even if it’s uncomfortable (but will always do so in a professional and helpful way). The job may be out of your league or the money you desire may not be realistic. You may not like to hear these things, but it’s better to find them out before you get too far down the process! 

High-Value Recruiters are Relationship-Oriented 

Finally, one of the most important characteristics of a high-value recruiter is that they are driven by people, not numbers. You’ll know when you find them as they are laser-focused on your needs and finding out more about what drives you. They want to understand your goals, your expectations, and what job characteristics you prioritize over others. The value-driven recruiter keeps an open mind for the best long-term fit, not just the opportunity on the table. 

These recruiters tend to be likable and build strong relationships with both candidates and hiring managers. There’s a level of trust on both sides, knowing that the recruiter is in it for the long haul and will go to great lengths to find the best fit for everyone because they value the relationship over a goal and would put that at stake just to get a hire. Their reputation, relationships, and referrals are more important than the instant gratification of a single transaction. 

A high-value recruiter can make all the difference in your job search. When you find a recruiter who values the person over the transaction, they act like a consultant to your hiring process – advising you, redirecting you, and making sure you’re landing in the right place where you’ll be happy, have alignment with your career goals and are getting the best compensation possible.  

One final piece of advice: when you find high-value recruiters, make sure you stay in touch with them, even after you have found the job because those connections can be invaluable to your career. If you have any questions about the recruiting process, feel free to connect with one of our recruiters today to see how we can help you find your next position! 

CC Pacers volunteered with the Middleburg Humane Foundation (MHF) at their K9’s in the Vines event last week located at The Winery at La Grange in Haymarket, Virginia.  MHF operates a non-profit, 23-acre farm-shelter located in Marshall, Virginia. They rescue, rehabilitate, and adopt at-risk animals and promote animal welfare through community outreach and humane education. Last year alone, MHF rescued 783 cats, dogs, equines, livestock, pocket pets, and reptiles. Take a look at their adoption site for a full up-to-date list of adoptable animals! From puppies to pigs and beyond, MHF rescue and adopt them all!

Volunteering on what was an absolutely beautiful day, we had the opportunity to bring 3 puppies and 2 adult dogs to MHF’s promotional K9’s in the Vines event. As volunteers we spent a few hours walking the dogs around the scenic property, speaking with patrons, and promoting the organization –it was a BLAST! In addition to the in-person event, CC Pacers also donated dog toys, supplies for the shelter, and money directly to MHF.

Interested in becoming a hands-on volunteer with the Middleburg Humane Foundation? Check out their volunteer site for more ways to get involved.

If we asked you to list the three best parts of your job, most of you would have the relationships you have formed with your co-workers on that short list. The people who are by your side each day, (yes, even remote they are just a quick Teams call away), the ones who you collaborate with and work closely with day in and day out. At CC Pace we say, our people are our most important asset, so what better way to instill that than creating a peer-to-peer recognition program!

The CC Pace Superior Performance Award (SPA) is an award meant for CC Pacer’s to recognize fellow employees for their significant and lasting impact on CC Pace. This nomination platform allows employees across the board to acknowledge their peers’ accomplishments and call out their outstanding contributions. We are happy to announce the winners of the inaugural SPAs, congratulations to Jannette Brace and Lauren Iezzoni!

JANNETTE BRACE has stepped up to lead a new client’s Agile Transformation project that began last year. From the onset of the engagement, Jannette has demonstrated her customer relations skillset by developing a genuine trust and line of open communications with both the client’s leadership and project teams. Jannette’s leadership, exceptional consulting skills, in-depth Agile experience, and ability to build and grow client relationships have been integral to CC Pace’s recent success.

LAUREN IEZZONI routinely demonstrates her commitment to elevating our corporate branding efforts to new heights. She possesses a positive attitude and consistently produces agency-quality designs. Lauren is constantly striving to take her skills to the next level, while her contributions are highly visible and greatly received across the organization. One of Lauren’s greatest attributes is her commitment to being a team player, where she not only pushes herself to do her best but inspires that same level from those around her.

Please join us in a round of applause for these two exceptional team members!

CC Pace supported So Others Might Eat (SOME) a local nonprofit organization, for our final community outreach event of 2021. SOME is a community-based service organization dedicated to supporting the Washington, D.C. community experiencing homelessness and poverty. SOME provides a variety of services, including affordable housing, counseling, substance use disorder treatment, and job training. Additionally, SOME helps meet the immediate daily needs by providing food, clothing, and healthcare to those in need.

SOME hosts an annual Shoebox Gift Drive each holiday season. This initiative is meant to provide those experiencing homelessness and poverty with immediate living essentials. This December, CC Pacers came together and donated supplies to put together gift boxes. CC Pacers purchased items from hats and scarves to soap and razors, and much more! We were able to pack and wrap nearly 30 shoeboxes in support of SOME’s holiday initiative.

SOME has always had a significant importance to CC Pace, as President, Mike Gordon is a member of their Corporate Advisory Board. We have participated in SOME events for over 2 decades and have witnessed this organization provide so many wonderful services and assistance to those in need.

Interested in how you can get involved with SOME? Visit their website and learn about a variety of ways you can help!

Happy New Year from CC Pace!

Did you know that the first American football game was played in 1869 between Rutgers and Princeton? It would be 51 years later that the NFL was formed in 1920. There’s a whole lot of football history there to be unpacked by aficionados, and here at CC Pace, our employees share that passion for football!

Over the years we have hosted a variety of football-related events including watch parties, festive tailgates, and Superbowl-themed events to get everyone pumped up for the big game! Team jersey days and our yearly football squares for the Super Bowl also help to generate a friendly competitive football spirit throughout the season.

While we love a good football-themed gathering, our competitive Fantasy Football league is truly what sparks the ultimate excitement for CC Pace’s football craze! We are not sure how or exactly when this Fantasy Football league all started, but word around the watercooler is that our President, Mike Gordon, put the wheels in motion while having one of many Monday morning football recaps with people in the kitchen getting their morning cup of joe.

Some of our CC Pace Fantasy Football Leaguers choose to take on their competitors individually while others team up, hoping together they can strategize and outperform their colleagues in the big draft. This is the time of year where you will hear many a conversation amongst CC Pace employees discussing player stats, and how to best keep all that information organized. Do we really expect anything less from a company that has analysts on the payroll? Each week our Football Leaguers closely monitor their standings, re-evaluate their lineups for the weekend and the strategy continues. And, although there is a prize at the end of the season, the most cherished part of the whole endeavor is the bragging rights the winners get to keep for years to come! Our very own CC Pace Fantasy Football Hall of Fame.

So, as we here at CC Pace settle into our yearly football fun, please allow us to leave you with this quote by the famous Coach, Lou Holtz, that stands true both on and off the field, and is something we at CC Pace also relate to: “Ability is what you’re capable of doing. Motivation determines what you do. Attitude determines how well you do it.”

Our August corporate outreach program invited CC Pace employees, family, friends, and networks to participate in the #StepUpWithCCPace challenge to support the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation is the world’s leader in funding research, drug development, and searching for a cure for those living with cystic fibrosis (CF).

5 Facts about Cystic Fibrosis:

CF is a progressive, genetic disease that causes persistent lung infections and limits the ability to breathe over time. The type and severity of CF symptoms can differ widely from person to person. Therefore, although treatment plans can contain many of the same elements, they are tailored to each individual’s unique circumstances. The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation does an amazing job supporting these individuals and their families on a wide variety of levels.

The #StepUpWithCCPace 5 Days/500 Miles campaign was presented as a challenge to CC Pacers, family, friends, and their LinkedIn networks.  Participants were asked to collectively walk/run 500 miles and/or donate $500 over the course of 5 days. We are proud to announce, that not only did we reach our goal – we far exceeded it! In total, we raised over $1,500 to support the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.

Visit the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation’s website to learn more about CF and how you can make a difference for those living with this disease. #Givingback

It’s been 18 months since COVID changed our lives, 18 months of living in a surreal world, and 18 months of working from home for most of us.  So as a company, how do we keep morale up?  How do we keep our employees motivated? Is it possible to still create a fun work environment?

These are questions CC Pace has explored and continues to address on a regular basis. Since March 2020, we have focused on keeping our employees engaged through various online programs, events, and activities. We have discovered that while working remotely can be challenging, it’s important to sustain high levels of collaboration and teamwork.  Just because we are remote does not mean that we can’t still have fun together, it just takes some consistency and planning to maintain morale!

To mark this 18th month of Covid, here are 18 ideas to help build up morale and keep your team motivated!

1. Virtual Happy Hours – Everyone is always up for a little chit-chat and a cocktail!
2. Tools – Providing the right tools needed so your team can get the job done.
3. Mentors – Having someone in the organization you can go to for support, questions, or advice helps to preserve a positive attitude.
4. Video Meetings – Using apps like Microsoft Teams and Zoom supports that face-to-face connection (smiling more does too 😊).
5. Video calls – Different than Video Meetings, one-on-one calls with teammates to maintain and/or create that personal connection and bond.
6. Book Clubs, etc. … – Putting together interest groups creates a sense of belonging.
7. Wellness Activities – CC Pace recently promoted a walking challenge to motivate employees to team up with a co-worker to get moving and track their miles. #stayhealthy
8. Communication – Leadership who genuinely listen and make themselves available are key to achieving open communications.
9. Gifts – A company care package or e-gift card lets employees know you are thinking about them.
10. Games – Online games can be super fun, we have had success with Whose Fridge is it Anyway?, Guess the Pet?, and Trivia! (Who doesn’t love a little competition!)
11. Feedback – Hearing our employee’s thoughts through surveys and discussions gives us the knowledge we need to move forward and create the best environment for our team.
12. Kudos – go a long way! We have expanded our Recognition and Rewards program to empower our team with more avenues to acknowledge each other.
13. Professional Development – Encouraging your people to keep growing makes them understand they are a valued team member.
14. Benefits – Reexamine your benefits to see if there is anything missing so you can offer the best options and comprehensive packages.
15. Small Team Lunches at outdoor eateries – While the weather is nice, try to get a small group together for some al fresco dining!
16. Setting Goals – Working toward a goal is often a great motivator for employees.
17. Knowledge Sharing – One person’s subject matter expertise can go a long way when they share that information with others in the company who can benefit.
18. Celebrations – Celebrating various holidays, occasions, work anniversaries, project kick-offs, etc… is a great way to keep employees inspired! There’s always something to celebrate!

Regardless of where your employees are located, we know all aspects of work can’t be fun, but fun itself in the workplace is a great motivator to help get through those tough times!

It’s an understatement to say that 2020 has been a challenging year. In the midst of a pandemic, CC Pace has been celebrating a milestone anniversary of 40 years in business! To celebrate, we decided to host a 40^th Anniversary Community Outreach Challenge. The pandemic has certainly highlighted the need for community service and outreach, we in turn challenged our employees to go out and make a difference in their communities!

Despite the challenges COVID-19 presented, CC Pacers continued to show overwhelming support in a variety of ways by donating masks to those in need and supporting organizations close at heart. In addition, CC Pace held a company-wide food drive to support of the Lorton Community Action Center,  where together our team donated close to three hundred pounds of food!

In total, CC Pacers donated directly to 10 different organizations, including – two universities, two animal shelters, and multiple local and national non-profits all over the country. And, while some took a more traditional approach, others found creative ways to make a difference. For example:

• Donating 40 handmade masks made by an employee and their spouse.
• Committing to perform 40 acts of kindness throughout the year.
• An avid coin collector on our team, decided to sell one of his coins from 1940 and donate the proceeds directly to charity.
• Conducting and donating 40 hours of Agile Trainings as a fundraiser to the Los Angeles Telugu Association. The proceeds from those trainings, which totaled about $22,000, were given to promote community activities, art and culture.

Wow! Well done everyone!  A big “Thank You” to all of our CC Pacers for giving back in so many creative ways! Happy 40^th Anniversary CC Pace – here’s to 40 more!

 If you would like to learn more about any of the organizations CC Pacers have supported this year, please visit the links provided:

• Houston Diaper Bank https://houstondiaperbank.org/donate/
• WolfTrap Animal Rescue https://www.wtarescue.com/support-us
• Fairfax County Animal Shelter https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/animalshelter/getinvolved
• Shelter House https://shelterhouse.org/get-involved/
• Give Essential https://www.giveessential.org/help
• Capital Area Food Bank (feeding America) https://www.capitalareafoodbank.org/how-to-help/

Welcome to our last blog in our 40 Years and Forward series, where we introduce you to 40 Fun Facts about CC Pace! In this blog series we have taken a stroll down memory lane looking at how CC Pace started and has evolved, as well as what makes our corporate culture unique. Now we ask you to discover 40 Fun Facts about us from the last 4 decades as we share some fond memories, interesting tidbits, and laughs!

We would like to say to all our clients, friends and colleagues who have worked with and supported CC Pace over the years a heartfelt Thank You!  We are very excited to what the future holds as we move forward on our journey!

It is almost a certainty in years to come, that we will all recall that period in March 2020 when everything started closing down due to COVID-19. The weeks leading up to this time we kept hearing more about this mysterious virus and the awful effects of it. As a result, many of us started preparing for the possibility that we ourselves would be quarantined for a couple of weeks.  Fast forward to November 2020 and here we are, still in quarantine as states continue to figure out the best and safest ways to reopen.

Prior to the COVID lockdown, we here at CC Pace would have never imagined that we could transition our entire workforce to go 100% remote overnight, and much less do it seamlessly – but that is exactly what we did! Our entire staff has effectively been working remotely for 8 months, thanks in big part to our technology group who had already transitioned the bulk of our storage to the cloud, and had implemented Microsoft Teams for more successful and personal communications among our employees.

When the CC Pace team transitioned to full work-from-home status overnight we didn’t let quarantine affect our productivity nor the quality of our work. We hit the ground running and have not stopped.  If you were to ask us how we did it, we would have to say that the key has been communication.  Our team has adjusted and embraced new modes of communication: Meetings – join us in Teams, chats – ping me whenever, kudos – keep them coming, file sharing – here’s the link, screen sharing – take a look at this, all of this along with video calls have helped us to stay in touch and most importantly stay connected! (Of course, a few virtual happy hours and events have helped too!)

It’s this level of adaptability and agility that has brought us our success. Seeing our team be able to continue to produce and develop superior results only confirms what CC Pace has always stood by, our people are our most important asset!   #staysafe

It’s that time of the year when we get together with friends for fun, good food and some friendly rivalry. That’s right, it’s Superbowl weekend and we here at CC Pace decided to kick it off early with a Jeans and Jersey day!  Although we have nothing but love and respect for both the Chiefs and the 49ers, we didn’t want to exclude any form or flavor of team spirit. So, we opened the jersey wearing to any team, in any sport. And, Pacers did not disappoint! People joined in on the fun and showed up in an array of team attire and we shared a field of treats!

We decided we needed to add some competition to our festivities and played a Superbowl word game and guess who the big winner was…CC Pace president, Mike Gordon – Way to go Mike! (and, no we did not let him win because he is the president, we are all way to competitive for that!)

You may notice in the pictures that there was a clear shortage of the Superbowl’s colors, but everyone did have a clear pick on a winner for the big game. The majority of us are rooting for the Kansas City Chiefs, and not just because they haven’t won a Superbowl since 1969 (well, maybe that’s part of it). Go Chiefs!

The primary goal of Marine Toys for Tots is to help bring the joy of Christmas through the gift of a new toy and send a message of hope to America’s less fortunate children. To join in this amazing effort, CC Pace signed up to be donation center for a second year in a row.  Our employees shined with generosity and holiday spirit by overflowing our donation boxes! Not only did they provide games, dolls, books, cars, scooters and toys, but a group of them even took time to go out and shop together for our corporate donation – and as our video shows, had a blast while doing so! Here’s to Toys for Tots for celebrating their 72^nd year in spreading joy!

The holiday season brings with it a flurry of fun activities, things like, gatherings with family or friends, taking part in treasured traditions and eating special dishes (there is always so much food!). With all those things in mind we have decided to kick off the holiday season with a festive and fun blog where we surveyed the CC Pace team to find out what they enjoy most during this time of year. So, without further ado, here’s a little insight on what our team enjoys most about the holidays:

What is your favorite holiday dish (excluding dessert)?

Stuffing was the #1 answer with 49% of CC Pacers in agreement! Looks like we have a lot of carb lovers, and they like a variety of stuffing. The answers varied from “inside stuffing” to “chestnut stuffing” to “cornbread stuffing” and just the classic “stuffing”. So, let’s hear it for stuffing!!

Which outdoor winter activity do you enjoy most?

• Building a snowman – 5%
• Skiing, Snow Tubing and/or Sledding – 40%
• Shoveling snow – 0% (hey, some people like shoveling snow – right?!)
• None, I like to stay inside and watch the snow from there – 55%

Apparently, staying cozy and warm inside is the priority for most of our team on a snowy day! Speaking of snow, here’s an interesting fact for those who live in the DC area: this year local forecasters are calling for a total snowfall of 10-16 inches inside the beltway, and 15-25 inches outside. Let’s all look back here in April and see how well their predictions held up!

What is your favorite holiday movie?

When it comes time to sit back and relax our team clearly goes for the comedies, with Love Actually and Christmas Vacation tying for the #1 favorite holiday movie, to which we can only say “yes, please”!

Which method do you prefer for holiday shopping?

• Shopping online – Amazon Prime all the way! – 68%
• Going to mall – I like the hustle and bustle of the crowds and grabbing my Starbucks! – 32%

Do you have a charitable organization or volunteering opportunity that you like to attend/favor during the holidays? If so, which one?

Our employees are very generous year-round, and this season is no different. Here are the Top 5 charity organizations they will be supporting during the holidays:

1. Toys for Tots seems to be the most popular charity at this time of year amongst our team. That is great news for us since this year CC Pace is again participating as a collection center for the Marine Toys for Tots Program. Toys for Tots was started in 1947 and distributes an average of 18 million toys to 7 million less fortunate children annually. All are welcome to drop off toys at our headquarters through December 13^th!
2. Wreaths Across America
3. SOME (So Others Might Eat)
4. St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital
5. Tie – several local shelters and children’s charities.

Eggnog or Hot Chocolate?

Hot Chocolate by a landslide – 75%.

What is your favorite Christmas carol or holiday song?
All I Want for Christmas Is You, by Mariah Carey, was released in 1994 and quickly rose to the top of the charts; it is the most downloaded Christmas song of all time. Ms. Carey said when recording this song that she wanted to create a classic, and that she certainly has accomplished!

From CC Pace to all of you, have a happy holiday season full of good cheer and best wishes for the new year!

One of our very own just celebrated this big milestone and rather than just giving you the 411 on it all, we’d like to change things up a bit and play a guessing game with you! If you’d like to play along keep reading, and no peeking at the pictures below. So, can you guess who it is? No? Well it is probably a bit hard given that CC Pace’s employees have an average tenure of 12+ years of service, so we figured we would give you some other clues to help you narrow down your guess:

Clue #1 – This person is a favorite amongst both those of us as CC Pace and our clients.

Clue #2 – This person speaks fluent Russian.

Clue #3 – This person recently obtained their AWS Practitioner certification.

Clue #4 – This person has musical talent and plays the bass.

Clue #5 – This person is also a skilled tennis player.

Still haven’t figured it out? then let’s keep going… Joining CC Pace in 2004, this person was part of the mortgage technology offering LOS Advantage. After working on various projects for us, they began working at the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board (MSRB) on the EMMA product, and have been there for over 10 years. During their time at MSRB, they have been consistently praised for their ability to deliver what is asked of them, and always delivering on time.

Need another hint? Now our team lead at MSRB, they constantly work on building their technical skills, learning and adapting to different methodology frameworks, and working very well with people (seriously, everyone loves working with this person). The leadership at MSRB epitomizes the type of client partnership we strive for, one built on value, trust and all-around success, and is due largely to this individual.

Ready for the big reveal??

Please join us in congratulating Leo Belenky for his 15 Year Anniversary at CC Pace. Our president, Mike Gordon presented Leo with his service award and highlighted how his hard work and dedication are vital to the success of our organization. Thank you Leo, for 15 wonderful years of service! And, to our readers, thank you for playing along!

Are you a seasoned Agile Practitioner interested in expanding services beyond yourself while providing strategic guidance to a variety of clients?

CC Pace is currently looking for a dynamic Agile Thought Leader who is ready to make an immediate impact and drive our Agile transformation services. The ideal candidate is local to the DC metro area, is comfortable making decisions and implementing innovative ideas. CC Pace will provide a flexible working environment and support interest in growing a personal reputation in the global Agile community, in addition to a competitive, comprehensive suite of benefits.

 What will an Agile Thought Leader at CC Pace do?

• Set the direction for our Agile transformation services, drive strategic imperatives, define Agile offerings, establish priorities and grow our Agile business
• Represent CC Pace at conferences, through independently orchestrated thought leadership and by guiding client engagements
• Provide strategic guidance to clients through enhancing, producing and delivering Agile training and coaching both in person and via alternative delivery modes
• Build and mentor a team of consultants to deliver the services both with internal staff and business partners
• Define and brand CC Pace while developing new relationships in the Agile community

Position Requirements:

• Current certified Agile credentials or equivalent level of experience
• Strong communication and presentation skills – must be versed at public speaking and a capable writer
• Proven experience leading Agile engagements, including developing training materials and coaching at both the enterprise and team level
• Ability to demonstrate leadership experience in IT delivery, including building and sustaining high-performing teams
• Strong leadership skills that will support setting the direction for our Agile practice, managing a team of resources and driving the Agile offering and delivery strategies
• Ability to provide ample thought leadership to further our footprint in the Agile community
• Strong business acumen that will assist in supporting the sales & marketing efforts involving Agile transformation services

At CC Pace we have a strong referral program and encourage not only our employees but even those who don’t work for us to take advantage of it – so if you know someone who would be a fit for this position please refer them!

For more information regarding this Agile Thought Leader position, please contact Rechelle Card, rcard@ccpace.com

For CC Pace’s 2^nd quarter community outreach event, we collected personal care items in support of the Katherine K. Hanley Family Shelter (KHFS). KHFS is located in Fairfax, right around the corner from our office!

Thanks to everyone who participated. We were able to collect and put together “Care Kits” for 15-20 children, 10-12 women and 10-12 men. These Care Kits were comprised of items such as tooth paste, shampoo, conditioner, body wash and a tooth brush. These items will go to the families and individuals in need at the Katherine K. Hanley Family Shelter.

KHFS opened in 2007 and was the first emergency shelter in Fairfax County to adopt a rapid re-housing approach – an approach that was so successful, it has been incorporated into all emergency shelters in Fairfax County. Currently, KHFS houses 72 people, 45 of which are children. KHFS is part of the Shelter House organization.

Shelter House is a community-based, non-profit organization that provides crisis intervention, safe housing, and supportive services to homeless families and victims of domestic violence in our community. Shelter House was formed in 1981 as a grassroots responder to the homelessness crisis in Fairfax County. Shelter House is comprised of 3 emergency shelters: the Katherine K. Hanley Family Shelter, Artemis House and the Patrick Henry Family Shelter.

In the past year, across all programs, Shelter House served over 2,300 individuals, more than half of which were children. Of the families that exit Shelter House, nearly 70% move to permanent housing.

Thank you to everyone for your support and participation!

If you would like to learn more about Katherine K. Hanley or Shelter House, follow the link below:

https://shelterhouse.org/

There is a great team of people who work at CC Pace. We took a few minutes to get up close and personal with George Perkins, Ron Peterson and Suzie Wheeler, three of the people whose roles are front and center with our clients and candidates.

George Perkins

George is a Practice Manager who has just celebrated his 25^th anniversary with CC Pace. George is responsible for the management of several of our client accounts and staff augmentation services. His primary focus in on the financial services and healthcare industries. Always the jokester, George is never one to miss the opportunity for a good one-liner during a meeting! Connect with George on LinkedIn.

We asked George some questions, and here’s what he had to say:

• Do you participate in some community outreach you would like to highlight?  At CC Pace we believe in giving back to the community and participate in multiple events each year. Over the past few years I’ve been involved with the Ronald McDonald house, Homestretch’s backpacks for school kids, and sponsoring local families for Christmas. Also, I enjoy helping out with the local animal shelter.

• What professional groups do you belong to and what professional events do you attend? I attend NVTC events, Agile DC, and belong to WARN (Washington areas recruiters’ network) and ASA (American Staffing Association). I also represent CC Pace at job fairs and other IT conferences.

• What is your favorite…
  • Food? Almost anything Asian, love the spices.
  • Movie? Pulp Fiction and American Beauty
  • Book? On the Road
  • Team? Redskins
  • Quote? “It’s just a flesh wound”
  • Dog or Cat? Dog

• If you could do Carpool Karaoke with any singer living or dead, who would it be and why? Neil Young, I love his music and would be interested in talking to him about the days living in Laurel Canyon in the mid/late 60’s when all the great music/musicians were hanging out there.

Ron Peterson

Ron is our Senior Practice Manager for Federal Business Development. He focuses on building relationships and networking with government agencies on the local, state and federal level. Ron is probably one of the most easy-going people in the office. His calm demeanor and willingness to help out make working with him a true pleasure. Connect with Ron on LinkedIn.

So, Ron, tell us …

• Do you participate in some community outreach you would like to highlight? For 30 years, I have been volunteering in Federal and State prisons and local jails.  Currently I am volunteering at Fairfax County Adult Detention Center.

• What professional groups do you belong to and what professional events do you attend? I belong to ACT-IAC and National Contract Management Association (NCMA). I also attend various conferences and industry events representing CC Pace.

• What is your favorite…
  • Food? Seafood
  • Movie? The Invisible Guest
  • Book? The Bible
  • Team? Yankees, Giants, and Golden State Warriors

• What is your hidden talent? Chess and Bid Whist (Bid Whist is an exciting, popular partnership trick-taking game. It is played with a standard 52 card deck plus 2 jokers, for a total of 54 cards).

Suzie Wheeler

Suzie is our Talent Acquisition and Recruiting Manager. She is responsible for the on-going strategy to find employees for the company with specific skillsets and recruiting for our clients’ technical positions. Suzie is always smiling, happy and has a pep to her step. She brings her positive attitude and enthusiasm to the entire CC Pace team. Connect with Suzie on LinkedIn.

Other fun facts about Suzie are:

• What professional groups do you belong to and what professional events do you attend? I belong to Women in Technology, SourceCon, and Project Save. I attend multiple events for various technical meet-up groups in the DC area, technical job fairs and agile conferences.

• What is your favorite…
  • Food?  Mexican, Maryland Blue Crabs, Spicy foods
  • Movie? It’s hard to say just one, The Bucket List, Pay it Forward, The Notebook, Green Book
  • Book?  Disclosure by Michael Crichton, and The Secret by Rhonda Byrne
  • Team?  Dallas Cowboys and University of South Carolina teams
  • Quote?  “In the midst of movement and chaos, keep stillness inside of you” ~ Deepak Chopra
  • Dog or Cat?  Definitely dog

• If you could witness any historical event, what would you want to see? Probably witnessing the life of Jesus, I have so many questions about the events of this timeframe.

Our recent quarterly meeting made for a fun afternoon and evening for everyone. We had a lively staff meeting with presentations, service awards and team building activities, followed by a festive gathering at Dave & Busters.

At CC Pace, we’re lucky to have so many tenured employees. As our team members celebrate their CC Pace anniversaries, they are recognized by their colleagues and leadership team for their contributions throughout the years. We kicked off our service awards recognizing Chris Soule, Technical Consultant, for his 5 year anniversary with CC Pace. Chris was hired for an opening we had on our development team for MSRB. His success with this client continues today, where he has become a key leader on the EMMA project working not only on the data base side, but also helping to revamp the user interface. Per our client, Chris is the epitome of a team player! Chris, may you continue to inspire us for many years to come!

George Perkins, Practice Manager, was recognized for celebrating his 25^th anniversary with us! George was hired as our first full-time recruiter. Over the years, as the staffing area of the business has evolved, he moved into the role of an Account Manager for some of our major clients. George’s philosophy has always been work hard towards success and have fun while you’re doing so – and he does just that! George, we thank you for your energy, enthusiasm and corporate commitment!

To take advantage of the rare moments our people are actually all together, we used this time to engage in some team building activities that were facilitated by Debbie Shatz, Sudhindra Shetty and the “always up for a good time”, George Perkins. Divided into 5 teams with red Solo cups in hand, our staff took aim at various building and stacking tasks (and, did we mention there were prizes)! Lots of cheering and yelling lead to some pretty hilarious bragging rights by the winners!

EAT. DRINK. PLAY. We kept the party going and had everyone move over to the new Dave & Buster’s in Fair Oaks Mall for an entertaining evening! There was food, drinks, billiards and of course lots more games and plenty of, should we say friendly competition. Together everyone enjoyed some good old fashioned laugh-out-loud fun!

Living in the digital age, it is not difficult to be familiar with a company’s name, reputation or logo – but do you really know what they do, and what they are all about? That got us thinking about our own company and we asked, what is it that people really want to know about CC Pace? So, we did some research with our team and came up with the Top 5 Most Asked Questions About CC Pace from our clients:

1. Where does the name CC Pace come from? (this is actually quite the story – so here we go…)

In the early 1970s, a financial services technology consulting firm headquartered in New Jersey named R. Shriver Associates (RSA) opened a Washington, DC branch as part of its growth strategy.  In 1980, RSA management decided to sell the DC branch.  Mike Gordon (current President of CC Pace) and several other employees bought the assets of the branch, and one of the immediate tasks was to come up with a name for the new company.  A naming contest was initiated and the name that was selected was Cabot Consulting (we clearly didn’t hire a naming consultant).  No person in the company was named Cabot, but, at the time, it conveyed a positive image as the Cabots were a prominent New England family.

In the 1980s, the vertical market that the company most served was Oil & Gas. Unfortunately, a Fortune 500 oil and gas company was named Cabot Corporation and they weren’t keen on sharing the Cabot name. So, in 1988, we went through a similar naming process as we did at the outset of the company.  The result was a decision to call ourselves ‘Pace’.  We thought it would convey us being forward thinking, and we also believed that we would be able to play on the word “pace” for marketing purposes.  However, after finding conflicts with the Cabot name, we quickly realized that there would be 10 times more conflicts with the name of ‘Pace’.  It was recommended that we add either a word or prefix/suffix that would distinguish us from all the other Paces out there.  We were looking for a way to transition from our old name to the new name and someone suggested the prefix of C.C. from Cabot Consulting.  Yes, it’s fairly convoluted, but that is how we ended up with our name being C.C. Pace (aka CC Pace).

2. Wait, we thought you are a training company?

While we have trained over 35,000 people in Lean-Agile disciplines over the last 15+ years, we actually got our roots in financial services consulting. Dating back to 1980, some of our earliest projects were in Loan Origination System Section and Technology Due Diligence for some of the leading players in the mortgage space (many of whom are still clients today).

Over the years, we grew our technical capabilities and were an early adopter of the Agile methodology. So, while we have dozens of training offerings under the Agile umbrella today – everything from Scrum Certification Courses, Kanban, SAFe, etc. – our sweet spot is actually Agile development. We launched our first Agile xP project in 1999, and four years later, adopted Scrum. In addition to our business and Agile transformation services, we also have a well-established IT Staffing team that works with a variety of clients in the DC area to find the right fit to help organizations meet their business objectives.

3. What kind of clients do you work with?

Our clients tend to be industry leaders who are looking for strategic business solutions that will enable them to focus on taking their business objectives to the next level. We generally align best with clients who view us as a partner and trust that we have a shared interest in success and doing what’s best – not just the fastest or cheapest option. We focus on long-term results and really try to look at what will be the best option(s) for both today and tomorrow, so clients that share that vision typically result in a dynamic partnership. With four decades of experience in the Financial Services sector, we clearly have a wealth of understanding in that arena, but we also have an array of knowledge and experience in the Healthcare industry. Many of our services can be applied across any industry, and our client base extends from Fortune 500 to start ups across a multitude of disciplines. You can learn more about our clients here.

4. Where are your offices located?

Our office is located in Fairfax, Virginia; however, our consultants work at client sites nationwide and we have employees who are based throughout the United States. We even have relationships with consultants in other countries to support some of our clients’ global offices and are well versed in supporting projects remotely as well.

5. What is it that makes CC Pace different than other consulting firms?

That’s a great question! CC Pace is a boutique consulting firm that is committed to providing top quality service to our clients and building long-term, strategic partnerships with them. We’ve been working with many of our clients for four decades, and we believe that these long-term client relationships clearly reflect our work ethic and our commitment to providing top-rate solutions. Over 80% of our new business is based on referrals, which tells us that we’re doing something right. We truly care about both our clients and our employees, and as a result, we don’t see a lot of turnover with either. In fact, our average tenure for our employees is around 13 years. Clients appreciate seeing familiar faces mixed in with the new ones as we continue to grow.

Still have questions about CC Pace?
Reach out to us today to learn more about CC Pace and what we can do for your business!

To find out more about our people and our culture, get social with us on LinkedIn and Facebook!

As any successful leader will tell you, it is the people in your company who ultimately determine the success or failure of your business. At CC Pace, we know that our people are our most important asset, so employee recognition is a big part of our corporate culture.  It is important to us that our employees are recognized throughout the year, not only for milestone anniversaries, but for other things like specific contributions to our company big or small. Those recognitions can take on different forms: sometimes it’s a public “shout out” during our quarterly meetings, other times team leaders may present spot bonuses, and yet other times  co-workers and leadership team will express their appreciation at a personal level. But, we do have one major event each year to thank all our employees at the same time, and that is our annual party.

Who doesn’t love a great party, right? Our annual get together allows our entire team to celebrate our accomplishments together. It’s also a great opportunity for those working remotely or at client sites to reconnect with their colleagues, mingle and have some fun.  This year’s event took place at Ruth’s Chris where the food was amazing, the spirits were exceptional, and the atmosphere was festive!

Prior to our annual event, we held our corporate staff meeting where we had an opportunity to recognize and celebrate Erika Palomino and Steve Chojna’s 15 Year Anniversaries with CC Pace – wow! Erika is our Lead Contracts Specialist. She handles all our contracts, vendor negotiations, contract reviews, and all other required contractual documentation. She also helps support and manage our GSA contract, which is no small undertaking. But it’s not all business with Erika, as she has also added tremendous value and fun to our company culture as a member of People Engagement Committee (PEC). Her creativity and humor have led to some very entertaining and memorable events. A big thank you to you Erika!

Steve is a Senior Consultant in our Financial Services practice. During his time with us he has worked with a wide variety of mortgage clients on various implementations, spent some time with Agile development writing user stories and has spread his wings now to documenting the business processes for managing the acquisition of genomic and phenomic research data. Steve does all of this with a good-natured spirit of collaboration and an infectious smile! Really, this guy is always in a good mood! Cheers to you Steve!

Our President, Mike Gordon, presented Erika and Steve each with a service award and the traditional CC Pace gag gift – though everyone was super jealous of Erika’s (we can’t say what it was, but it was a bottle of something that rhymes with shekila).

Here are some photos we captured from our fun festivities – enjoy!

Last week we had our quarterly staff meeting and the room was full of company spirit as our employees were all sporting CC Pace apparel. We also had a new twist when it came to discussing company business as some of our consulting teams made project videos to highlight their work – it was an entertaining way to learn about their current assignments and the clients they support.  Once we got all the serious business out of the way, we had some fun as we recognized 3 employees who had reached milestone anniversaries.

First, we have Deepti Agarwal, Senior Technical Recruiter who is celebrating 5 years as a member of our recruiting team. Deepti was recognized for her exceptional record of having a 95% retention rate for her placements. Her colleagues are quick to point out that her attention to detail gives her the ability to find the perfect match for both the candidate and the client. Deepti received the traditional gag gift presented by President, Mike Gordon and a service award. Way to go Deepti!

Second, we celebrated Clay Everhart our Facilities Manager for 20 years of service. Clay has a big fan club here at CC Pace as he is always the first to lend a helping hand, volunteer or assist with a project (and of course make a joke). Most importantly, he does everything with a smile and always provides a funny quote of the day for our staff to enjoy! Mike presented Clay with a service award and, of course, a gag gift! But, the highlight of honoring Clay came next.  For those who are not familiar with Clay, he also plays the guitar and is a songwriter and he performs his original pieces for everyone at CC Pace when there is a milestone anniversary or retirement.  While they are often hilarious, they can also be very sweet and touching. To celebrate his anniversary, the entire CC Pace team wrote and performed a song for him to the tune of Barry Manilow’s I Write the Songs! A classic moment for sure and one we will all remember for a long time. Thanks Clay for everything you do and all the laughs you bring to CC Pace!

Third, we had the honor to celebrate the 40^th anniversary of Mike Gordon, CC Pace President.  Mike started for a company named R. Shriver Associates in the late 70’s.  In 1980, Mike and one other person purchased the branch and that was the beginnings of CC Pace. For 40 years Mike has led CC Pace with the highest integrity and ethics and through his strategic vision, he has built the company where it is today – a known leader in our market place. Mike was honored with a service award presented by Dawne Ward, COO. Dawne also had the special privilege of giving Mike a taste of his own medicine and presenting him with some gag gifts, and we have to admit he looked a little nervous when that part came around!  The team also presented him with a golf outing to enjoy.  Cheers to you Mike and thank you for your outstanding leadership of CC Pace!

The staff meeting also marked the last day of our Toys for Tots drive!  Toys for Tots was started in 1947 and has distributed over 548 million toys since it began. We were able to fill two very large boxes with toys for our local community. The donations we received included something for everyone with baby dolls, cars, board games, craft sets, Legos and much more!  Who doesn’t love the chance to make a child happy?!

A big shout out to all our employees for participating in this event!

CC Pace employees held their second food packing event to support the efforts of Food for Others Power Pack Program. The program was designed to ensure that elementary school kids in need of food in Northern Virginia have enough to eat over the weekend. In Fairfax County alone, more than 60,000 people are considered food insecure. Each Power Pack gives the children healthy balanced meals, and helps those families who need it most.
 
All the supplies needed were purchase by CC Pace, and we had over a dozen employees participate in this community outreach event. Our team of volunteers had a great time, working together to assemble 48 packs for a total of 288 meals!  All the packs were personally delivered by our volunteers and will be distributed by Food for Others.

Want to learn what you can you do to help stop hunger? Visit Food for Others, Capital Area Food Bank, So Other Might Eat (SOME) and Feeding America.

CC Pace would like to introduce you to Donna Kenney, our new Controller who recently joined our Accounting team. She started her accounting career working for public accounting firms, and prior to joining CC Pace, she worked at Seneca Corporation for 20 years as a Controller. In her role, Donna is responsible for leading our Accounting operations and financial analysis/reporting functions.  She is extremely customer-focused and has already hit the ground running.

• What made you want to work for CC Pace? The Controller position described in the online job posting sounded like the mix I was looking for; it involved all financial aspects, plus a good mix of hands-on and oversight activities. It was a smaller company and a tech company, which is the industry I’ve enjoyed working in since leaving public accounting. I checked out the CC Pace website and learned a little more about the company, and I really felt that this was the place I had been waiting for to make my next move. One reason was the mix of business lines and client types.  However, the huge draw for me was the employee friendly feel that I got initially from the website, and then it was reinforced again during the interview process. Having worked at a company for almost 20 years where a number of employees had also been there 10+ years, the personality and corporate culture of my next company was very important to me.  A company that could boast a similar retention rate was a big plus when deciding to submit my resume, and then ultimately saying yes to an offer.
• In terms of moving to a new company, what has been your biggest challenge? Getting used to all the different processes and details.  Luckily, I have a great staff that has helped with the transition, and everyone else here at CC Pace has been very supportive.  It has actually been relatively smooth so far.  (Hopefully I didn’t jinx anything just now!)
•  What is your initial impression of the culture at CC Pace? As I mentioned, the atmosphere has been friendly and supportive, a true team working toward the same goals, where professionalism and respect are just a natural part of the package.
• What 3 words best describe CC Pace?  Probably not what you’re looking for, but what comes to my mind is simply “the right fit!”
• If you could meet anyone, living or dead, who would you meet? Why? That’s a hard question to answer, but I’ll say my Aunt Ann.  I am actually named after her (Ann was actually her middle name though she went by it, as it is mine).  She passed away a few years before I was born, but growing up I was often told how much I resembled her.  I think it would be interesting to meet her for both of those reasons.
•  What was the last book you read? Awaken the Darkness by Dianne Duvall
• What was the first job you had where you earned a real paycheck? At GC Murphy’s a 5&10. My mom worked there for many years, when I was young we would stop in the store and I always wanted to “help!” Particularly, using the pricing gun to put the price stickers on new merchandise.  I will admit actually getting paid and having to use the pricing gun took some of the pleasure out of it, versus when I wasn’t actually supposed to be using it and was just “helping” mom.
• Do you have a favorite quote? My dad always said, and I always try to keep in mind:  Everything happens for a reason and in the end works out for the best whether we understand it (or the hows/whys of it) or not.

CC Pace had the pleasure of celebrating two very special service awards at our quarterly staff meeting. The first one went to Lee Minai, Senior Accountant, who was recognized for 10 years of service with CC Pace. Over the years Lee has managed the Account Payable/Accounts Receivable function, interfacing with our clients, subcontractors, and account managers with great precision and care. This was a bittersweet celebration for everyone as Lee is retiring to have more time to spend with her growing family, including five grandchildren under the age of 4! Her positive attitude, customer service and warm smile will be greatly missed by everyone – we wish you all the best, Lee!

Philippa (Phil) Fewell, Managing Director of our Lean Agile Practice, joined us back in 1983 when we were known as Cabot Consulting. Over the last 35 years, she came up through the technical ranks managing and delivering financial and technology projects for a wide range of clients, from Fortune 500 to start-ups.  CC Pace has had the privilege to be the beneficiary of the wealth of incredible skills and traits that are so admired by Phil’s clients and colleagues. Her versatile Agile experience includes serving as a trainer, coach, consultant, and project manager.  Phil has been a role model for demonstrating integrity and excellence by looking out for both our clients and our best interest.  And, we think everyone would agree that Phil’s contagious laugh and wit always seem to lighten things up around the office!

To kick off summer in style, at the end of our staff meeting we held a barbeque! This event was not only attended by our current employees, but by several CC Pace alumni as well. We enjoy staying in touch with our alumni and in many cases, have had the opportunity to work with them again. It’s always a good time to catch up with old friends, share some laughs and see what everyone is up to now.

The menu included delicious summer favorites from Dickey’s Barbeque, festive drinks and desserts. And, of course no barbeque would be complete without some corn hole. We also had another game, and while you had to be here to fully enjoy it, all we can tell you is that it involved tattoos and a blindfold!

Wishing everyone a happy summer!

CC Pace recently partnered with The Stallions, a highly regarded team in the Washington Metro Cricket League (WMCL), as a corporate sponsor. Ashok Komaragiri, Lead Technology Consultant at CC Pace, is a member of the team and presented this opportunity to CC Pace.

We sat down and had a conversation with Srinivas Mallapuram, captain and co-founder of The Stallions Cricket Team, to learn more about cricket and what this partnership means for both The Stallions and CC Pace.

Can you explain the basics of Cricket to us?
Cricket traces its origins to the late 16th century in England; it is now played in more than 125 countries. In terms of popularity, it is second only to soccer.  A Cricket match is played between two teams of 11 players on a cricket field. Both teams take turns ‘batting’ and ‘bowling’. The objective of the batting team is to score as many runs as possible during their turn, while the bowling team tries to limit the number of runs scored by the batting team. In the second part of the game, the two teams switch roles and the team that formerly batted must ensure their opponents do not score as many or more runs as they did. Now, I don’t want to go too deep in explaining the rules of cricket here—there’s always Google for that, right?

Tell us about cricket in the DMV area.
Cricket has become a very popular sport in the DC Metro area, as evidenced by the number of different leagues in this area.  Cricket is typically played with a leather ball at the professional level, but most leagues in the DMV area substitute the leather ball with a hard-tennis ball (looks like a regular tennis ball but is heavier). There are many different cricket leagues in this area; WMCL is one of the most prominent leagues.

The Stallions are in the WMCL – can you tell us more about that league?
The WMCL was formed in 2009.  As of this year, there are 34 teams across two divisions (16 in Div1 and 18 in Div2). This league enjoys more popularity and participation as compared to other hard-tennis ball leagues, having close to 1,000 active players.  The league has three cricket fields: one in Herndon, Centreville, and Reston. The games are played using the T20 format and are played over the weekend. I am proud to say that our team, The Stallions, are always considered one of the top contenders for the upper division title.

How did the Stallions team get started?
Our team was formed in 2010 by myself and a few other cricket enthusiasts. We now participate in 3 different hard-tennis ball leagues in the DMV area. We have a common pool of players, who play in these 3 different leagues, however some players only play in one of the 3 leagues. Our combined pool is comprised of 75 players. We are a highly successful team, and are generally considered one of the top teams in all 3 leagues. We were the runners-up in the 2017 Spring Season championship.

How’s this WMCL 2018 Spring season been so far for Stallions?
Of the 4 matches we have played so far this season, we won two. The two matches we lost were closely contested games right up to the very end. Overall, I am happy with the team’s performance, we would have liked more wins under our belt considering we have some tough games coming up. We are focused on winning our upcoming matches to secure a place in the playoffs.

How do the Stallions feel about their partnership with CC Pace?
Over the past several years, the different counties in the DMV area have tremendously encouraged and promoted Cricket in every way they can. Recently, some corporate companies have also extended their support by either sponsoring the leagues themselves, or individual teams. We are fortunate and thrilled that CC Pace has decided to sponsor our team in the WMCL for this year. At the risk of sounding clichéd, I think, fundamentally, our team’s principles align with those of CC Pace, in that we both strive for excellence, and I believe that makes a sound foundation for a good partnership. CC Pace, along with offering technology and business consulting services, also participates in a variety of community outreach programs; in true partnership, The Stallions have already joined in and started to participate with the company in these community events.

Interested in catching a match and cheering on the Stallions?
You can view the Stallions schedule and game results on the WMCL’s website - http://wmcl.net

Volunteers from across Northern Virginia came together to take part of an exciting and historic event called 2018 Food Fight— supports the Nation’s Fight Against Hunger sponsored by Feed My Starving Children.  An estimated 6,200 children die worldwide each day from malnutrition and hunger-related diseases. This organization is working to get food to those in need as quickly as possible by hosting events like this one. We want to express a special thank you to all the CC Pacers who participated in the extraordinary event.

Our CC Pace team of volunteers met up at the Dulles Expo Center in Chantilly, Virginia to join other community members to participate in a huge, weekend-long event to pack over 3.5M meals for starving children around the world. Dressed in their bright blue CC Pace shirts and lovely hair nets, they rocked out to music and worked together to pack 1,440 meals at their station.  During their time slot alone, all of the volunteers packed more than 100K meals. Imagine all the children those meals will feed!

If you would like to learn more about or support this organization, please check out their website https://www.fmsc.org/. You can also see how these meals are in making a difference in the lives of those who receive them by visiting this link 2018foodfight.com/see-the-impact.

#GivingBack

Last month at CC Pace’s staff meeting we had the privilege to honor Lauren Iezzoni with a Service Award marking her 5 Year Anniversary with the company. Lauren performs dual roles, working with our Enterprise Solutions group as an Agile Training Coordinator, and with our Marketing team as a Graphic Designer.  Over her time at CC Pace, her keen organizational and customer service skills have resulted in her ability to manage our training clients and vendors, while increasing our public training offerings. In addition, she has used her artistic creativity to work with Marketing to revamp the look and feel of not only our collateral, but our office environment as well!  Thank you, Lauren!

Coinciding in celebration last month, we held our Annual Party at Ruth’s Chris, which marked the 38^th Anniversary of the company. Team members from across the country were in attendance and having everyone together, although it was brief is always a festive time for the company.

As part of our celebration of 38 years, we held a food drive to benefit the Lorton Community Action Center’s food bank, a local non-profit organization that supports the community in southern Fairfax County. We set a goal to collect 380 pounds of food, 10 pounds for every year CC Pace was in business, and included a competitive element breaking the company into teams. The friendly competition between our 4 teams created a lot of enthusiasm, energy and corporate spirit.  It was a close race right up to the end, with our winning team contributing more than 300 lbs. of food!   We are proud to report that all together, we far exceeded our goal and collected over 800 lbs of food!  A big shout out to the winning team – congratulations to our Financial Services and Government groups!

Every company has their own Corporate Culture, which characterizes the qualities of a work environment. Corporate culture is a key factor in both retaining and attracting talent, with 80% of Millennials say they are looking for cultural fit when seeking potential employers.

CC Pace recently rolled out a new vision and central to this vision is a focus on our people, which we believe are our greatest asset. Keeping that in mind and the significance of corporate culture, we surveyed numerous team members from various locations and all levels for their view of our current culture.

Each team member was given only one of the questions below to respond to, here is a summary of what they had to say:

Describe CC Pace’s corporate culture in three words?

• “Flexible, Supportive and Team-oriented”
• “Supportive, Respectful (value’s and respect’s everyone’s input) and People-Centric”
• “Flexible, Family-oriented and has a Relaxed Environment – And, we all share the love of GOOD FOOD!”

Can you please tell us one thing that you feel makes our workplace culture unique?

• “The work/life balance message truly walks the talk.”
• “We do a great job at crossing functional business lines to pull together resources (when feasible and available) to make a project work.”
• “The amount of input we have gives us the opportunity to express our thoughts to not only our peers but our management team as well.”

Can you please describe CC Pace’s corporate culture?

• “CC Pace has a good team-based culture with employee participation on all levels. CC Pace values individual employees and encourages them to speak up and share ideas. They value integrity and put a lot of emphasis on the quality service they provide to their clients.”
• “At CC Pace, our corporate culture comes from our unwavering commitment to helping clients’ succeed. People are our most valuable asset. We strive to create a collaborative, energetic environment that provides meaningful work and supports professional development.”

CC Pace understands a “one-size-fits-all” approach towards employees is not the answer to having a positive corporate culture, but rather one in which openness to new ideas and flexibility are encouraged.  As our employee survey highlighted, we have tried to create a positive environment that values employees and is conducive to both individual and corporate success.

Are you ready to work somewhere your talents, ideas and contributions will have a true impact? If the answer is yes, and this all sounds good to you, we invite you to consider joining our team.

Giving back to our communities is important to CC Pace and we believe it is essential for us to involve ourselves as an organization and as individuals, to contribute to making our communities a better place to live and in helping others when there is a need.  People give back in many different ways, such as making monetary donations, giving their time to volunteer at a local school or event or fundraising for a cause.

When we asked our employees to tell us about what organizations they support, we were overwhelmed with their responses and all they have accomplished. We have highlighted a few of them, and the great causes, organizations, and charitable programs they support.

Dorian – American Red Cross
Dorian gives blood at the American Red Cross on a regular basis.  After having close friends with cancer who needed blood transfusions and her own experience needing a blood transfusion, she realizes how fortunate we are to have access to a potential lifesaving blood supply.

Ron – Fairfax County Adult Detention Center, State Prisons and Federal Prisons
Ron, since the 1980s, has performed volunteer work in local jails and State and Federal prisons.  Through these efforts, he has worked with serious and violent criminals.  He volunteers on Tuesday and Thursday evenings at the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center.

Debbie – Fairfax County Animal Shelter
Debbie, through donor and volunteer support, provides food, supplies and more to help the shelter care for these loving animals. More than 5,000 pets, including cats, dogs, small mammals, reptiles and livestock, come to the Fairfax County Animal Shelter each year.

Jeff – Youth Mentor and Miriam’s Kitchen
Jeff volunteers as a mentor to two 5^th grade boys at a local elementary school which has 70% reduced and free lunch. He gives them support, guidance and friendship. Jeff also volunteers at Miriam’s Kitchen in Washington DC. Previously, he volunteered weekly for about four years in the Case Management group working with individuals to ensure they had access to basic needs. He currently serves as a sub to the group as needed.

Dawne – Lorton Community Action Center (LCAC)
Dawne volunteers and has supported the Lorton Community Action Center (LCAC) for many years, through various initiatives including; the LCAC thrift store, warm coat drive, holiday food baskets, conducting food drives for their food pantry and the school backpacks for kids’ program.

Keith – MicroMentor and Umps Care
Keith is active in several organizations where he works as a mentor, consultant and board member. For ten years, he has focused on channeling his business skills and knowledge to help individuals (via kids and entrepreneurs) achieve new levels of personal success. While each of these organizations and others Keith has worked with are unique in their offerings, all of them have been very rewarding to him, regardless of the challenges.

Mike – SOME (So Other’s Might Eat)
Mike is a Corporate Advisory Board member who provides guidance and support to SOME’s management.  He attends and sponsors their Annual Gala, occasionally serves meals at their dining hall, and participates in other initiatives to provide clothing and other goods to help the homeless.

Collectively, our employees support more than 40 charitable organizations. Many of them also take on active and leadership roles in their churches, local schools, children’s sports teams/associations and their communities on a regular basis. A sample list of some of the national charities our employees support include:

• American Cancer Society
• American Heart Association
• American Red Cross
• Boy Scouts of America
• Catholic Charities USA
• Goodwill
• Habitat for Humanity
• JDRF (Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation)
• Lupus Foundation of America
• Make A Wish Foundation of America
• Marine Toys for Tots Foundation
• Salvation Army
• St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital
• Wounded Warrior Project

Whatever an individual chooses to do, no matter the size of the donation or the means by which they choose to volunteer – they in turn make a difference for the greater good of a community or cause. And, that is what giving back is really all about!   Thank you, CC Pacers, for all you do!

CC Pace realizes that it’s our people that really sets us apart from our competition. Keeping that in mind, we don’t take milestone work anniversaries lightly. We know our employees work hard and at CC Pace, we do our best to make sure they receive the celebration and recognition they deserve. It’s also a great time for us to reminisce about all the fun we have had over the years and share some good laughs!

CC Pace had fun recently celebrating the anniversaries of Debbie Shatz (30 Years) and Suzie Wheeler (15 years) at our quarterly company meeting. Debbie is a Director in our Financial Services practice and has performed in many roles over the years, including everything from a business analyst to strategic advisor and has consistently delivered valuable results to clients. Suzie is our Recruiting Manager and is responsible for handling both corporate and client recruiting needs, her ability to find and hire high quality personnel has had a great impact on our recruiting team’s success.

Both Debbie and Suzie were recognized by CC Pace President, Mike Gordon for their contributions and accomplishments during their time with CC Pace. Mike also presented each of them with a service award, and a specially selected, customized gag gift that highlighted each of them perfectly! In addition, Debbie was the recipient of one of Clay’s original songs – which is always a treat for the entire team!

So we say, “Cheers and Thank You” to Debbie and Suzie and we hope that you will each continue to grow with us for many years to come! Happy Anniversary!

CC Pace employees came together to for a food packing event to support the efforts of Food for Others Power Pack Program.  The Power Pack Program provides food packs for elementary school kids in Northern Virginia as a safety net to ensure that they have enough to eat over the weekend.  This is a way to provide a healthy balanced meal for children who are either eating unbalanced meals, or perhaps adults who are skipping meals so their children can eat.

CC Pace purchased all the supplies needed for this event and our employees worked together to assemble the packages.  This effort tested our “production line” skills and although it started out a little rocky, it ended great and we were able to get all the food packed and ready for distribution by Food for Others. In total we produced 288 meals, which will help to feed 48 children.

Want to know how you can help? Visit Food for Others, Capital Area Food Bank, So Other Might Eat (SOME) and Feeding America websites to learn what you can do to help stop hunger!

Each year the Fairfax Animal Shelter helps four to five thousand animals by providing a safe environment and adoption services.  CC Pace employees and friends volunteered here last week to support this great organization and did a great job of cleaning the facility, folding towels, and organizing supplies.

While our employees did not interact with the animals, they were able to walk through the facility and see the dogs, cats, and other smaller furry and feathered creatures and their environment.   You can see by the smiles in the pictures of our people, that this was a very rewarding event for everyone!

Thanks to Deb Young, our account manager, for coordinating with Debbie Shatz, a Director in our Financial Services practice, to set up this event.  Debbie is a long-time volunteer at the shelter and she organized and directed our activities for the evening. We would like to give a special shout-out to Tracy Gordon, Bobby Pantall, Jason Kellenbenz, and everyone else who donated the vast amount of toys and essentials needed by the shelter.  They were well received and very much appreciated!

Want to get involved? Contact the Fairfax Animal Shelter, they can always use volunteers!

Previously, in Part 1 of this blog series, we  discussed how U.S. News and World Report stated that two-thirds of the candidates employees refer get hired and how companies benefit by hiring those employee referrals. Today, we want to address how to build your own personal network.

By creating a network, you expose yourself to unlimited opportunities to have doors opened for you when searching for a new position. And, in turn, you may be able to open some doors for others. So, how do you get started?

It’s easy: start by getting social! Create your profile in LinkedIn and/or Facebook.  Depending on your area of expertise, a Twitter or Pinterest account may also be beneficial. Now start connecting with everyone you know! Here is a list of Top 10 Places to Find People to Grow Your Network:

1. Associates in your current and past places of employment
2. Customers/Clients (both current and past)
3. Friends, family, friends of friends, and neighbors
4. Professional organizations or associations
5. The Alumni program at your alma mater
6. Do you have children? If so, reach out to other parents, teachers, coaches, instructors, and scout leaders
7. Fellow members of any clubs, organizations, church and community groups
8. Get involved with your civic association or homeowners association
9. Do you have a gym membership? Get to know some of your fellow gym members!
10. Include those whose services you use, your hairstylist, mail carrier, doctor, house cleaner, pet sitter, baby sitter, repairman, etc. They all have built their businesses on referrals so they are a great resource.

The network you build will give you the ability to use these contacts to help you find your next position.  Now when you apply for a new job you will use your network for a connection to get your foot in the door with a referral – remember the saying “it’s all about who you know”!

At CC Pace our Referral Program is open to everyone. It’s simple: refer someone to us for a position and, if they get hired, you get a referral bonu$!  So take a minute, and check out our job postings and refer away!  While building a network can seem like a lot of work, in the end the opportunities and professional gains that come your way will be well worth it!

CC Pace recognized four employees who were celebrating their 15^th and 35^th anniversaries at our quarterly meeting earlier this month. CC Pace President, Mike Gordon, had the pleasure of recognizing Bill Lehman (35 years), Laura Campbell (15 years), Bobby Pantall (15 years) and Deb Young (15 years) for their service. Each were recognized for their dedication, contributions and hard work, and were presented with a service award and the always hilarious CC Pace gag gift!

In reflecting on these significant milestones, we decided to do a little research. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics the average tenure for employees with their current employers in the United States is 4.2 years.  At CC Pace our employees’ average tenure is 12.7 years, that’s 3 times the national average!

So, why is the average tenure at CC Pace so high?  Well, we decided that we would ask some of the service award recipients what it is that makes CC Pace such a desirable place to work.  They agreed on several common elements, which include:

• The dedicated people they work with
• The supportive environment received from their leadership
• The work/life balance offered by CC Pace

In addition, Deb appreciates the feeling that she is “making a contribution”, Bobby highlighted “the interesting work” he gets to be part of, while Laura pointed out “the variety of opportunities that employees are given to help the organization grow”.

Or, could the reason the tenure is high be something else, like those world-famous gag gifts given on milestone anniversaries? The free bagels and donuts? The happy hours? The company parties? We may never really know the exact answer – but, it’s apparent that all these things together have created a unique culture where employees choose to stay and succeed in for many years.

Whatever the reason, we are grateful for these employees.  Congratulations and thank you!

CC Pace would like to introduce you to Deepti Agarwal a Senior Technical Recruiter who has been part of our Staffing team since 2013.  Prior to CC Pace, Deepti worked as a full life cycle, technical recruiter supporting both commercial and federal government clients. In addition, she worked with the account managers to strategize in acquiring new and building existing accounts.

What attracted you to CC Pace?
I first learned of CC Pace through my husband who had been working with the company. He spoke highly of CC Pace and felt they never compromised with the quality of candidates submitted to them.  He had known them to be very fair when it came to all aspects of the recruiting process and in all, CC Pace was a very reputable organization to work with.

When the time came for me to a make a move to a new recruiting position, I immediately thought of CC Pace. The interview process went very well and I knew that it was the perfect fit as I learned more about the CC Pace clients and the recruiting process they followed. It reflected that the recruiting group worked as a team and had a very strong value-based system. The environment was friendly and welcoming from the very beginning.

What is the biggest challenge in your current role?
There are actually two challenges. The first one is that we are in a very demanding and competitive marketplace, there is a lot of competition that we are up against every day from both a client and a resource perspective. The second is closing candidates with multiple offers at the end of the recruiting process. This process can take some time to complete as candidates are often interviewing with several companies.

How would you describe CC Pace’s culture?
First and foremost, CC Pace has a very value-based culture and provides a high quality of service to all our clients and candidates. In Staffing, we have a strong team environment and our Staffing group’s management truly respects our opinions and supports us. CC Pace also offers me the perfect work life balance, having flexible working hours makes things much easier for me and my family.

During your time here at CC Pace, can you share with us something you have learned?
Because of the values we uphold we never compromise on the quality of our service.

What do you like to do outside of CC Pace?
I love to spend time with my daughters. I cherish our time together, we enjoy taking dance classes together and of course, they are always up for a shopping trip!

What is your favorite vacation spot and why?
Cancun!  My family and I went there last year and it was absolutely gorgeous!  It was so relaxing and peaceful and there were so many activities and watersports available to participate in – my favorite was snorkeling by a reef, it was just beautiful.

Who inspires you and why?
My father – he is a doctor a heart specialist and he is truly my inspiration. His strong work ethic and sincerity taught me the meaning of what being a hard working individual was all about.

CC Pace joined Cornerstones in December for their annual winter coat event. CC Pace’s corporate contribution in conjunction with employee donations provided 20 coats for this important drive. Cornerstones offers the donated coats to those in need from November through March.

Cornerstones is a nonprofit organization that promotes self-sufficiency by providing support and advocacy for those in need of food, shelter, affordable housing, quality childcare, and other human services.

CC Pace takes pride in supporting our community by offering corporate contributions and participating in various events throughout the year.

Do you ever think about why there are some things in your life that that you do year in and year out, while others fall by the wayside?  For me, I’ve played in a Thanksgiving neighborhood football game every year since we moved into our house in 1994 and I’ve gone on a golfing trip to Las Vegas with some high school and college buddies since my wife arranged the first one for my 40^th birthday (she might have re-thought the idea had she known it would become an annual event).  While you likely don’t know early on what will have staying power, certain events become meaningful in the tradition they become, the camaraderie they build, and the enjoyment they create both during the event and throughout the year telling stories about it.

While these examples cited above have limited to no societal significance, one tradition of mine that does is my attendance at the annual gala for So Others Might Eat (SOME) which just recently occurred.  I’ve been on SOME’s Corporate Advisory Board for the past 18 years and I’ve attended every one of their annual galas during that time except for one (I hope one unavoidable personal conflict in 18 years is excusable).

A little about SOME:  SOME was founded by Father Horace McKenna in 1970 as a soup kitchen to feed DC’s homeless. Under the extraordinary vision and leadership of Father John Adams, SOME expanded its purpose and has taken a more holistic approach to address this critical issue. On top of serving nearly 400,000 meals per year, SOME now offers a comprehensive set of programs to meet the needs of the homeless and to directly address some of the root causes that keep one homeless.  These include: medical and dental clinics; a drug rehabilitation facility; behavioral health services; temporary, transitional, and permanent affordable housing; and a center for employment training. As best expressed in its Mission Statement, SOME is “restoring hope and dignity one person at a time”.

Notwithstanding the enormous number of volunteers who donate their time to the organization, these programs require money to operate. As its major fundraising event, SOME holds its annual Gala to celebrate its work, to present the SOME McKenna Humanitarian award (this year’s honorees were Raul Fernandez, CEO, Object Video and Vice Chairman, Monumental Sports and Linda Jo Smith, Chair, SOME Board of Directors), and to support their programs.  Many of this year’s proceeds are earmarked towards development of a brand-new facility on Benning Road in DC that will include housing, job training, a medical clinic, offices and retail.  This building will greatly expand on SOME’s ability to serve the needy.

As soon as the gala date is announced, I block it off on my calendar.  So why do I attend every year?

It is a tradition that I look forward to and an event that I enjoy attending.  I love the camaraderie among SOME’s Corporate Advisory Board who, like me, religiously attend and support the event. And I get immense enjoyment and personal satisfaction, in this case from hearing about the impacts that we are making in helping to address this significant societal problem that would only get worse if not for organizations like SOME.

Somewhat the same reasons as my annual football game and golf trip, but with a whole lot more purpose.

Father John Adams, President of SOME

CC Pace was ready when we hosted our Thursday Night Football Tailgate Party, which included both current employees and CC Pace alumni!  The evening was filled with a festive BBQ menu, drinks, fun and fabulous door prizes! We were happy to have a number of CC Pace Alumni join us as we gathered and watched the Virginia Tech vs Pittsburgh game on the big screen.  Luckily, for all the Hokies we had in attendance, Virginia Tech was able to bring home the win in a tight game with a final score of 39-36.

To make the evening even more entertaining, we held a cornhole tournament with single elimination rounds.  Champions George Perkins, CC Pace Staffing Director and Tracy Gordon, wife of President, Mike Gordon were the last team standing after a score in the game of 0-14.  They pulled off a huge comeback to claim the title and win the grand prize – Congratulations George and Tracy!

All in all it was a win-win evening for everyone!

Recently, several employees gathered together to help out the local Ronald McDonald House.  The Ronald McDonald house is a place where families of patients who are in the hospital can go to spend the night, have a meal, and rest while they are visiting their family members in the hospital.  The house, located in Falls Church, supports all of the local hospitals and can house up to 8 families at a time.  See more information here.

CC Pace employees prepared a delicious meal for the families and staff including: vegetable beef soup, garden salad, cornbread, cookies and brownies.  In addition, our employees collected a variety of supplies, arts and crafts, and puzzles to go into activity bags for the patients in the hospitals, as well as the family members taking care of them.

Thank you to Beverly, the house night manager, for her help and giving us a tour of this wonderful house.

Well, actually, let’s go watch a baseball game!  After our recent staff meeting, many CC Pacers climbed aboard a bus and we headed downtown to Nationals Park to watch the Washington Nationals play the Colorado Rockies.  Upon arrival, we were rewarded with our very own Max Scherzer Bobblehead.

Although it was a hot and humid day, there was an abundance of refreshing beverages available.  We also enjoyed lots of the traditional ball park food including; hot dogs, pretzels in the shape of a W, peanuts and cracker jacks!  But let’s not forget dessert, the delicious Breyers’ ice cream that helped us cool down a bit.

Despite the hot day, it was a great event and we enjoyed spending time together, having fun and rooting for the Nationals.  Our efforts paid off and the Nationals beat the Rockies 8 – 5, including a home run from one of our favorite players, Jayson Werth.  What a great way to end the evening!

Yoga Pants? Sweats? Shorts? Pajamas? Working from home full-time is more than just having the option of turning on your laptop in comfortable lounge wear. It is learning how to be and remain an effective and productive contributor to your company.

Technology advances have made working remotely easier for workers. In the United States, the percentage of work-at-home employees, among the non-self-employed population, has grown by 103% since 2005 according to GlobalWorkplaceAnalytics.com.  Approximately 10% of CC Pace’s workforce is distributed across the country and work remotely.  In addition, a high percentage of other staff members have the option to telecommute at least one day a week.

How does a home-based employee stay both productive and connected? This article presenting 3 Tips for Productive Remote Work from the Huffington Post gives some sound advice for those workers to follow. It discusses working through shared/cloud based documents with your team; regular calls, emails and open tasks boards; and when the opportunity arises, getting in that all important face-to-face time. CC Pace Senior Consultant, Greg Self, home-based in Dallas, Texas, says to stay relevant and in touch, “Our Financial Services Consulting practice has a weekly meeting to get caught up on current and upcoming client work. Along with those calls, we communicate through regular emails during the week to management on status updates and engagement happenings.”

Another area that plays a key role in successfully working remotely is the infrastructure and support provided by the employer. CC Pace Agile Consultant, Jannette Brace, based in the Seattle, Washington area says, “CC Pace is very good at providing the necessary tools for working remotely. They also budget for trips for remote employees to visit the home office multiple times throughout the year, including the Annual Party which is always a great event!”

Forecasts currently show that by the year 2020 more than 30% of the workforce will be working remotely on a full-time basis – wonder where your desk will be?

Fairfax Corner offers more than just outdoor shopping, dining, and entertainment it is also the place CC Pace has called home for the past 13 years.  As one of Fairfax Corner’s first tenants, we moved into our suite located on the fourth floor in the office building at the top of the plaza in October 2003, and had the opportunity to put our name on the side the building. CC Pace found being based in Fairfax Corner would offer employees close proximity to I-66, Fairfax County Parkway and Route 50, a variety of restaurants, free parking, shopping, personal services and a picturesque setting to greet them on a daily basis.

Over our time in this location, we have all come to enjoy the many offerings that Fairfax Corner provides from the splash fountain and free summer activities that include Concerts at the Corner, Little Tots, Yoga on the Plaza to the year-round variety of holiday activities and festivals.  We are also conveniently located near the Fairfax County Government Center, Wegman’s and Fair Oaks Mall.  Want to catch an event or game at George Mason University after work? No problem as it’s only about 10 minutes away.

Fairfax Corner is growing and is currently expanding its’ presence with the addition of a 950 space parking garage and a new 5 story office building.  The garage is opening this summer and the office building is scheduled to open next year.

As you can see, our employees have much to enjoy and many endless options that are always evolving around here at Fairfax Corner.  It’s a great place to work!

Well, it wasn’t actually a food fight with people throwing food at each other in a cafeteria, but rather a Food Fight to Battle Hunger!  Last Friday, May 13^th, CC Pacers joined hundreds of other volunteers to help package meals to be sent to starving children around the world.  We participated in a mobile food-packing event sponsored by Feed My Starving Children that provides meals to children in over 40 countries.  The event was held at the Dulles Expo Center located in Chantilly, VA, over the weekend of May 13^th through May 15^th.  The goal of the event was to pack 5.1 million meals that would feed over 19,000 starving children worldwide for a year.

We started our session with lots of cheerleading from the event coordinators, donning very attractive hair nets, and energizing music to create lots of fun and excitement as we went to our packing stations.  We all had a good time doing our jobs while dancing and singing to “Up Town Funk”, “YMCA”, “Twist and Shout” and lots of other great tunes.

By the end of our session, the CC Pace team had packed 1316 meals and all of the volunteers for that session, packed over 146,000 meals that will feed 402 children for a year!

Thanks to all the volunteers for helping out at this very worthwhile event.  Already looking forward to the Food Fight next year!

CC Pace President, Mike Gordon held a corporate staff meeting to review our previous year’s results and successes and introduce our business plans and initiatives for 2016.  This meeting provided a great opportunity for employees to understand CC Pace’s strategic imperatives and the direction on where CC Pace is headed this year.  In addition, the corporate staff meeting allowed all of our employees to gather together and have some valuable face to face time with one another. On a daily basis, a large number of our staff are working remotely or at client sites and it is a rare opportunity when we can all be in one place.

A highlight of the meeting was the celebration of Rechelle Card’s 10 year anniversary with CC Pace.  Rechelle, a Senior Technical Recruiter in our Staffing group, was recognized by Mike Gordon for the high value of service she has added to both the recruiting team and the company as a whole. Mike presented her with a service award and the traditional CC Pace gag gift – which was the development of her own TV show “The Recruiter”, a spinoff of “The Bachelor” – it was quite a humorous skit which included several staff members in the roles of candidates and a rose presented to the “winner”.  It was a “show” that is sure to be talked about for years to come!

Once the meeting concluded, we moved downstairs to Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse, here in Fairfax Corner, to enjoy our annual party. The food was excellent as always at Ruth’s Chris, from the beef tenderloin, crab cakes and shrimp to the delicious desserts!  There was something there for everyone to enjoy while reconnecting with fellow employees and getting to know some new ones! All our employees and their guests had a wonderful time and we all look forward to next year’s celebration!

This past year as CC Pace celebrates our 35^th anniversary, it has caused us many moments to pause and reflect on our good fortune.  Now, as we celebrate the holidays we have asked our employees to help us create a list of 35 Things they are thankful for this year.  Enjoy!

I am thankful for…

1. Good Health
2. The wonderful opportunity offered to me by CC Pace.
3. CC Pace’s flexibility and support that allows me the ability to fulfill my volunteer commitments.
4. Working within walking distance to Coastal Flats.
5. Clients who appreciate the high quality of our work and people.
6. Netflix
7. The new Star Wars movie “The Force Awakens”!
8. Our great company reputation built by previous and current employees.
9. Our Fairfax Corner office complex.
10. Phil’s laugh (Philippa Fewell is the Managing Director of our Enterprise Solutions practice)
11. CC Pace’s family friendly policies and atmosphere
12. The Thanksgiving Pie I received from Mike Gordon!
13. Fantasy Baseball Championship (or runner up!).
14. The Client to whom/which I was assigned –  I love this client, my team and my role on the team!
15. My children’s smiles that I see every day!
16. A great work Culture at CC Pace.
17. The Cloud.
18. The queso at Uncle Julio’s Rio Grande – yum!
19. My life, my love, my family (including our four footed creatures) and my work.
20. I am thankful for our great team here at CC Pace.
21. Family and good friends!
22. Online shopping
23. Staffing’s Holiday Breakfast!
24. Being able to spend the holidays with my family!
25. Today’s technology – after traveling for a week without access to a cell phone, I have a new appreciation for Google, text messaging and internet access!
26. Free parking at work!
27. Any day that 66 is not backed up!
28. Clay’s joke of the day – they never cease to put a smile on my face in the mornings.
29. My furbaby, despite the fact that when I rescued her, I did so under the belief that she was mute and calm. She is neither.
30. Amazon Prime for catering to my procrastination.
31. Hoverboards
32. Bagel and Donut day as well as the fresh fruit provided by CC Pace.
33. Being in a great location that minimizes my commute and affords many places to shop, eat and catch up on errands.
34. Moral victories in Fantasy Football.
35. The U. S. service men and women that protect our freedoms.

In America there are an estimated 50 million pumpkin pies served on Thanksgiving Day each year!  After all, pie is the traditional dessert for Thanksgiving dinner, and that is something each employee at CC Pace knows very well.  Since the 1980s, CC Pace President, Mike Gordon has given each employee a pie for Thanksgiving to enjoy – and, not just any pie, but a pie from Mom’s Apple Pie Company.

Mom’s Apple Pie Company, based in Leesburg and Occoquan, Virginia is owned by Avis Renshaw and has been featured in Southern Living Magazine, Fox News, Chowhound.com and many other news outlets bringing the spotlight to their famous pies. Mike Gordon came upon Mom’s Apple Pie Company, many years ago when both businesses were located in the same complex. Since then, Mike has made it a tradition to provide a pie for each employee during the holiday season.

Over the years, it is estimated that CC Pace has purchased over 1,000 pies from Mom’s for our employees.  While pumpkin pie is the most popular pie across the nation, at our offices the Top 5 Pie Selections are:

1. Wild Blueberry Crumb
2. Pecan
3. Butter Pecan Apple Crumb
4. Chocolate Meringue
5. Bourbon Walnut

So it appears, the taste buds at CC Pace are quite a bit sweeter than what a pumpkin pie delivers. Although, maybe the question we should be asking is, why aren’t CC Pace employees ordering this Thanksgiving staple? How many employees are choosing to bake their own pumpkin pies? Those are some questions we will need to explore for next year’s Thanksgiving blog!

CC Pace hosted a celebration for our 35^th Anniversary on October 15^th at our headquarters in Fairfax Corner.  The event was a cocktail reception where employees, clients, friends and CC Pace Alumni enjoyed cocktails and delicious hors d’oeuvres while reminiscing and reuniting.

The highlight of the evening was a special presentation by President, Mike Gordon who explained how the company began, and the intriguing story behind the name CC Pace! During his presentation, Mike took guests on a whirlwind tour of all the locations CC Pace had called home before moving into our current offices in 2002.

CC Pace choose to commemorate our 35th Anniversary by giving back to our local community by hosting a food drive for a local food bank with a goal to donate 350 lbs. of food. Through the generosity of all our employees and guests, we collected 451 lbs. of food for the Lorton Community Action Center!

Seeing so many clients, friends and familiar faces in our offices that evening, we were honored to have been able to share such a grand achievement with so many who have played a part in our success!

CC Pace employees took a break from their busy schedules for a Cinco de Mayo fiesta! This “holiday” is not Mexican Independence Day as most Americans think.  Cinco de Mayo is the celebration of the Mexican victory over the French at the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862. Mexican Independence Day is actually September 16th.

It just wouldn’t be Cinco de Mayo without Margaritas and luckily our Staffing Director had a spare Margarita machine we were able to use.  The fiesta included authentic Mexican goodies brought in by our staff, including homemade Salsa Verde and Tres Leches Cake!

The event also incorporated some friendly competition during a Wii bowling challenge.  The winner will remain nameless, but their victory may be short lived as there is talk of a rematch in the near future.