Game Day at CC Pace – Do Not Disturb

We’ll share a secret with you: we have a bit of a Fantasy Football fanaticism situation here at CC Pace. It’s true, we have a longstanding tradition of hosting a Fantasy Football league called the Pacesetters, and people can’t wait to rush into the Pacesetters scene every year! This gridiron competition began about 20 years ago and has grown in popularity over the years. The Pacesetters league includes not only CC Pace employees but our alumni and friends too.

Our football fanatics eagerly await the arrival of draft day each year, which kicks off the football frenzy around here. The creativity starts flowing as the team names emerge, producing the likes of “Get Ready to Scrumble”, “Bad News Beers”, “Country Roads Take Mahomes” and the ultra-competitive “G2” a women-owned team who have consistently made it to the playoffs and can claim one winning season themselves!  Needless to say, a lot of Monday meetings start with a quick impromptu recap of the weekend games, the impact on the standings, and a healthy sprinkle of smack talk.

A big part of the Pacesetters’ success comes from the cool and collected approach of its Commissioner, Mike Gordon (CEO of CC Pace).  However, given the nature of our business, we are no strangers to analytics, strategy, and tactical planning. Things like selecting starting lineups, weekly reviews of rosters, and injury reports are often tackled with an agile mindset and a Kanban board or two.

Although highly competitive, the league is still an amazing opportunity for employees to connect and have fun.  CC Pace Marketing Director Jenna Bayer, the current owner of the ‘Pop, Drop and Lockett’ says, “I love the competitiveness of our league, but the best part is having an excuse to connect with colleagues that I don’t interact with on a regular basis. It’s fun to break up the workday with a little smack talk!” George Perkins, CC Pace Director and a seasoned Pacesetters member says, “Playing is all about the camaraderie with colleagues and staying in touch with CC Pace alumni. It’s always fun to reconnect with old friends. Win or lose, the kick-off of Fantasy Football season is always something to look forward to and get excited about. It’s truly one of the best times of the year!”

The reality is that Fantasy Football is a test of skill and knowledge, but it requires a fair bit of luck too. So, good luck to all the fantasy players out there – May the odds be in your favor and the injuries be few!

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! 

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.

Who says Halloween is just for kids? At CC Pace, we have always relished the opportunity to dress up, eat candy and create a spooky ambiance.  Through the years, the hallmark CC Pace creativity has run amok when it comes to costumes! The American Flag gang, the Pink Ladies, and President Mike Gordon as Waldo are memorable standouts.  We can also proudly boast that our cauldron has bubbled some toil and trouble with all the festive Halloween parties we have had!

In that same ghoulish spirit, and with another Halloween upon us where we will not be able to celebrate together, we decided to memorialize this year’s Happy Hauntings by asking our CC Pace team to send in photos of their Halloween spirit.

So, with a big “Boo!” to you from our crew, we present to you CC Pace Halloween, past and present! Enjoy!

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’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 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!

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!

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!

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!

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!

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 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.