James L. McNeil 50, founder and CEO of McNeil Technologies Inc. in Springfield, Virginia
Opinions expressed by BIZ Experiences contributors are their own.
Description: Managementconsulting company
Start-up: $4,500 in 1985
Sales: 2003 projected salesof $46 million
Fed Up: After a long stintworking with the federal government in international programs andtwo years at a small contracting company, McNeil decided to use hisexpertise in his own venture as "a way [to lift] the glassceiling."
Divide and Conquer:McNeil TechnologiesInc. (McNEIL) has four main divisions: language services,consulting services, information management and security services.A smaller portion of McNEIL's business is Dunwoody Press Inc.,a subsidiary that publishes language books, dictionaries andglossaries, and McNeil Multilingual Inc., which concentrates oncommercial language work for clients such as Merrill Lynch andGeico Insurance.
Big Screen: One of threecontractors selected by the Transportation Security Administration(TSA) to supply airport passenger and baggage screeners, McNeilSecurity Inc. (a McNEIL subsidiary) is the only minority firmparticipating. Its Rochester International Airport contract withthe TSA is worth $12 million in annual revenues and runs through2004. Although it was a big win for McNEIL, they'd already beenproviding security services to the Defense Intelligence Agency, theNational Imagery and Mapping Agency and the Defense ThreatReduction Agency.
Covert Op: The threat ofterrorism has other McNEIL divisions in demand, too. Its languageservices division has been translating Middle Eastern languages anddocuments for the government. And if there is a terrorist alert,McNEIL's information management center can be found handlingbackground operations for the government.
