GDC IT Solutions acquires Intrac Technology

Heather Graves

Staff

August 12, 2024

CASCADE – Roger Thompson said he started Intrac Technology two-plus decades ago to provide comprehensive IT solutions to small businesses in a cost-effective manner.

“We were central in Sheboygan, but we stretched as far north as Manitowoc and down past Milwaukee to Racine and out to Fond du Lac – that was the bulk of our customers,” he said. “We worked with several manufacturing facilities, professional organizations and even some mom-and-pop shops.”

GDC IT Solutions, Business Development Manager Scott Gavin said, has been doing business with Wisconsin companies for the “better part of 25 years” and has had a physical presence in the Fox Valley since 2014.

GDC, he said, delivers services in the areas of application development and support, hardware sales and deployment, managed IT solutions, networking and infrastructure, IT service desk and workforce staffing services. 

The recent acquisition of Intrac by GDC, Gavin said, is a win-win – allowing both companies to continue supporting Northeast Wisconsin businesses and expand those offerings.

He said the acquisition will expand GDC’s offerings further south into Sheboygan and the surrounding region.

Thompson said becoming part of GDC “opens up doors I was afraid to knock on” because Intrac didn’t have the capabilities to support some customers.

“If you get yourself in a situation with a customer that says, ‘well, we’ve got three more offices in Madison, Milwaukee and Chicago’ – that would have been a scary conversation for me two weeks ago, but now I can say, ‘we’ll take care of you.’”

Getting to this point

Thompson said he was first contacted by GDC in March.

“We had our first discovery phone call that same month,” he said.

Through multiple Zoom meetings and in-person conversations, Thompson said he was measuring the capabilities and culture of GDC – “again, what my customers were doing and what they expected.”

“Right from the get-go, I could tell this was a great fit,” he said. “GDC was transparent about how they take care of customers – that was my first concern, how they do business. And I felt comfortable from the beginning.”

Gavin said during his first interactions with Thompson and his team, “it was clear that the culture he had implemented, the way they go to market and the way they take care of their customers aligned well with what we strive for at GDC.”

“It doesn’t always feel that way when there is this kind of marriage in the business world,” he said. “But (from the beginning), it feels like this was going to be good for both parties – for all the customers within Intrac and for growing our footprint in a way that made sense.”

Being located in the Fox Valley, Gavin said GDC has done work with companies in the Green Bay, Appleton and Manitowoc areas for the past 10 years or so.

He said GDC has also done a fair amount of work in the Milwaukee area as well.

“Sheboygan happens to be in between the two, and it’s been an area we haven’t played in quite as well yet,” he said.

Gavin said having a stronger local presence story would help with that.

“A company located in Cascade doing a lot of business in Plymouth, Sheboygan and Fond du Lac fits that niche,” he said. “Then when you find out the reason the customers are within Intrac is because they love their engineers, they love the service they’re receiving and they feel like they’re treated with a lot of priority – it’s like, ‘oh, this is the way we want to introduce ourselves to eastern Wisconsin if we haven’t already been introduced.’”

Business as usual

Though GDC has acquired Intrac, Gavin said nothing will change.

“We’ve kept the entire technical team, we kept Roger on board – they’re part of the GDC team now and couldn’t be happier about that,” he said. “I think the key thing is that customers and additional organizations that chose to partner with us in the future are going to have more tools in the tool belt and more options by working with us.”

Gavin said GDC has a wider array of services than Intrac had previously.

“We want to grow organically,” he said. “We’re not going to force anything.”

Thompson said GDC brings more things to the table – including a 24/7 Help Desk.

In addition to the GDC team in the Fox Valley and the gained team in the Cascade area, Gavin said beyond that, GDC has 200-plus professionals who support whatever endeavor a customer is working on.

“If something gets a little beyond the skis for us, we have subject matter experts in our headquarters in Pennsylvania who can help with those things,” he said. “Whether it be application development, service desk, really complex networking or server-based needs – we have the capabilities that those customers require.” 

Gavin said he often describes GDC as “we’re big enough to serve you but small enough to take care of you.”

“We hit that goalie lock sweet spot of having the capabilities and the expertise of the big boys, while at the same time having the attention to detail and customer service of a smaller shop,” he said.

A good fit

Gavin said in the few weeks since the acquisition, things have “exceeded my expectations dramatically.”

“The feedback has been fantastic from our customers,” he said. “They wanted to make sure the individual employees they worked with at Intrac stayed on board and the value they saw from Intrac remained – and that has been the case.”

Gavin said like with anything, the best way to earn new business is through word of mouth.

“We want our customers to be our advocates and be fans of ours – that’s business 101, right?” he said. “And so far, we’re seeing that.”

As GDC proves the acquisition of Intrac was “good for all parties,” Gavin said they anticipate even more word-of-mouth PR.

Thompson said as they have put the “nuts and bolts of the combo team together,” all current Intrac customers are still getting taken care of.

“The guys are out doing what they did last Monday and the Monday before that,” he said.

After the company completes its systems integration, Thompson said, “then I think we can enter the phase where we go to the customer and let them know our new capabilities.”

Under GDC, Thompson said “his guys” can address any size and any technology concern customers have – including schools.

“I’ve been staying away from the schools because that takes some depth to cover, and at the time, Intrac wasn’t able to support that,” he said.

GDC, Gavin said, has significant experience with education – both public and private.

“I think we have good relationships with superintendents and IT directors throughout all of eastern Wisconsin,” he said. “We provide some differentiated value our customers appreciate.” 

Whether it’s cybersecurity, trends with artificial intelligence, database management and how to utilize big data in a way that doesn’t overwhelm small- to mid-sized customers, Gavin said these are things GDC has been leading on for years now.

“Our applications development team is the best of the best, in my view,” he said. “We have subject matter experts in place who can engage with these customers in meaningful ways that maybe weren’t able to a couple of years ago.”

Northeast Wisconsin focus

Gavin said adding a family and community-oriented company like Intrac “brings a lot of credibility to what GDC can do.”

“We’re going to keep the best of all that culture as part of GDC in Wisconsin,” he said.

Thompson said the Sheboygan County area is interesting because it has several small mom-and-pop shops, as well as larger-scale companies.

“Kohler Company is here, Johnsonville is here, The Vollrath Company is here, Mercury Marine is in Fond du Lac – a lot of large manufacturers,” he said. “Not that we’re going after them necessarily, but we wouldn’t be afraid if they needed our help or some other type of support now.”

Sheboygan County, Thompson said, is also an interesting market.

“You have Road America, Whistling Straits – we bring in the PGA tour,” he said. “It’s an interesting mix of both city and country, and I’m glad to now have the capabilities (to help the) larger companies.”

Thompson said many of Intrac’s customers were not “big city customers.”

“If GDC was coming in out of Chicago or something, trying to engulf Sheboygan County, it wouldn’t go as well,” he said. “Having a 20-plus year local presence that GDC has, (makes a difference).”

Thompson said many of the businesses in the region are connected to the community.

“I play softball and pickleball with my customers,” he said. “We do all kinds of things in the area to bring everyone together – and that’s the way all the businesses are in the area.”

Gavin said for him, one of the best parts of the acquisition process was the drive between the two offices.

“It is absolutely beautiful country,” he said.

Gavin said GDC is excited to further familiarize itself with the community and the people and businesses that call it home.

“We will be getting more familiar with those communities in a way that is more profound and meaningful than we have been in the past,” he said.

Gavin said the community-centric focus of Northeastern Wisconsin is similar to that of central Pennsylvania – where GDC corporate headquarters are located.

“There are many similarities between the business culture in the Fox Valley area – and now the Sheboygan area – and central Pennsylvania,” he said.

For more on GDC IT Solutions, visit gdcitsolutions.com.