Christophe S. Borg, CEO
BorgSolutions, Inc.

Christophe Borg is co-founder, CEO and Chairman of BorgSolutions, Inc. Chris is a 15 year veteran of the IT industry where he has worked as director of IT since 1994 in various companies including PCOrder, Inc., Trilogy, and MessageOnce, Inc. (later acquired by Dell).  In 2003, Chris co-founded BorgSolutions to fill the fleet industry’s need for an integrated fleet management and telematics solution. 

BorgSolutions’ primary focus is on business process automation, in specific to the automation of fleet administrative management with regards to maintenance and management.  With customers in the United States, Puerto Rico, Latin America, Europe and the Middle East, BorgSolutions has proven that a global minded multi-lingual platform can be successful in streamlining fleets irrelevant of its location.

BorgSolutions is the leading provider of fleet management solutions that effectively reduce operating, labor and other costs for construction, oil & gas, fleet rental and transportation companies.  Its flagship platform, BorgFleet, empowers customers to easily manage all aspects of their fleet’s operations, and utilizes real-time data analytics for predictive maintenance and repair scheduling, parts, inventory and fuel management, and various otherwise time-intensive, costly tasks. BorgSolutions has been recognized in multiple articles including:

• Canadian Auto World, "BorgSolutions has the Recipe for Increased Fleet Sales"
• FleetMag, "BorgSolutions Introduces Fleet Maintenance Software for Service Providers"
• Heavy Equipment Guide, " Maintenance Management Software for Canadian Fleets"

“Throughout my career, I have worked in the high tech industry from software developer, to CIO, and now CEO at BorgSolutions. Those experiences have given me a deep understanding of what it takes for a product to be successful, from an engineering standpoint and from a business standpoint. Defining and managing those requirements for businesses to grow, is what I enjoy and where I excel. At BorgSolutions we are proud of having grown the business organically without using VCs, and of our strong customer base.  

Joining TAB has allowed me to meet many successful business owners and share with them questions and issues that only business owners understand. We collectively solve difficult problems. TAB has also brought a bit of sanity to my work."

                                                                                                                                              -Christophe S. Borg

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Paul Skeith, Managing Partner
Richard Rodriguez & Skeith LLP

Paul Skeith, the managing partner for Richards Rodriguez & Skeith, understands business.  When he’s not representing mid-sized businesses and nonprofits as their outside general counsel, he’s running a growing business himself.  Paul has served as managing partner for Richards Rodriguez & Skeith since he founded the firm with his partners in 2005.  In his spare time, he attends The Alternative Board of Austin peer-advisory membership organization to better his business acumen.  Even Paul’s commitment to the community reflects his dedication to business pursuits.  He serves on the board of Capital Idea, a local nonprofit which empowers working families by providing competitive professional skills to enable them to create life-long financial independence.

Mr. Skeith’s practice in business and corporate law includes negotiating mergers and acquisitions, drafting and reviewing business contracts, structuring business entities, real estate transactions, employment contracts, and business succession strategy.  Paul’s clients are busy CEOs, entrepreneurs, nonprofit directors and board members, which is why he often makes site visits to his clients’ places of business.  Site visits allow Paul to gain a better understanding of his clients’ business environment and staff.  He also finds that these visits offer him a chance to converse with business owners and managers on a one on one basis.  He believes attorneys must be attentive to client needs, which is one reason why the firm conducts a biannual client survey to obtain constructive feedback.  To encourage participation, client responses are matched with a firm donation to the American Cancer Society.

Paul is dedicated to giving back to his community.  He recently completed his service as an appointed member of the City of Austin Electric Utility Commission, and now serves on the board for Capital Idea, a local nonprofit.  His leadership role in Capital Idea underscores his commitment to helping low income working families in Central Texas by empowering them with professional training and networking opportunities.  His invitation as a board member came from his experience as a business leader and his participation in Austin Interfaith, an organization of congregations, schools, and other civic institutions devoted to creating a healthy dialogue between citizens, business, and local government. Paul also now serves on the Vestry (board) of St. David’s Episcopal Church.

Paul earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Pennsylvania, where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa, before moving to Austin to attend the University of Texas to seek a dual degree in law and Public Affairs.  His training at the LBJ School of Public Affairs offered him additional background in nonprofit management.  As a law student, he was a staff member of the Texas Journal on Civil Liberties and Civil Rights.  Paul was chosen after law school to serve as a law clerk to the Honorable Thomas M. Reavley, Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.

Richards Rodriguez & Skeith LLP provides outsourced general counsel services to businesses in Texas. They help clients resolve disputes, document key agreements, understand and comply with government regulations, protect their assets, raise capital, minimize taxes, buy and sell real estate, and protect ideas and inventions.

This month marks the fifth anniversary of the firm.  To celebrate, the firm is rolling out a series 90-second videos to give business owners a 10,000 foot view of hot button legal issues.  The links to these videos will be posted by the end of this month on their website and TAB Austin’s LinkedIn group and blog.  The first topic – how to get your business ready for health reform.

“I have been a TAB member since co-founding my law firm five years ago.  Law school did not teach me how to run a business – my TAB board members and facilitators taught me that.”
                                                                                                                                                              -Paul Skeith

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Today we are highlighting some great awards that have been received by Austin CEO’s and active members in The Alternative Board of Austin.  

Samantha Young: Texas Blazing Star Award

The Women’s Chamber of Commerce of Texas held their annual awards luncheon for Texas Business Woman of the Year (TBOY) on April 22nd. Austin business owner Samantha Young won one of the coveted Texas Blazing Star Awards! The Blazing Star Awards “recognize businesswomen on the success fast track who follow their own distinctive paths.”

Samantha owns Practical Care Continuum, a leading and innovative home care business, and has been a member of TAB Austin since 2005. Samantha was joined by fellow Austinite Mary Pat Mueller, owner of Door Number 3, and several other Texan women in winning a Blazing Star.

Kevin O’Brien: Rackspace Fanati Award

The Fanati Award from Rackspace for Outstanding Customer Service for the year of 2009 went to PetRelocation.com! The award was won with the help of PetRelocation’s own customers in creating a video sharing how they have been supported.

PetRelocation.com is a full service pet relocation company which specializes in the local, national and international transportation of live animals. It was founded by TAB member Kevin O’Brien and his wife in 2000.

Congratulations to Samantha and Kevin-Austin business leaders!

Jay Pearce, President
Reunion Ranch

Jay Pearce is a truly versatile entrepreneur.  He was born and raised in Austin, Texas and started his first company, J’s Roof and Gutter Cleaning Service, at the age of 20 (he still believes there is a huge market for gutter cleaning).  Three years later, Jay formed Precision Ground Care, maintaining lawns for small offices and apartment complexes.  He obtained his real estate license five years later in Georgetown, Texas, and was ranked #5 among 265 agents.

In 1986, Jay started the Reunion Ranch Event Facility, entertaining large corporate groups.  In August of 1991, he was cited as 1 of 3 outstanding entrepreneurs in the state of Texas by the Entrepreneur Magazine of California.  In 1998, he started Cowboy Cooked Briskets, offering pre-cooked briskets in grocery store chains.  He had never dealt with the retail industry before, let alone the grocery industry, and describes the experience as “tough,” learning some expensive and very valuable lessons.

Next, Jay returned to his passion of real estate and started accumulating property.   He was asked to teach real estate courses for a local real estate school in 2003.  For every 40 students taught, 3 to 4 wanted to work for him, so Jay started Jay Pearce Real Estate.  The company grew up to 58 agents in 23 months and in 2007 Jay was awarded the Realtor of the Year for all of Williamson County.

His family business of Reunion Ranch was still going strong, and when the president stepped down, Jay moved back to take over the position in 2006.   Today, Jay is very happy to be back in the saddle at Reunion Ranch and says, “life is good.”

“My initial idea was to join The Alternative Board of Austin (TAB) with CEO peers in order to increase my revenues.   However, I have now learned that the contacts are invaluable. The knowledge of the group and their business experience is very helpful in my own business and life.”

                                                                                                                                                     -Jay Pearce

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Dan Steinborn, Founder & President
PrintGlobe

In 1995, two years after graduating with an undergraduate in Public Relations from The University of Texas at Austin, Dan founded Corporate Communications of Austin, a regional graphic design and print brokering firm. Five years later, Corporate Communications of Austin embarked on an ambitious online business strategy and launched PrintGlobe.com.  Today, PrintGlobe.com operates the largest business printing superstore online and has earned business from more than 30% of the Fortune 500 companies and over 30,000 customers. 

Entering its eighth consecutive year of double-digit growth, PrintGlobe was named by the Austin Business Journal one of the “50 Fastest Growing Companies” in 2006 and 2007 and has also been awarded “Best 50 Places” to work in Central Texas.  PrintGlobe has also been recognized by the Inc. 5000 in 2007, 2008 and 2009. Recently, Dan was invited by Google to serve as a member of its national Google AdWords Advertiser Council, a select group of marketing executives who provide strategic advice and feedback to Google.  In his personal time, Dan enjoys live music and mountain biking and has served as a campaign advisor to political candidates.

Dan has been a member of TAB since 2004. Lessons learned from fellow board members have helped Dan and PrintGlobe grow the company from $3,000,000 in sales to more than $10,000,000 in 2010. Dan stated in a recent interview, “I made a great decision several years ago to join the Austin TAB organization and be part of a monthly board meeting with other business owners of growth companies. They’ve inspired and counseled me and helped me to push the limits of what I thought I could do.”

For more info about Dan and PrintGlobe, check out his recent profile in the Austin Business Journal.

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