'Behind the Counter' Journal Article

Photograph by: Carol Stewart	behind the counter | 2008
David and Tom Pence

As a Clemson computer engineering graduate, David Pence realized Greenville lacked the level of technical business services he found elsewhere. In 1999, he founded Acumen I.T. to do something about it. Fellow Clemson graduate, Tom Pence, also David's father, came onboard in 2000 as general manager, C.O.O. having 25 years experience in marketing.

The locally owned and operated company experienced a 1000 percent growth rate in the last five years, proving David was right. Acumen is passionate about providing turn-key, Fortune 500-level business consulting and support services to small and midsized businesses. Named the Small Business of the Year by the Greenville Chamber, Acumen offers Microsoft Dynamics business consulting with GP and CRM, business class phone systems and predictive dialers for companies and call centers, Managed I.T. services, Document Imaging, custom software development and Web services.

With its growing staff of more than 50, Acumen now services several hundred clients across the Southeast.

Outsourcing these services to a local company that specializes in this area is simply smart. It shows good business acumen!

Committing to their employees and to the future, David and Tom divested a significant portion of their ownership to their full-time employees in 2007.