Page 34 - BusinessWest May 30, 2022

WE TALKING CLASSIC ROCK? WE’RE TALKING ROCK 102!
SPRINGFIELD’S CLASSIC ROCK ...AND A LOT OF IT!
Mike Sheil, left, says Whalley Computer Associates’ new building will allow the company to better serve its clients.
In one instance, a higher education client was looking for 400 lap- tops to outfit staff members who had been sent home to work.
“I received the request on a Saturday,” Sheil recalled. A colleague found the product, provided a quote for what it would cost, and sent
it to the client. “For the first time in my career, I received a purchase order from a public university on a Sunday.” By Monday afternoon, 400 laptops were shipped to the university.
Looking ahead, Sheil said Whalley will soon begin to grow its physi- cal presence with a new 84,000-square-foot building next to its current headquarters in Southwick. Plans call for locating the OEM division in the new space as well as expanding warehouse storage and improving delivery options.
“The new building allows us to go to our clients and let them know we can do even more for them, so that’s exciting,” Sheil said. “This is an opportunity to grow our business in North America while showing our commitment to Southwick and Western Mass.”
For this issue and its focus on technology, BusinessWest takes an in- depth look at Whalley’s long and intriguing history, and at what’s next for a business that helps its clients get it — and IT.
Taking Big Bytes
Tracing that history, Sheil noted that, in the early 1970s, Agawam math teacher John Whalley purchased a small software consulting firm that had a few clients. Working out of his basement after school and during the summer months, Whalley began to add customers, and by 1979 estab- lished Whalley Computer Associates.
“Before COVID you would get a quote, get a PO, order the product, it comes within a week and we can install it the next week. If we can get back to that type of normal business environment, I believe our company will experience tremendous growth.
By 1984 he moved the business
out of the basement and in 1985, left
teaching to concentrate on growing
his company. Whalley is now CEO of
the company, which is located in a
62,500-square-foot state-of-the-art
building where 200 employees provide
products and services to more than
20,000 customers around the world.
Whalley customers range from
small businesses to corporations, as
well as educational institutions and healthcare organizations. Clients tell Whalley representatives what challenges they need to address in their computer systems. Whalley then orders the product, configures
it to fit the client’s needs, then delivers and installs the product at the client’s site. There are other resellers who simply order the product and
”
34 MAY 30, 2022
TECHNOLOGY BusinessWest