SNJ Business People

Working Hard and Having Fun ~ Anthony Mongeluzo

06/09/08

  Anthony Mongeluzo planned to become the next Howard Stern or Sean Hannity, but a Rowan University professor recognized that he was better suited for building networking concepts in the business world than creating controversy on the radio.
  “I was at Rowan majoring in communications and my goal was radio, some type of talk show, maybe on politics,” remembers Mongeluzo, “and my advisor, professor Jay Chaskes, told me I had quite an entrepreneurial streak, yet I wasn’t too much of geek. He thought MIS might be a good major for my skill set and personality.”
  His entrepreneurial side had a simple goal: he’d do anything to make a buck, such as running a video game exchange out of his parents Philadelphia home during high school. The geek side loved computers, networking and any combination thereof that made things simpler.
  The result is The Pro Computer Service, with offices in Medford, Collingswood and Newark, and revenues that have gone from $450,000 in 2005, to an expected $2.5 million when this year closes.
  “It’s a simple concept, really,” says Mongeluzo. ”We go into any business and make sure the technology works for you.  Too many people adjust what they do to what their computers can do. A business owner will say, ‘QuickBooks can’t do it, so I can’t do it.’ What we do is set you up so your technology accomplishes what you want to accomplish.”
  The Pro Computer Service now has 16 full-time employees following Mongeluzo’s lead, and they see to it that a diverse group of businesses and specialists accomplish what they want to:
They have:
  --created virtual offices for doctors so they can connect to their patients’ records and communications from any site;
  --put some zip in cash flow by creating, for South Jersey companies like Harriet’s Oil, digital invoicing that is matched up real time and mailed as the product is delivered;
  --implement helpful tech tools for New Jersey’s head trauma program that helps rehabilitate people who have suffered some type of brain injury;
  --built, from scratch, a wireless inventory tracking system for Mack PPI, a distributor for AirBorne;
  --managed the technology relocation for the insurance giant, AIG, as it moved across the country.
  Mongeluzo keeps tabs on all this by working 15 hours a day and wearing big shoes.
  “I don’t go out and install things anymore, or go out and trouble shoot,” he says, “but my footprint is on everything we do for a client. And so is my vision.”
  What he sees in the future is PCS doing $25-30 million in revenues each year by doing what his web site suggests ---www.helpmepcs.com.
  He actually wouldn’t mind some down time, and hopes as his employees continue to learn the PCS model, he can cut back to “10 hours a day.”
  As a single guy living in Marlton, he tries to relax with podcasts on real estate investing and self-help discussions. “Away from the office I love to eat at many of the great South Jersey restaurants and of course have some fun in Philly,” he says.
  He’s also pretty focused. When he took on a partner to help start a web design component for PCS, called 9th Dymension, he realized quickly a partnership didn’t have a chance, and they parted amicably.
  Why the split? “He had more in life than this,” says Mongeluzo of his short-lived partner. “I’ll give you an example. He had a wife.”

  •   This month we continue to look at some key metrics that create a snapshot of the regional economy.
      We add a few barometers each month, so that we end up with a pretty comprehensive picture of what’s happening in the region by year’s end.
      In January, we started with the basics, population, square miles, median household income and unemployment rate. This month, we’re removing media household income (it’s an annual number) and updating the unemployment numbers (every South Jersey county was up…the state was up…and the country was flat).

  •   Since we like to bring together panels of experts in their fields, we asked a half dozen of the region’s top IT and Communications gurus to share their thinking on a couple of subjects that we’ve been pondering.
      Specifically, we asked these two questions....