Multi-tasking moms foster Gurnee based Wiilcom's biz-tech firm’s success

GURNEE, Ill. - May 20, 2014 - PRLog -- Glitter-speckled stars, crayon-hued flowers and glue-tacked butterflies are more than colorful adornments at this busy Gurnee biz-tech office.

They’re a testament to the owner’s winning working-mother philosophy.

“We know that moms — and dads, too — are hard workers,” said Jonathan Kness, owner of Gurnee-based Wiilcom Business Technology Solutions. “But moms more often bear the larger burden when it comes to child care. I have found that if you provide them with the flexibility that they need, they will help take your business to amazing heights.”

Kness started his business out of his Waukegan home in 2004, about the same time that he and his wife, Karen, learned they soon would be parents. He now employs 10 men and women at Wiilcom, which sells, installs and services IT networks, telephones and security camera systems, and boasts more than 1,200 customers throughout the Chicago area.

While some employers might hesitate to employ moms with younger children, Kness credits “the moms of Wiilcom” with helping him to achieve phenomenal gains.

“In my heart I know that it’s in large part because here, they don’t have to fear job discipline or job loss when it’s necessary to stay home with a sick child,” said Kness, who allows work-from-home options and flexible hours when needed.

“The beautiful thing is, they do not abuse it, and, in fact, appreciate it so much that they work that much harder,” said Kness, adding that his office staff includes three moms who have a combined seven school-aged children.

Happy employees are productive employees, Kness said. And in turn, they’ve helped Wiilcom gain a name for making customers happy.

“I found Wiilcom to really use common sense and to have our best interests at heart,” Lake County Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Stewart Kerr said after Wiilcom replaced the chamber’s phone equipment. “The service also was very timely and very reasonable.”