One of nation’s leading tech firms enters Chicago market

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - Jan. 13, 2015 - PRLog -- GRAND RAPIDS, MICH.) -  OST (Open Systems Technologies (http://www.ostusa.com)), a $120 million technology firm with offices in Grand Rapids, Detroit and Ann Arbor, Michigan, Minneapolis, Minnesota and London, England announces it has entered the Chicago market in January to better serve its growing client roster, which includes notable companies Navistar (http://www.navistar.com/navistar/) and Great Dane (http://www.greatdanetrailers.com/).

The privately-held firm, which recently was named as one of 75 Cool Places to Work in Michigan (http://coolplacestoworkmi.com/)byCrain’s Detroit Business (http://www.crainsdetroit.com/) and Best Companies Group (http://www.bestcompaniesgroup.com/), and also a National Best & Brightest Company to Work For in 2014 (http://www.101bestandbrightest.com/winners), has secured a lease for 2,000 square feet of office space in the Northern Trust Bank Building in Oak Brook Terrace. OST is currently staffing the office with two employees, but hopes to employ up to 8 new professionals in its first six months.

“OST is already supporting managed services, data center and application development accounts in Chicago, and we hope that our physical presence in Chicago will allow us to establish several new accounts over the next few years,” says OST President Meredith Bronk. (http://www.ostusa.com/ost-team/)  “We believe that we will be successful in attracting top talent by extending the OST culture into this community similar to what we have done in Minneapolis and Detroit.”

OST, with 180 employees across five locations, has a knack for creating spaces that promote fun, creativity and innovation amongst its employees and clients. Its 3-story headquarters building in downtown Grand Rapids has a 1,500 square foot full-service kitchen and fire place in its lobby, and regularly serves as a congregating spot for staff, clients and community groups.  That space was just one of the reasons why OST was recently chosen as one of Michigan’s coolest places to work.  OST also has offices in downtown Detroit and Minneapolis.

“Although the ‘cool place’ award honors OST, it’s really our employees that make OST a cool place to work,” said Michael Lomonaco, OST Marketing Director. “You can have cool offices, but it takes great people to create a cool workplace culture, and our people has made it just that. (a quick glance at the firm’s Flickr page (https://www.flickr.com/photos/open-systems-technologies/s...) provides a taste of the OST personality)

Aside from the INC. Magazine 5,000 list and recent ‘cool place’ recognition, OST has been recognized as one of Michigan’s 101 Best & Brightest Companies to Work for 5 of the past 6 years (four years straight), CRN’s Tech Elite 250 in 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013, CRN’s Managed Service Provider Elite 150 in 2014 and CRN’s FastGrowth100 in 2007, 2008 and 2009 and on the Michigan 50 Companies to Watch in 2009. In addition, OST founder Dan Behm was named the 2011 Entrepreneur of the Year by Ernst & Young (Technology Category).

“We selected the Oak Brook area because it is central to many large businesses, close to the airport, major freeways, has reasonable access to downtown Chicago, and, for our employee’s benefit, it’s within 30 minutes commute of many great neighborhoods,” Bronk noted.

OST serves clients in multiple industries, including healthcare, manufacturing, finance and insurance. The primary services offered by OST include:

Application Development (http://www.ostusa.com/solutions/application-development/)

Managed IT Services (http://www.ostusa.com/solutions/managed-services/)

Data Center Solutions & Architecture (http://www.ostusa.com/solutions/data-center-solutions/)

Advisory Services (http://www.ostusa.com/solutions/advisory-services/)

Recruiting Solutions (http://www.ostusa.com/solutions/recruiting-solutions/)

IT Security Assessments (http://www.ostusa.com/solutions/advisory-services/security-assessments/)

About OST

www.ostusa.com

Founded in 1997, OST is an award-winning $120 million information technology consulting company. Headquartered in Grand Rapids, Michigan, OST also maintains offices in Minneapolis, Chicago, Detroit and Ann Arbor, Michigan and London, England. In addition to infrastructure services and products OST offers security services, custom application development, managed services, business advisory and recruiting services with an emphasis on serving the healthcare, manufacturing, insurance and finance industries.  This is all wrapped in a friendly, flexible, people-centered culture.  Since 2003, the company has grown revenue at a compounded rate of over 30% annually.  OST’s has been recognized in INC. magazine’s 5,000’s Fastest Growing Private Companies for seven consecutive years, CRN’s Tech Elite 250 since 2007, a National Best & Brightest Company to Work For in 2014 and on the Michigan 50 Companies to Watch in 2009.