Business Profile | Thomas Harter Jr.

By Mark Zonca
February 2015 View more Business

Photo by Mike Hudson

Microdynamics Group is a Naperville-based national provider of personalized transactional printing, inserting, and mailing services. They produce more than 400 million pieces of mail annually for more than 200 clients including financial institutions, credit unions, commercial and industrial enterprises, health care and utility companies. Naperville Magazine recently spoke with Chief Executive Officer Thomas Harter Jr. about the success of his family-founded company and what makes Naperville a unique place to run a business and raise a family.

Microdynamics Group has been recognized as one of the fastest growing companies in the country. What do you attribute to your success?

I feel one of the biggest attributes to the success of Microdynamics is our culture of flexibility as it relates to our services offered. When we initially meet with potential clients, our team makes every effort to truly listen to what the client is communicating and then discern with them the best way to meet
their needs.

Additionally, our dedication to our customers doesn’t stop once a contract is in place. Microdynamics has an outstanding client services group that is dedicated to maintaining excellent customer relationships and problem-solving any issues, should they arise, so we can better meet the needs of our clients on a daily basis.

With more and more transactions taking place online and electronically, how has this digital technology impacted your overall business model and how will it impact it in the future?

Microdynamics has a business model that includes both printed and electronic distribution channels. Most of our clients use both our printing and electronic presentment solutions. Basically, we act as a “traffic cop” to direct the documents into the appropriate delivery channel on behalf of our clients.

More and more companies are outsourcing the services we provide, so this creates tremendous business opportunities for the foreseeable future

Microdynamics was founded by your father, Thomas Harter Sr., in 1974. How has the company and industry changed in the last 40 years?

My father is an entrepreneur with a capital “E”! He started Microdynamics in 1974 and his platform for success was always “listen to the client.” Our industry overall has evolved into a customer-driven delivery scenario with companies having to provide all document delivery solutions in order to remain competitive. I feel Microdynamics Group has evolved in such a way that we have been able to keep pace with industry changes while still always looking to the future to improve our business model and client services.

As CEO and President of Microdynamics, where do you see your biggest opportunity for growth?

Stagnation equals death in today’s rapidly changing marketplace. Growth and betterment are always key to a successful company’s survival. Some key growth areas for Microdynamics Group include assisting clients with outsourcing their internal printing and mailing operations, conversion and/or continued adaptation of e-statement and e-billing, and postal cost optimization.

Microdynamics delivers tens of millions of documents to your customers every month. How do you ensure that high-quality standards are maintained?
High quality standards have always been a major tenet of the Microdynamics Group business philosophy. Our operations, which include processing centers in Naperville and Milwaukee, and more than 300,000 square feet of business space, run in an Automated Document Factory which allows us to track every document running through our plant at any given time. Our meticulous tracking process allows us to provide job status transparency to our clients at any given time. Microdynamics also owes its success to the dedicated employees who work as a team to fulfill our client’s needs. Our employee base has an average tenure of 12 years with the company.

What has been your proudest accomplishment so far in your career with Microdynamics?

Having been with Microdynamics for 25 years, it’s hard to choose an accomplishment of which I am most proud. However, if pressed to choose, I would have to say being involved with the launch of e-statement.com was an incredibly proud moment for the company and me personally. Assuming the role of CEO earlier this year has also been very satisfying and also very humbling at the same time.

With numerous geographical locations to consider, both in the Chicago area and around the country, what inspired Microdynamics to set-up shop in Naperville?

Naperville is such a great place to conduct business for many different reasons. It’s a large enough community to provide our business with an excellent labor pool and the municipality is very supportive of businesses based here. The centralized location also allows for our mail delivery system to run smoothly throughout the United States. Additionally, it is a great place to live and raise a family.

When you are not busy being CEO, how do you enjoy spending your free time?

I enjoy golfing with friends, traveling with my wife, and spending quality time with my family.