The career of Jennifer Sconyers Lawton '85 offers a textbook example of entrepreneurship in the computer age.
A math major at Union, Jennifer couldn't find a job in her field when she graduated, so she became an administrative assistant in an engineering firm. Today, she runs Net Daemons Associates, Inc. (NDA), a successful computer consulting business in Boston.
“When I was an administrative assistant, I had a catch-all job, and one of my responsibilities was keeping track of
information,” she explains.
She started out managing company information on an old personal computer and soon learned CAD (Computer Aided Design) because she used it to write the company newsletter (before the days of ~. desktop publishing). Lawton then joined an environmental engineering company to man age its CAD program, became a systems administrator at
the MIT Lincoln Lab, and moved on to Stardent Computer, which went out of business in 1991.
When Stardent went under, Lawton thought that she could start a new kind of company. “I thought I could work with all of the companies who wanted me to work for
them but in a different way,” she says. She and a colleague founded NDA, which provides service and support of computer networks to several companies. Instead of running one computer system for one firm, Lawton runs a variety of systems.
Lawton's company, now nearly five years old, has been highly successful, providing support to clients such as Apple Computer, Sun Microsystems, and Kubota Graphic Computer, Inc. Lawton attributes the success to being in the right place at the right time-and to her talented employees. “Good employees are hard to find and keep in this industry,” she says. “But we work to treat our employees well. We give them secure jobs and provide them with the challenge and change that they like.”
Lawton stresses teamwork and looks to her employees for project ideas. “If an employee comes up with something that fits with our business plan, we'll do it,” she says. So when an employee came forward with a project to help bring technology into Boston's public schools and community centers, Net Daemons became involved.
A group of NDA employees participated in MassNet Day '96, a volunteer and nonpartisan effort of educators, business people, government, and labor working to bring the Internet into Massachusetts schools.
Lawton was involved in the planning of MassNet Day '96 and also worked with a blue ribbon commission to write a policy paper on the need for a technology plan for Boston public schools. “There is so
little money and support in the public education system that everyone is highly receptive to any help we can offer,” she says.
Lawton believes that as a business leader she has a responsibility to help educate the work force, and she has done this by not only helping to improve Boston's schools but by welcoming student interns from Union into her business. In addition, there are number of Union graduates on her staff.
As a student at Union, Lawton had planned to become a doctor, but she isn't surprised to find herself running a company. “I think I always envisioned that I would do something challenging and fast-paced. It doesn't surprise me that I'm in a position where I have a lot of autonomy,” she says.
Looking to the future, Lawton says, “The business market is hot in what we're doing, and it's just heating up.” She predicts that if Net Daemons continues to treat its employees and clients well while maintaining competitive rates, her business will continue to thrive.