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LISTMAKER: Ingrid Tugwell, President, PST Inc.
This
issue, PST Inc. is at the top of the Business
Journal’s
list of computer training companies (ranked by the number of employed trainers
in the tri-county area).
“My
job title is president,” says Ingrid Tugwell, “but when you own a small
company, your title is only relative to your business card. I do sales,
customer service, teach part-time, administrative tasks, clean classrooms,
make coffee and even vacuum.” She also coaches soccer and baseball for both
of her children’s teams, is active in the PTA and volunteers regularly in
the community.
What
are the biggest issues facing your industry right now, and how is your company
tackling them?
To
counteract the downturn in the economy, we’ve had to diversify how we
deliver the product to our clients. We still offer traditional methods of
instructor-led training, which is the most desirable to our clients, but we
also offer online and computer-based training. We bundle packages that
incorporate training, implementation, consulting and maintenance. A few years
ago we started offering soft skills training in addition to computer training.
What
effect will the new “Can-SPAM” bill have on SPAM e-mail? Do you think the
regulations will really work?
The
Can-SPAM bill is a step in the right direction. Unsolicited and particularly
inappropriate e-mail solicitations affect all of us on several levels. As
employers, we are concerned with the inherent dangers to our system’s
integrity and to the time-loss issues with the workforce. As responsible
individuals, we have a very low tolerance for dealing with e-mail messages we
neither want not appreciate. In today’s world, everyone must maintain a
higher level of vigilance when monitoring what is coming into our homes. I
think the bill can do a lot of good in mitigating these issues. It may be too
early to tell if it will have the desired effect. The ability to effectively
enforce this law will be the real test.
How
did you get interested in a career in technology and computers? What is your
information technology background?
During
college I worked at a hospital in
Who
has been the greatest influence in your professional life?
It
would definitely be my parents. My mother went back to school to obtain her
Instructional Technologies Certification while I was still in college. She did
this while working full-time managing computer labs for a school district and
raising a family. She was the first person in the district to obtain the
“new” certification back in the 1980s. I saw her determination and as they
say, “the rest is history.” My father serves as my guide to keep me humble
and to relate to those that don’t require the use of computers in their
everyday tasks. I appreciate what he does and how he can use technology and
try to keep that with me in every class I teach.
Are
you finding that people are more computer-savvy than they were 10 years ago?