The Who, What, When and Where of CC Pace

Living in the digital age, it is not difficult to be familiar with a company’s name, reputation or logo – but do you really know what they do, and what they are all about? That got us thinking about our own company and we asked, what is it that people really want to know about CC Pace? So, we did some research with our team and came up with the Top 5 Most Asked Questions About CC Pace from our clients:

Where does the name CC Pace come from? (this is actually quite the story – so here we go…)

In the early 1970s, a financial services technology consulting firm headquartered in New Jersey named R. Shriver Associates (RSA) opened a Washington, DC branch as part of its growth strategy. In 1980, RSA management decided to sell the DC branch. Mike Gordon (current President of CC Pace) and several other employees bought the assets of the branch, and one of the immediate tasks was to come up with a name for the new company. A naming contest was initiated and the name that was selected was Cabot Consulting (we clearly didn’t hire a naming consultant). No person in the company was named Cabot, but, at the time, it conveyed a positive image as the Cabots were a prominent New England family.

In the 1980s, the vertical market that the company most served was Oil & Gas. Unfortunately, a Fortune 500 oil and gas company was named Cabot Corporation and they weren’t keen on sharing the Cabot name. So, in 1988, we went through a similar naming process as we did at the outset of the company. The result was a decision to call ourselves ‘Pace’. We thought it would convey us being forward thinking, and we also believed that we would be able to play on the word “pace” for marketing purposes. However, after finding conflicts with the Cabot name, we quickly realized that there would be 10 times more conflicts with the name of ‘Pace’. It was recommended that we add either a word or prefix/suffix that would distinguish us from all the other Paces out there. We were looking for a way to transition from our old name to the new name and someone suggested the prefix of C.C. from Cabot Consulting. Yes, it’s fairly convoluted, but that is how we ended up with our name being C.C. Pace (aka CC Pace).

Wait, we thought you are a training company?

While we have trained over 35,000 people in Lean-Agile disciplines over the last 15+ years, we actually got our roots in financial services consulting. Dating back to 1980, some of our earliest projects were in Loan Origination System Section and Technology Due Diligence for some of the leading players in the mortgage space (many of whom are still clients today).

Over the years, we grew our technical capabilities and were an early adopter of the Agile methodology. So, while we have dozens of training offerings under the Agile umbrella today – everything from Scrum Certification Courses, Kanban, SAFe, etc. – our sweet spot is actually Agile development. We launched our first Agile xP project in 1999, and four years later, adopted Scrum. In addition to our business and Agile transformation services, we also have a well-established IT Staffing team that works with a variety of clients in the DC area to find the right fit to help organizations meet their business objectives.

What kind of clients do you work with?

Our clients tend to be industry leaders who are looking for strategic business solutions that will enable them to focus on taking their business objectives to the next level. We generally align best with clients who view us as a partner and trust that we have a shared interest in success and doing what’s best – not just the fastest or cheapest option. We focus on long-term results and really try to look at what will be the best option(s) for both today and tomorrow, so clients that share that vision typically result in a dynamic partnership. With four decades of experience in the Financial Services sector, we clearly have a wealth of understanding in that arena, but we also have an array of knowledge and experience in the Healthcare industry. Many of our services can be applied across any industry, and our client base extends from Fortune 500 to start ups across a multitude of disciplines. You can learn more about our clients here.

Where are your offices located?

Our office is located in Fairfax, Virginia; however, our consultants work at client sites nationwide and we have employees who are based throughout the United States. We even have relationships with consultants in other countries to support some of our clients’ global offices and are well versed in supporting projects remotely as well.

What is it that makes CC Pace different than other consulting firms?

That’s a great question! CC Pace is a boutique consulting firm that is committed to providing top quality service to our clients and building long-term, strategic partnerships with them. We’ve been working with many of our clients for four decades, and we believe that these long-term client relationships clearly reflect our work ethic and our commitment to providing top-rate solutions. Over 80% of our new business is based on referrals, which tells us that we’re doing something right. We truly care about both our clients and our employees, and as a result, we don’t see a lot of turnover with either. In fact, our average tenure for our employees is around 13 years. Clients appreciate seeing familiar faces mixed in with the new ones as we continue to grow.

Still have questions about CC Pace?
Reach out to us today to learn more about CC Pace and what we can do for your business!

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