TeleComp Buys Coveted Real Estate in Bentonville

With its 10th anniversary approaching, Bentonville-based IT consulting firm TeleComp is preparing to move its base of operations to the growing downtown square area.

TeleComp founders Roger Thomas, CEO, and Gino Capito, president, have purchased 4,600 SF of a building owned by Shawki Al-Madhoun, through his Almadhoun Properties LLC entity, at 207 S. Main St.

The company, which has 17 employees, is leasing about 5,800 SF in a building owned by Dan Douglas at 1720 S. Walton Blvd. in Bentonville next to the U.S. Post Office.

“Downtown Bentonville real estate is coveted,” Thomas said. “The energy there … has all our team excited about the move.”

Moving to smaller digs will align with how TeleComp has evolved.

Thomas and Capito started the company when they partnered to purchase Dixieland Computers from Bill and Pete Norwood of Bentonville in July 2003. Consumer repair was a large part of the business segment.

“People like Aunt Ethel and Uncle Joe who needed help with their computers,” Thomas said.

Today, as mobile products have overtaken the desktop PC, that segment accounts for less than 3 percent of TeleComp’s revenue, but makes up a quarter of the company’s leased space.

Because consumer repair is no longer profitable, Smith said the decision was made to exit that business segment while continuing to grow as a “business-to-business” firm focused on providing office technology such as phone systems, LAN servers and video conferencing, as well as on-site technology and remote managed services and carrier business sales.

“This will release us from 1,200 SF of space that we no longer need,” Thomas said. “We’re a project company.”

The Main Street location is being renovated, led by Bill Norwood of Norwood Construction and Rogers architect Dan Townsley.

A move-in date is projected as July 1, coinciding with the firm’s anniversary. A formal grand opening for the downtown location will be held later this fall.

Financial terms of the real estate deal were not disclosed.

Thomas quantified the company’s annual revenue as less than $10 million while providing an array of services to customers both nationally and internationally.

“We have thousands of customers, but 300 of them make the Christmas card list,” Thomas joked. “Our business is thriving right now.”