Fast-growing technology company serves clients locally and overseas

As a boy growing up in Wyoming County, James Boles didn’t know how to operate a computer until after he graduated from high school, but now the 31-year-old owns one of the area’s fastest growing technology companies.

Boles, a 1998 Oceana graduate, was introduced to computers while serving in the Army as a logistics specialist before advancing to Army contracting. Now, Boles is president of Boles Technology, which offers tech services to business and residential customers alike and has been locking up clients at a fast pace since opening in May 2010.

It’s a rate of success that has even astounded Boles, and he said he lists good luck and the good Lord among the reasons.

“We’ve been really lucky,” Boles said. “We’ve definitely been real proactive as far as finding out what the market needs are.”

Since opening, Boles Technology has partnered with Dell, IBM, Apple, Sony and Lexmark among others.

One of the company’s biggest partnerships is with Worldwide Tech Services, a global service provider for major manufacturers, Boles said.

With the partnership, Boles said the company is charged with a “huge footprint” serving all of southern West Virginia and northern Virginia with maintenance.

Boles said the company is beginning to delve into helping medical practices maintain their systems for emergency medical records (EMRs). Love Family Practice Group is Boles Technology’s largest client, Boles said.

To help Boles Technology expand in the EMR field, the company has partnered with Rhode Island-based Amazing Charts.

As medical offices work to convert their files to EMRs by the government-mandated 2015 deadline, Boles said demand is growing, and his business is prepared to fill the void.

It’s not just the medical field that needs help, though, Boles said.

Boles said there was a need for his type of business outside of areas like Charleston and Morgantown — areas he called the technology hub of the Mountain State.

“Down here, there’s really nothing technology-oriented as far as business, and that’s kind of the reason we kicked off,” he said.

The business is adding clients on a weekly basis.

“We’re more business-oriented as far as network engineering, setting up wireless networks, security, but we just locked in a contract with HughesNet to provide HughesNet subscribers with service around here as well as do troubleshooting, so that was a big one,” Boles said. “We actually also ... have a conference call to finalize a contract with an EMR provider.”

Boles said HughesNet provides Internet service to customers with satellite television. Boles said his company will provide installation and service support to HughesNet.

That combination appealed to HughesNet, Boles said.

“Typically, your installers just know how to put a pole in the ground, put a dish on it, point it and that’s where they stop,” he said. “We kind of had a kicker. Why HughesNet liked us is we’re already doing the Dell service and other major computer manufacturers, so while we’re there, we’re kind of a double threat. We can maintain their equipment as well as make a much better determination on the PC end of it, where the problem is and how to resolve it.”

Boles said he considered his company second-level support with the type of technicians that solve problems others can’t identify.

“Basically, if it’s freaky and no one’s seen it, we’ve seen it a million times,” he said, “and we kind of help out on the second level, which is why we’re typically geared more toward business.”

Boles said he credited his great group of technicians, including vice president Nathanial Perry, for the company’s success.

“(Perry’s) actually probably the biggest part of why the company keeps finding so much growth,” Boles said. “He’s just constantly scouring and calling people and trying to find who needs what, and we sit down and figure out what the trends are together.”

While the company appears to be rooted in second-level support for businesses, Boles said the technology company also serves individual or residential inquiries, too, like in-home maintenance.

As Boles works to establish his niche locally, he’s also hoping to establish contracts in areas he served overseas, like Kuwait. Boles said he hopes to finalize a government contract in the next six to 12 months in Kuwait.

That would only help the business grow further, but it’s already doing pretty well without that major contract.

Boles Technology maintains eight technicians and with the added HughesNet contract, Boles said he hopes to hire 12 more technicians in 30 to 90 days.

“We try not to get ahead of ourselves,” he said. “We let it happen organically.”

Not too bad for a guy who didn’t know how to operate a computer until almost a decade ago.

“I think I touched my first computer in basic training, the first time I ever used one, which was in 1999, and it’s just escalated ever since,” Boles said. “Now, I own a technology company. It’s kind of a big leap. I figured I would end up in the medical field or something. It’s amazing how it all plays out.”

Boles Technology is located at 214 Azzara Ave., just off South Eisenhower Drive in Beckley. The business is open 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday. To contact Boles Technology, call 304-894-8907 or visit www.bolestech.com.