By Bill Hardesty | [email protected]

Recently, PDQ.com held an open house to announce their arrival in South Salt Lake. They occupy three floors in the new six-story 150,000-square-feet office building of the South City Development (2200 Main Street). Previously, PDQ.com was located in downtown SLC.

The office building is part of phase 1, bringing more than seven acres of residential, retail and commercial spaces to the developing SSL downtown.

"Moving to South Salt Lake was intentional. Especially considering we are a tech company. In Utah, with all of the amazing tech companies establishing their new homes in Utah County, the temptation I'm sure was present," Victoria Bacon, community engagement champion, said. "We wanted to build a home that was more centrally located. The employment-population of PDQ.com has always been a mix of geographically situated residents. From Ogden to Provo and from Tooele to Heber. We believed by centralizing, we would be servicing the many over the few. And in that, South Salt Lake served as a perfect landing spot for our new headquarters."

The company

The company was created over five years ago. The three founders spent many years supporting IBM Tivoli Framework and Microsoft SCCM for substantial organizations. They realized there was a need for a system management solution for small-to-medium size businesses.

"We make software for system administrators (IT guys/gals) to be used in a B2B capacity. We are widely adopted in the government and education sector as well as many other industries both domestically and internationally. Our products offer a fast, easy to use affordable solution within the day-to-day operations of any system administrator,” Bacon said.

They have two flagship products. PDQ Deploy allows users to automate patch management. This provides system changes made fast for users. The other product is PDQ Inventory. This product enables system administrators to scan Windows computers to collect hardware, software, and Windows configuration data. This data allows users to group computers, ensuring a targeted deployment.

The culture

The PDQ.com culture is unique. Shawn Anderson, co-founder of PDQ.com, had a vision for the company. He describes the vision as "a place where people could back-flip into work and cartwheel out!" He wanted a supportive work-life balance for all employees.

His grandfather inspired this work-life balance. His grandfather worked in a steel mill for over 30 years. The conditions were difficult, and he endured much for a paycheck. 

"Shawn wished his grandfather had experienced better. To that, Shawn was motivated to ensure the company he would start would be a place that his grandfather would have loved to work," Bacon said.

She continued, "This level of bliss, however, could not only be achieved through the tangible but the intangible. It was necessary that people had the ability to come as who they are and acceptance, camaraderie, friendship, and a hyper non-judgment zone would await them along with great compensation, benefits, daily catered lunches just to name a few!"

The company's motto is "work hard, play hard." With this in mind, the new offices include a cigar lounge, a whiskey lounge, a TV lounge with pillows and a game console, an on-site gym and personal trainer, a cafeteria, and free snacks, which are 7-11 caliber, available 24/7.

"Our employees are in the building even when they are not working. This includes evenings and weekends. Yes, crazy! This level of connection to the place you work is unique and something we value as a company," Bacon said. "We provide a place of work as well as a home for many. We believe it speaks to who we are and who we would like to continue to be."

Another unique part of the offices is that conference rooms, meeting rooms, lounges, and a mother room are named after people meaningful to employees. Anderson wanted "to infuse spirit, inspiration, and honor into the actual walls." Therefore, employees were allowed to submit names of individuals who inspired them. The submissions ranged from school teachers to coaches to a mother of an employee who died (the mother room). 

Hiring

PDQ.com is hiring. They built their new offices with growth in mind.

"PDQ.com invited an array of uniquely gifted, uniquely experienced, uniquely educated and uniquely individual on every spectrum to find a place to call home and to build something great together," Bacon said. "The founders were able to see the best in each individual and let them soar based on their own unique talents. This level of trust in people provided empowerment to excel, and the company and employees alike have reaped the benefits of this established culture."

Career opportunities are listed at PDQ.com/careers.