SFBI Graduate
ITConnect
High-technology corporation providing full IT and telecommunications network infrastructure design, procurement, implementation, maintenance, and training to commercial, educational, and government clients across New Mexico and beyond.
The AHA moment
Kareem had spent years growing a small tech company from four or five people to twenty-five through a major state-wide contract. He didn't have ownership or control over what came next. In 2005, he'd had enough. He took out a home equity loan and started IT Connect.
The SFBI difference
When Kareem won a $500,000 contract without up-front payment, he needed a line of credit and a professional space to move the business out of his home. His loan officer at the bank told him to go to SFBI — that it was a great place with space he could afford. What he didn't expect was what that address would mean: instant legitimacy. Prospective clients wanted to know he was serious. Between the professional space, the programs, the advisors, help finding an accountant, and support writing a business plan, it made all the difference.
Growth
IT Connect launched with a few cable technicians doing copper and fiber infrastructure work. From five full-time employees in 2005, the company has grown to sixty today and generates $11–13 million in annual sales. The business evolved into a full-service IT firm with offices in Santa Fe and Phoenix, covering everything from cameras and card access to intercom systems. Most recently, IT Connect has been advancing federal and state broadband initiatives to bring fiber-optic connectivity to New Mexico's indigenous communities and underserved areas — work Kareem describes as the culmination of everything SFBI made possible.