August
2002
Business
Spotlight:
Sistemática
By
Joe Emanski
Embracing
the computer age with help from Debbie Aguiar-Velez and Co.
Like many of Trenton's small-business owners, Sistemática
president
 |
| Debbie
Aguiar-Velez |
and
CEO Debbie Aguiar-Velez is an entrepreneur. She started Sistemas
Corp., a computer consulting and training firm with its main offices
in Middlesex County, in 1983 after leaving the Exxon Corp.
Sistemas mostly serves Fortune 50 corporations and does mostly
contract programming and consulting. In 1996 she started Trenton-based
Sistemática after attending a White House conference on
cities and technology.
"My
original goal was to start these training and computer centers
in each large city in New Jersey, to serve the organizations and
people at those locations," says Debbie.
Sistemática provides bilingual (English and Spanish) Internet
and computer education and training (at client sites or at the
Sistemática training center), computer equipment, repairs
and upgrades, technical support, and computer book sales.
Debbie, who graduated with honors and holds a bachelor of science
in chemical engineering, spent her years at Exxon performing computer
simulations and training people on the use of computers. When
it came to creating Sistemática, she says, "We wanted
to develop smaller classes (only 8 people at a time) where we
could teach people to learn computers with real-world applications."
At Sistemática, the approach is to use life experiences
with large- and medium-size businesses and present ways to use
computer to solve day-to-day problems.
Sistemática offers beginning and advanced classes on the
Microsoft Office suite of programs, including Excel and Access.
They also offer training in Adobe PageMaker and Microsoft Front
Page.
Classes are one day and run six hours, usually from 9 a.m. to
4 p.m.
Debbie says that the typical Sistemática training class
student runs the gamut from office staff to lawyers to program
managers. In many cases, Sistemática training staff tailors
courses specifically for the client who is sending the students.
Though there are no specific requirements for who can participate
in a class, Sistemática accepts only those who have been
sent for training by a company or organization.
As for why Sistemática has its offices in the capital city,
Debbie says simply, "We love Trenton." At one point
in her life, she served as the director of the Division of Small
Businesses in the N.J. Department of Commerce, spending 18 months
in the city.
"I fell in love with the city," she says. "People
are warm and there was a need for the services we provide."
Debbie is a board member in the Mercer County Chamber of Commerce.
She is also not the only member of her family to make Sistemática
one of Trenton's marquis small businesses. She co-owns Sistemas
Corp. with her husband, German Velez, also a chemical engineer.
They have been married for more than 25 years and have two daughters,
ages 17 and 12.
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Sistemática
609-392-2900
www.sistematica.com
