In his own words: Erlach Computer Consulting's Tim Erlach

Northern Nevada Business Weekly: Tell us about your company its specialties, its history, the size of its staff.

Tim Erlach: Erlach Computer Consulting was formed in March 1998 with the intent of bringing smaller companies the skill sets usually available to only large companies. We are currently seven people. Our main focus is providing managed IT support services. Essentially we provide the support a company needs to keep their equipment and employees functioning, or at least remove the computer technology as an obstacle to productivity. (Some people just don't work no matter what.) Blah, blah, blah...Let me give you a link to our new site. A sneak peak, as it is not available to the general public yet. www.erlach.com/new_site/

NNBW: What role do you play in the company?

Erlach: I set the strategic direction of the company, sales, and clean the toilets because I'm too cost-conscious (cheap) to hire a cleaning service.

NNBW: How did you get into this profession?

Erlach: I helped Tom Reviglio purchase and set up a computer for his son Nick. A few years later when it came time to automate Western Nevada Supply Co. he gave me a call and I came onboard to run the project. A couple of evenings helping a friend turned into a career.

NNBW: What is something no one knows about your job?

Erlach: There's a reason they don't know.

NNBW: If you could have had any other profession what would it have been? Why wasn't it your first choice?

Erlach: Running an adventure sports lodge. I couldn't make it pencil out and I didn't want my play to morph into work.

NNBW: How do you spend your time away from the office?

Erlach: Traveling, skiing, biking.

NNBW: Do you have a favorite vacation memory?

Erlach: I still look back fondly on summer vacation from grade school. Leaving the house in the morning, climbing the mountains, playing in the ditches, riding dirt bikes, door bell ditching and returning home under the cover of darkness.

NNBW: What is the quirkiest or oddest job you've ever had?

Erlach: Tradeshow installer. Traveling all over the country from Florida to Hawaii and setting up exhibits for all types of industries; consumer electronics, computer, medical, apparel and even the porn industry. Best gig was being an usher when Joe Montana was signing autographs. Want to see Joe, be nice to me! When I was introduced, he was polite but unremarkable. Like being introduced to a friend of a friend. But when asked he would take a picture with me, he turned on the Joe Montana charisma. He seemed like the happiest man in the world to have his picture taken with me! We took a couple of pictures and he went back to being an everyday Joe. It was just cool to see that flash of enthusiasm for a request I had made. I'm pretty sure he has that picture with the Hanes logo on his mantel to this day.

NNBW: What person, living or dead, would you most like to have dinner with, and why?

Erlach: Hannibal. The guy who almost toppled the Roman Empire. No small feat. A master of strategy, organization, motivation and drive.

NNBW: What's the best advice anyone ever gave you?

Erlach: My sister, Michelle Erlach, said "It's excellence that counts, not perfection."

NNBW: What do you like most about your job? What do you like least?

Erlach: The gratification of seeing the business take on a life of its own. When I was in the hospital and laid up with a broken leg and complications for a month, it plugged along without me. Pretty cool to see the years of work had paid off. The thing I like least is being fallible, either personally or as the figurehead for the company. Taking responsibility for the company's failures is a part of the job. But success brings its share of failures (or "lessons" to be politically correct.)

NNBW: What is the one thing you most want people to remember about you?

Erlach: That I was here.

The basics

Name: Tim Erlach, president, Erlach Computer Consulting

How long have you been in this job? 12 years

How long in the profession? 16 years

Education: Manogue High School; University of Nevada, Reno

What's on your iPod? A coffee mug

The best movie ever? "The Usual Suspects," though I can quote Monty Python's "The Holy Grail" from front to back.

Do you have a nickname? God