By Caribbean Business Staff

Henry Gordillo doesn’t really have a middle name. The letter S, like that in Harry Truman’s name, is just that: a symbol and a sound.  Henry was born in Mayaguez in August 1963. “I am an absolute Leo”, he says. “I’m highly motivated and assertive, I don’t take no for an answer and don’t sit down and take it when people or situations get on my way”.  Despite these leonine characteristics, Henry says he is on the gentle side of the sing.  He has modeled his life after that of his father and of is uncle. From his father, Henry got his honesty and his transparency in all business and personal relationships.  From his uncle, he got his friendly easy-going and sociable nature.  Henry graduated from Colegio Marista in Guaynabo in 1981 and from Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. in 1985.  He majored in physics and math for his bachelor’s degree and in electrical engineering for his master’s, which he received from Brown University in 1986.

He seemed headed for a corporate engineering position in States when he decided to return to Puerto Rico after his mother passed away, to spend some time with his grandmother.  He joined Banco popular de Puerto Rico (BPPR) as an information technology capacity planner.  His encounter with BPPR President Richard Carrión forged the direction of his career. “He is a man of vision”, Henry says of Carrión.  “He thinks big, plans big.  He taught me that you have to shoot high.”

While helping to build the network to link the bank’s personal computers, Henry recognized that the available computer service providers were too small and lacked the vision to work on the scale that was needed.  In 1992 he started Intech ( Integration Technologies Corp.) to meet this need.  His first client was the Puerto Rico State Elections Commission.  The work has been pouring in ever since.

Henry says his tasks is to “anticipate the needs of my customers.  I find someone who shares my vision and who is wiling to “own” it take it to the customers, and then I provide that person with the resources and experience to do it effectively.  I help them find the right hardware, software and the right people to make it work.” Intech currently employs 65 and is one of the top three firms in the field.

He works 12-hour days during the week and spends weekends with daughters Alina María,  9, Cecilia, 7, and Liliana,  5, or unwindidng by playing the drums with his friends in  a pop-rock band.  When not attending concert shows, he likes to play dominoes, to listen to music or just to relax with friends.  “I believe that friendship is a hobby,” he says.  He has a special love for travel; one of his most memorable trips was to Italy.  But his greatest passion is work.  “It is giving 100% to the task at hand or to a goal,” he says.  “Winners are people who survive and succeed through perseverance.”  That is theh core of his four secrets of success.  “No.1 is discipline: You can’t be successful without it.  No. 2 is honesty.  If you can’t do something, don’t say you can.  Admit mistakes.  People want to work with honest people.  No. 3 is fairness.  Make everyone participate; make them partners in or owners of whatever you do.  No. is perseverance.  Don’t give up.  Success could be just around the corner if you stick it out.”
Henry hopes these principles will eventually allow him to remove himself from everyday business of Intech.  “I want to have time to develop new ideas and new businesses,” he says.