PDS hires new VP, buys former health club building

Madison, Wis. — Paragon Development Systems (PDS) has hired a new vice president as it plans to expand its presence in Madison into a new building.

The company – which maintains offices in Oconomowoc, Brookfield and Madison – designs, builds and manages IT infrastructure and services for medium-sized and large organizations. Austin Park, the company's new vice president of IT infrastructure services, is responsible for restructuring his group and bringing it new focus.

Park, who holds a bachelor's degree in economics from UW-Madison, recently served as executive VP and CTO of Modern Business Technologies Inc. He also served as vice president of technical services for the company in 2001 and 2002.

"His experience and knowledge within the industry is recognized on a national level," said Joe Zoeller, Wisconsin channel account manager for Cisco Systems, said in a release.

Park's hiring comes at a time of transition for PDS as it plans to relocate its Madison office from the city's west side to a new facility on the northeast side. The company has purchased the former Heroes Health & Fitness Center, and is scheduled to move in sometime in June. PDS is making the move to accommodate business and technology growth. The new building has 16,300 square feet of floor space, compared to around 8,000 square feet in the west side facility.

PDS employs 74 people in the Madison area, but the new facility has capacity for up to 150 people, according to PDS CEO Craig Schiefelbein. The company reported annual sales of about $85 million in 2004 after 19 years of revenue growth.