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The Story of Us.
From where we began, to where we are now: The story of McElroy Translation
The seed for a translation company was planted in 1967 when Ralph McElroy’s mother
Eleanor suggested to coworkers at Celanese that her son could handle the translation
of four Russian documents. Ralph struggled through the highly technical
documents, relying on the best technical glossaries that he could find and the
collaborative editing assistance of a chemistry expert from the University of
Texas. Ralph charged $2 per 100 words and believed he may have made about 35
per hour, but ultimately the translations were well received.
Ralph continued to work on translations, quickly learning the value of managing a project through using other linguists and subject matter editors. In 1968, Ralph registered the Ralph McElroy Translation Company. He moved the office out of his home later that year. As a result of his diligence in promoting the company, his client list increased, and more translators were hired. With diverse business interests and success on all fronts, Ralph needed more support. In 1972 his parents moved to Austin so that Eleanor could manage the translation company.
In 1980, Ralph made the decision to position the company for growth and brought in a general manager. Under professional management, the company experienced a period of steady growth and solid profit margins.
In 2000, Ralph and his wife, Diane, went to Russia to adopt a child. While on this trip, Ralph met a taxi driver with whom he quickly became friends. Ralph was endlessly curious and interested in everyone he came in contact with, and it wasn’t long into their conversation when he learned his taxi driver had a daughter studying at the Durham Academy in North Carolina, an opportunity granted her for winning first place in a U.S. government-sponsored competition. The proud father gushed with pride over his daughter’s achievements, and Ralph knew this was someone he needed to meet. Upon his return to the United States, he phoned that taxi driver’s daughter in Durham and extended an invitation to come visit his family. As the offer came in her native tongue and from a friend of her father’s, and her host family planned to visit Austin for the holidays, Olga Pechnenko was more than happy to accept.
Olga quickly became close with the entire family. Although she soon returned to Russia to study marketing at the Baltic State Academy, Olga’s heart was in the United States, and she began making plans to return. Knowing she would need an internship, she called her dear friend Ralph to get a recommendation on where to begin. Ralph was eager to help her out in any way and offered her an internship with his own translation company and a place to stay at his sister’s home.
In
the summer of 2004, Olga returned to America for three months to complete her
internship at McElroy Translation. During this period she had the opportunity to
work within every department: sales and marketing, project management,
production, shipping, and customer service. This experience gave her a clear
view of the supply side of operations as well as the client-side of the
business.
Following her internship, Olga returned to the Baltic State Academy to continue her education and took on a marketing position for a popular pet supply chain. Then, hungry for the opportunities and experiences that the States would provide her, she left Kaliningrad in May 2005 to take a full-time position at McElroy in sales support, handling client estimates and calls, and representing the company at trade shows. Within a year, Olga was promoted to business development manager for the energy division. Olga’s leadership in this vertical put McElroy on the map for energy translations, creating a strong presence at the Offshore Technology Conference and snagging key accounts which McElroy maintains today.
In 2008, Olga’s entrepreneurial spirit got the best of her, and she decided it was time to strike out on her own. She became co-owner of a services company and founded her own marketing firm, while also working with her business partner to begin a program called Fired Up! for underprivileged teenage girls in a local high school. The program taught girls about real-life issues and prepared them for life outside of high school by hosting weekly meetings, bringing in guest speakers, taking field trips, and blogging on topics such as finance, career choices, self-image, etc. Communities in Schools, the nation’s largest dropout prevention organization, later acquired Fired Up! and continues the program today.
A few months before Olga’s departure, McElroy Translation tragically lost founder Ralph. But he left behind two equally entrepreneurial sons with their own businesses, two young adopted daughters from Russia, and the love of his life, Diane. Ownership of McElroy Translation transferred to his family.
The McElroy family, as well as the company, continued to hold a special place in Olga’s heart. Her experience on staff had given her incredible insight into how the entire translation process worked, and she spent countless hours obsessing over what would be needed to change operations to increase profitability and revenues. In the summer of 2009, Olga presented the McElroy family with a business proposal that would improve McElroy Translation’s efficiency and make it scalable for more aggressive growth. The proposal included a plan to cut expenses in half, increase sales and marketing, and redefine McElroy’s technology base while allowing for increased workflow. The McElroy family accepted the plan, and Olga and her team proceeded to reorganize the company on October 16, 2009.
By
the end of 2010, Olga had more than met her goal to reduce expenses while
maintaining quality; Plunet’s BusinessManager was implemented, providing one
place for all employees, contractors, and clients to submit, receive, and
manage projects, decreasing project management time by 20%, and allowing for
easy reporting on metrics by everyone in the company; corporate culture had
evolved from a lifestyle culture to one of growth and innovation brought forth
by restructuring job responsibilities and workflow, and increased attention to
employee training through the McElroy University and Insperity training
programs. In 2011, McElroy Translation inaugurated a corporate culture
committee with a focus on social responsibility and employee synergy.
Today, McElroy Translation’s mission is to deliver quality translations that drive the global economy. Our values include integrity, quality, teamwork, and proactive thinking. These traits are highly regarded by each individual member of our team and are evident in the service we provide our clients.
