As father and son, the Galowichs have consistently and persistently fostered the vitality of the Illinois technology community by doing what others - inside and outside the community - have considered unlikely or impossible. They took the dream of two doctors at Chicago’s Rush Presbyterian-St. Luke’s Medical Center to create a comprehensive data integration solution for electronic health records and developed the software that became the genesis of Initiate Systems. Today, Initiate® software is used in banking, insurance, retail, high technology, manufacturing and healthcare industries, and by local, state and federal government agencies.

“When we first sought venture funding, we were told by West Coast and East Coast venture fund managers that there wasn’t enough local talent and building a technology company in Illinois wasn’t feasible,” said Jeff Galowich. “However, because we wanted to remain true to our Chicago roots, we began attracting investors to Illinois and worked hard to secure investment from within the state. We always had confidence that the talent and potential was here.”

Established in 1995, Chicago-based Initiate Systems has 274 employees as of December 31, 2007. Featured as one of the fastest growing companies in the region by Crain’s Chicago Business in its Crain’s Fast 50 list for 2007, Initiate’s master data management software delivers a single, trusted and complete version of critical data assets to applications and end users to support efficient operational business processes and strategic decision making. Already, installations of the company’s software currently touch 80 percent of the patients in the U.S. healthcare system.

Prior to the establishment of Initiate Systems, Ron Galowich also co-founded First Health with Dr. Robert Becker. The company was started in Joliet as Health Compare Corporation and later moved to Downers Grove and was renamed First Heath. Ron Galowich served as a corporate executive and the longest standing board member. First Health was one of the country's largest independent PPOs when it was acquired by Coventry Health Care in 2005.

According to ITA President Fred Hoch, “CityLIGHTS is an annual celebration of vitality and innovation in Illinois’ fast-growing technology community, and we are privileged to honor such outstanding leaders. This year’s pool of applicants was far and away the most remarkable yet, and I am pleased to recognize the Galowichs for their contributions in the technology arena.”

Last month, the company’s Initiate Master Data ServiceT 8.0 software earned the Silver Award for Data Integration in the 2008 TechTarget Products of the Year competition.

About Initiate Systems:
Initiate Systems, Inc. enables organizations to strategically leverage and share critical data assets. Its master data management (MDM) software and experience as an information exchange leader provide organizations with complete, accurate and real-time views of data spread across multiple systems or databases, even outside the firewall. This allows companies to unlock the value of their data assets for competitive advantages or operational improvements. Initiate Systems operates globally through its subsidiaries, with corporate headquarters in Chicago and offices across the U.S., and Toronto, London and Sydney.
www.InitiateSystems.com

About the ITA:
The Illinois Technology Association (ITA) represents the interests of a diverse membership of more than 450 companies in Illinois that create, deploy and utilize information technology as a core part of their organization. By connecting members with industry peers and participants, providing the latest strategic information, market research and critical market insight and by promoting key thought leaders to raise visibility and gain a greater market awareness and presence, ITA is focused on building and developing the Illinois technology community through collaboration.
www.illinoistech.org