Darrell Reavis is one of the longest-serving COLSA employees, and he has a wall full of service awards to prove it. Hired by Mr. Collazo in July 1984 shortly after graduating from Jacksonville State University, Darrell has been working for COLSA ever since.
Work in the 80s Without Computers
Darrell started as a Graphics Technician, a job that has since disappeared thanks to the introduction of the computer.
“When I started, there was no such thing as a computer. There was a drawing board and a series of templates like circles where you would draw what you wanted.”
Darrell was originally hired to support COLSA’s first major proposal, a BASES contract for the Army. This proposal was over 500 pages long. He also created the monthly newsletter called “The COLSA Chronicles,” a print-version, multi-page publication sharing about employee Birthdays, milestones, company news, and more.
“When we wanted to do graphics, we’d have to leave space on the page where we wanted the graphic to go…then paste the graphic in with tape and copy it.”
Computers, specifically word processor capabilities, were the biggest improvement in Darrell’s job. A “What You See Is What You Get” (WYSIWYG) text editor that required no in-line formatting tags made formatting proposals not just easier, but more reliable. The ability to insert an image into a file was also revolutionary.
“From about ‘87 to ‘95 technology increased daily. Every day you’d wake up and there’d be something new on the horizon that made everybody’s life better.”
Darrell’s Evolving Career
When COLSA endeavored on a new business venture of working with the Saudi Arabian government to integrate two seemingly incompatible defense systems, Darrell moved there to serve as a Proposal Analyst. He was there for five years as COLSA integrated various technologies.
After that, he was promoted to the Publications Manager of the Proposal Department in 1996. From that point on, he’s built a reputation for being a graphics and formatting expert in COLSA’s Proposal Department.
Why Darrell Chose to Grow with COLSA
He says he’s stayed with COLSA for the exact same reason the company touts front and center on the website: COLSA is a Family of Professionals. He has enjoyed getting to know a variety of people over the years, most of whom he keeps in touch with in one way or another.
“Darrell reached out to me shortly after I started my first year at COLSA. He was soon heading south to the Rolex race in Daytona [and] invited me to meet for lunch in St. Augustine. This lunch has now become an annual meet-up for us! I appreciate the yearly visits and the laughs we have together,” says Mitzi Connell, a remote member of the COLSA Proposal Team.
Darrell specifically credits great managers throughout the years for why he’s stayed with COLSA since college. He says the work environment “isn’t so strict you can’t learn from your mistakes” and his bosses have set reasonable, consistent expectations.
“Darrell Reavis is a great example of a loyal and dedicated employee who takes on any task to help the company succeed. Darrell served for years in Saudi Arabia, helped the company select and implement complex printing and publications capabilities, and developed himself into an expert user of Microsoft Office tools such as Word and PowerPoint. He is fully committed to the proposal team mission and willingly works nights and weekends to deliver high-quality, winning proposals to our customers,” says Darrell’s current manager and the Director of the Proposal Team, Tom Newman.
Advice for New Employees at COLSA
Having met people from every conceivable background and employment history during his time at COLSA thus far, he had two pieces of advice to offer to any new employees.
To young people fresh out of college, he says to simply “save money,” offering specific advice about taking advantage of COLSA’s retirement benefits. To others with a bit more career experience, he says, “If you came from another company…there’s got to be a reason why you came over here. Enjoy it.”
