Spotlight On: Denise Navarro, President & CEO, Logical Innovations
July 2024 — Invest: spoke with Denise Navarro, president & CEO of Logical Innovations, to talk about the company’s wide array of aerospace-related services, the vibrant and growing aerospace community in Houston, and the advantages of being a minority woman-owned small business. “We are fortunate that we are in a position where we can work with other like-minded businesses, large and small and fellow small-business owners,” she said. “We can partner to help grow together in our community.”
What have Logical Innovation’s most significant achievements been over the last 12 months?
We began here in the Houston area and became fully operational in November 2006. We are entrenched in aerospace, with strong roots in the NASA community, at the Johnson Space Center and in various locations across the country. We provide technical and engineering, as well as information technology services. We also provide business and training services, such as financial and acquisition services, and administrative support, logistics and outreach, including exhibits and events. We really have nice, well-blended offers for our customers, with our primary customer being NASA. I have been in the game for 40 years, and I still enjoy what I’m doing.
As a small, minority woman-owned business, what challenges and opportunities do you encounter?
Initially, we leveraged the Small Business Administration to win contracts through the 8A program. We were presented with different opportunities that limited competition among similar companies to establish and grow our company. We graduated from the program in 2016, but we are still a small business, and we have been able to leverage our experience and status to really expand. We operate coast-to-coast, and we have been fortunate to work with so many different NASA communities across the country, from California to Ohio to Mississippi and Florida, and of course here in Texas. It is exciting that we have these opportunities as a minority woman-owned small business.
Our strong performance and reputation among customers have landed us opportunities with small companies as well as large companies, as we expand our network and partnerships. We persevered through COVID by keeping communication lines open, and we grew during that time because of our ability to adapt and perform across geographical boundaries. A nice thing about being a federal contractor is that the job must go on. We are fortunate that we are in a position where we can work with other small businesses and small-business owners. We can partner to help grow together in our community. I wake up every morning excited about what the day is going to bring.
What makes Houston a great place for Logical Innovations to be as a business?
When you think of Texas, you think of oil and gas. But we also have the burgeoning aerospace sector comprising the NASA Johnson Space Center and the Houston Spaceport. There is a vibrant community growing around space exploration, and it is an exciting time. We also have the Medical Center community. I have been fortunate to sit on several boards related to the aerospace and medical communities, and academic institutions, so I see what is going on in the local economy, and it is exciting. Being on these boards helps us to thrive as a community, so we can bring in industry and keep them interested in investing in the Greater Houston area. We also partner with educational institutions in an advisory capacity. There is a collaborative spirit, which builds the engagement that we need to keep growing.
How do you maintain a competitive edge and how are you staying ahead of the trends to meet the needs of your clients?
There are always ways to improve, and I thrive on lessons learned. There is success in failure, as it shows us where we didn’t quite get it right and we can adjust and tweak. Competition also reminds us we need to stay alert. Our network and partnerships are what give us this edge even when we have to step outside of our comfort zone in some niche area. We have a lot of skills, but sometimes we really need to leverage a partner or our network rather than figuring out how we can learn something new overnight.
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How do you approach workforce development and hiring and training?
We are a diverse organization that is all about our people. We take care of them like they are family. They are the ones on the ground growing our company and reputation. They are the ones who do it day in and day out. There is an evolving need to establish the workforce because employees can choose to go elsewhere. We want to see our people excel, even if it is not with us. Then, we have a friend on the other side of the fence. We are also very involved with the local educational institutions and community colleges. I sit on different boards to evaluate the landscape and to provide scholarships to help grow the local workforce. We are also looking ahead to the future skills that the workforce will require.
What are your priorities and goals for Logical Innovations over the next two to three years?
The biggest thing is to continue growing and looking at new ways to engage and integrate into the community. Also, we are always looking to expand and make inroads at other agencies in the federal government, so we can take advantage of new opportunities. We are a family business, and it has been amazing how we have evolved in our journey. I am always looking down the road and saying, “What’s next?” while considering how we can improve and be more impactful.
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