Champions of Change
Michael Paul Hamilton, President, MCH Corporation. Michael Hamilton, an expert in visual imaging and information technology, located his IT firm, MCH Corporation, in the rural east Tennessee town of Sweetwater in 1998, not long after moving from California’s Silicon Valley. The new company, MCH Corporation, became a success as an SBA 8(a)-certified firm. A Penobscot Native American Indian, and a highly experienced software engineer, Michael’s first experience as a computer programmer came when he was on active duty in the U.S. Marine Corps. He has grown MCH Corporation from two employees in 1998 to 12 employees in November 2010. He anticipates growing his employee base by 340 percent in 2011. MCH also opened a satellite office in Albuquerque, New Mexico in January 2010. Michael has managed development of security software systems used by numerous federal and state agencies for situational awareness and security planning at the Salt Lake Winter Olympics in 2002. Currently, MCH is managing work by the U.S. Department of Energy, the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and the U.S. Marine Corps. Since gaining 8(a) certification in 2008, Michael’s firm has received almost $3 million in federal government contracts, and annual sales have grown from $304,000 in 2008 to $914,000 as of June 2010.