One Woman’s Story: A Story of Resilience, Innovation and Empowerment

The term woman-owned has always been the undercurrent of GAW Technology’s long-term success. When Kathy Gaw-Betz founded the company, she didn’t have time for title designations. A single mother, she was too busy supporting her family and growing a business. ?

Formerly a receptionist with a New Jersey tech equipment company, then rising to business administrator, she was responsible for purchasing, shipping, and managing administrative staff. Kathy’s life was upended in 1990 when her employer relocated to Florida.

With a baby crib next to her desk and a strong ability to solve other people’s problems, Kathy launched GAW Technology. Like her approach to nurturing a family, Kathy credits the business’s success from to her commitment to serving others.

According to research, this type of commitment is a strong trait in women -business owners. An article published in Forbes Magazine last year on leadership reported that women business leaders rank higher than their male counterparts on communal tendencies, which includes “openness and collaborative work.”

Kathy used this trait to her advantage, as clients began to rely on her for her ability to find the supplies that truly met their needs.

In an industry dominated by men, Kathy had to earn her credibility. So, she studied up on the details of her industry, and began lining up meetings with purchasing managers in order to prove her worth. She learned that when faced with the prospect of improving their electronic enclosures or saving money, buyers didn’t care about the gender of the messenger. They wanted a good product at a fair price.

With a commitment to providing the best cabinet solutions, Kathy also learned that many of her customers were ordering standard, off-the-shelf products, which were not really what they needed. They often had to reconfigure the cabinets by removing doors, shelves, and other parts that did not fit their needs.

Intuitive and thoughtful, Kathy led her company to develop semi-custom cabinet solutions to save customers time and money. It worked. As a leader in server rack cabinet solutions, GAW Technology developed a full range of products, including semi-custom and fully ?and custom solutions to protect and organize data centers.

Under her leadership, GAW earned its ISO 9001 and TL 9000 certifications for the telecommunications industry.

As technology and data exploded, customers customers' needs also began to change, especially those in the telecommunication, healthcare, and data center industries. In 1994 Kathy led the company in developing new relationships and capabilities to help their customers design and economically manufacture a custom rack or cabinet that satisfied the most stringent and unique requirements.

Women Owned Business Designation

Kathy Gaw-Betz was building her team long before the United States created the designation of Women Owned Business. This benefitted her company by opening new doors.

This certification has helped her clients with greater networking opportunities, more diverse supplier chains, and the credit for working with a minority-owned business. ?

Kathy supports the NJ Tech Council and WBENC (Women's Business Enterprise National Council). Mission Critical Magazine, a data center industry trade publication recently named her as a “Top Woman in Technology.”

“It was so wonderful to be chosen as a Top Woman in Tech, at a time when so many women still struggle to crack the upper ranks of so many industries,” said Gaw-Betz.

“I do believe it’s much easier than it was 30 years ago when I started out in this business. The door is open for women who have the passion and desire to work and achieve in this industry. My advice to them is to never stop learning - do more than what others expect - and you’ll be successful.”

She was also named a Woman to Watch by South Jersey Biz magazine last year. Kathy earned this latest accolade following after 30- plus years of establishing herself as a leader in what has been a heavily male-dominated tech industry.

Kathy continues to oversee the company’s sales department, focusing on helping customers solve their data center issues with collaboration and innovation. Chuck Gaw, Kathy’s son, serves as the company’s vice president. Together, Kathy and Chuck have become a leader in server rack production services.

Despite long hours spent building and managing her company, Kathy finds time to comfort others through her church’s bereavement group, volunteer at Cathedral Kitchen in Camden, N.J., and make blankets and other items to support those in need through Good Counsel Homes, which provides transitional housing for homeless families.

When asked recently what advice would she give to her younger self and up- and- coming professionals today, she said: to know your value.

“No matter the level of success or knowledge someone may have, it's important to remember that we all have our own value and experiences to bring to the table. We all put our pants on one leg at a time. Remember who you are and keep your head held high,” she said.