Informatics founders, Frank and Maureen Osako, leaving business

CEDAR RAPIDS - Twenty-two years after they founded Informatics, Frank and Maureen Osako are turning over the leadership of the Cedar Rapids website and app developer and digital marketing agency to John Osako, their partner and son.

'John is certainly more than able and ready to take over,” Maureen said Friday in a telephone interview. 'It gives us an opportunity to do other things, and the first thing is to take a rest.

'We want to take some time to reassess. Frank and I are ready for new adventures. We will travel, do long-neglected projects, spend time with family and friends and enjoy the gift of time.”

John, president of Informatics, has worked for the company in many areas, including programming, business strategy, marketing, operations and management.

'John ...

has an excellent, seasoned team in place including our daughter-in-law, Stacie, to help ensure a smooth transition,” Maureen said.

When the company was displaced from its office in downtown Cedar Rapids by the 2008 flood, John's home became the company's temporary location.

'We were thinking that it would last maybe a week, but we ended up working out of his home for that whole summer,” Maureen recalled. 'The good news is because we are a technology business, we were able to do a lot of things remotely.”

Informatics, with a primary office at 215 Second Ave. SE and a branch office in San Diego, has 25 employees. Maureen said the company has added employees incrementally as it continues to grow.

'We have never laid people off and not a lot of businesses can say that.” she said. 'We were slow to hire and when we did hire, we wanted to make sure they were a good fit.

'We didn't want to over-stuff, which is always a challenge when you do project work.”