History

The Windward Group, LLC was formed by Robert Rathe, Jr., for the purpose of acquiring a document imaging related company upon which to build a larger comprehensive document management organization.

Less than a decade old, The Windward Group has a long heritage within the document imaging and management industry dating back to 1946 with Bob Rathe, Sr., founder of Southern Microfilm Corporation.

Joining his father in 1968, Robert Rathe, Jr. was promoted to President of Southern Microfilm Corporation in 1985. He developed the corporation into a larger document management company and changed the name to RACOM Corporation, which became one of the largest independent document management companies in the United States. After selling RACOM to an investment group in 1998 the company was consolidated with other document management companies to form LASON. Robert was named President of LASON's Western Imaging group. After several successful years at LASON, Robert left to pursue other investment opportunities.

In March 2002 he formed The Windward Group and in 2003 TWG acquired the Virtual Paper Company in Covington, La. Concurrent with the acquisition Ron Gitz, CPA, joined The Windward Group as a Managing Partner. And in January, 2005 The Windward Group acquired Houston, TX based Allied Imaging; quickly followed by the 2006 acquisition of Business Equipment Solutions in Dallas, Texas.

All told, The Windward Group Management Team has over 200 years combined experience in the document Management Industry.