Language arts: subtlety and secrecy mark the growth of TCS Translations, a business that has added to its government contracts in the wake of Sept. 11. (Small Business).

THE subtleties of language have created an opportunity for TCS Translations.

On any given day, employees may translate business documents from Japanese to Punjabi, interpret e-mails in Mandarin, produce Occupational Safety and Health Administration manuals in Spanish, or create a confidential U.S. government document in Farsi.

The company's success, explains Arlene Thomas, the 32-year-old founder and chief executive, is dependent not only on the words in those documents, but in the more subtle meanings behind them.

"We've taken the two fields--translation and interpretation--and meshed them," she said.

Cultural differences, she said, flavor much of what is translated, whether in business translations or work for the government.

"Many people are bilingual, but this does not qualify them for the job," Thomas said. "Our employees need to translate the language and interpret the culture. There are different ways of saying the same things, like pop and soda. To do an accurate job, you have to have people with language and cultural experience."

Started in 1995, Long Beach-based TCS provides translation, interpretation and voice identification services. Its customer base is largely made up of government agencies, including the Drug Enforcement Administration and the U.S. Customs Service.

"A lot of firms could go out of business working with the federal government," said Mark Laing, the company's chief marketing officer. "You've got to have nerve and rock solid financials to ride the crests and troughs of federal procurement."

Childhood Interest

Thomas always had an interest in language.

Growing up in a home where Spanish was the native tongue, she was working at 16 as a bilingual administrator of events and projects involving national and international celebrities and government officials for a now-defunct entertainment management company.

While at California State University, Long Beach, she was a language specialist for both the university and Wells Fargo Bank -- during which time she built up a network of qualified translators, many of whom had security clearances. When Customs was in need of more translation services, she seized on the opportunity to form TCS.

"I'd been doing work for them as an individual," she said, "and they needed more and wanted a local office." She had already registered a company name -- Thomas Computer Services -- for her husband, Jim Thomas, but "he turned out to be less entrepreneurial than I was, so I used the name myself." He is now the company's chief technology officer.

By 2001, the company had grown to 16 employees. Last year, it had 35. Many of its translators work on a contract basis in "virtual" or actual offices in Hawaii, Seattle, San Francisco, Washington, and Atlanta. She plans to add contract translators in New York and Boston later this year.

Laing projects revenues of $3.4 million this year, up from $1.7 million in 2002, as the company expands further in to the corporate world and secures additional work from the federal government.

Charges are by the word, by the page or by the hour, depending on type of service, complexity of the project and timeframe. Transcription of an audiotape, for instance, would cost $15 per page. Basic translation services might start at $35 per hour.

Most of the business is generated by government contract, although Thomas says she can't discuss most of them. She's also cautious about discussing her private clients.

That caution is due to the confidential nature of the work, much of which requires stringent security clearances. Having built its business on those sorts of government contracts, TCS is among the select group that has seen business increase since Sept. 11, 2001.

"A lot of people pay lip service to security and confidentiality' said Milt Addison, director of security operations for W.R. Systems Ltd., a Virginia-based systems engineering, products and services firm that frequently works with TCS on projects for government agencies like the DEA. "But Arlene gets it."

TCS runs background checks on all its employees, which it draws from the ranks of civilians and former military personnel who have been trained at the Defense Language Institute, the Naval Postgraduate School, on military bases and in university foreign language programs.

Another advantage, added Addison, is that those translators who have real-world experience are better equipped to handle the subtleties of language.

"For the DEA, for example, we have a constant need for people who not only know a language, but various dialects," he said. "Plus, they have to know and understand code words, and provide daily input to us as the underworld changes. Some things you can't take the human factor out of."

Then there are the more mundane applications.

"We're introducing our wireless telecommunications and GPS tracking product around the world," said client Donald Rogers, chairman of Olathe, Kan.-based Rogers Industries. "We depend on TCS to accurately translate our technical information for various markets. There aren't that many people out there who are conversant in Farsi and technology."

After working on technical documentation for Rogers Industries, TCS saw an opportunity for its client to reach an untapped market -- Spanish-speaking buyers of pro audio equipment.

"We'd been neglecting that market and didn't realize the buying power of Spanish-speaking buyers," Rogers recalled. TCS translated materials into Spanish to expand the marketing effort. "We expect a 20 to 25 percent increase in sales to that segment now," Rogers said. "That's monumental."

RELATED ARTICLE: PROFILE

TCS Translations

Year Founded: 1995

Core Business: Translation, interpretation and voice identification services

Revenues in 2001: $1.2 million

Revenues in 2002: $1.7 million

Employees in 2001: 16

Employees in 2002: 35

Goal: To reach $3.4 million in revenues in 2003.

Driving Force: Personal service and a willingness to adapt continuously to customers.