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A harrowing 2009 helped Paragon Consulting Inc. lay the groundwork for what could be its best year ever.

The custom software development firm plans to double the size of its staff during the first three months of 2011, said CEO Mark Atwood. The company, which employs 18 today, also is looking for an East Side office that would be twice as big as its 3,500-square-foot headquarters in Mayfield Heights.

The pipeline of work at Paragon Consulting is “as full as it’s ever been,” Mr. Atwood said. The company sought new customers when times got tough, and now old customers are spending again.

“Suddenly, we have both,” he said. Paragon Consulting needs 20 more people just to handle the projects it has on hand, Mr. Atwood said, adding that he expects sales to double in 2011. He declined to disclose specific revenue figures.

The growth marks a major reversal from 2009, when sales fell 40%. The company responded by seeking more customers outside of Northeast Ohio, developing partnerships with companies that make tools for building web sites and promoting its ability to develop software for both smart phones and other handheld devices. It also won more business from health care providers, Mr. Atwood said.

Because of those efforts, Paragon Consulting this year expects to recover almost all the sales it lost in 2009. And not only are old customers spending again, but some are spending more than they normally would because they delayed many projects, Mr. Atwood said.

“For us it’s going to come back larger than it was,” he said.

Paragon Consulting already had the ability to develop mobile software, but it started promoting it in 2009 as a way to rise “above the noise of all the IT consulting companies out there doing custom applications,” Mr. Atwood said.

Paragon Consulting also took a step toward broadening its customer base when it formed a partnership with Sitecore, a company that makes software that developers use to build web sites for businesses. Sitecore, with its U.S. headquarters in the San Francisco area, eventually started referring clients to Paragon Consulting.

That partnership helped Paragon Consulting establish itself as a “preeminent player” when it comes to creating complex, interactive web sites, Mr. Atwood said. The company also is in a partnership with another web content management software maker, Bridgeline Software Inc., and it has built web sites using Microsoft SharePoint and other tools.

Sitecore also helped Paragon Consulting find clients outside Northeast Ohio. It recommended the Mayfield Heights firm to an Atlanta-based startup developing a web site to help businesses prepare for and respond to crises. That job gave Paragon Consulting the confidence to do more work remotely, Mr. Atwood said. 

Paragon Consulting did more than build a web site for Preparis Inc. — it helped the startup figure out how to build it right, said Dan Kehoe, chief technical officer for the Atlanta company. Paragon Consulting’s willingness to learn about the business and build a web site to match its needs was a big reason the company impressed Preparis during the interview process, Mr. Kehoe said.

“The way Paragon approached it was, ‘Let’s understand before we start talking about ourselves,’” he said. ■