When Hung Nguyen started Net-Integrated Consulting Inc. in 1993, his son was only 2 days old.

“Everyone thought I was out of my mind,” he said. “I gave up a steady paycheck. I gave up insurance. It was a very dangerous thing to do.”

Then, shortly after opening for business, Nguyen’s family lost their home in the floods of ’93.

“That first year obviously wasn’t easy,” he said. “But despite the fact that it probably was crazy to begin with, I’m still here.”

Now his company has grown to employ 35 people, which he hopes will be up to 50 by next year.

But overcoming adversity is something Nguyen and his family are accustomed to, and now he, along with his brother and brother-in-law, are helping to expand the information technology community in Central Iowa.

Nguyen was born in Nhatrang, Vietnam, and came to America with his family during the evacuation of Saigon. His father was a personal security officer for several U.S. military officers in Vietnam, which was one of the reasons his family had to flee their homeland.

They eventually settled in Madrid, Iowa, but it wasn’t easy for the family.

“When you have seven kids and only make minimum wage, it can be trying,” Nguyen said. “But my father made it work.”

Eventually, a priest with the local Catholic church took the family under his wing, Nguyen said, and helped his father get a job as an electrician.

“That gave him the opportunity to send his children to school,” he said.

But with seven children, Nguyen said they had to focus on one child at a time.

“He sent my older brother to Iowa State, and when he graduated and found a job, he helped me go to school,” he said. “Then, when I graduated, my brother and I helped the next in line. Then all three of us helped the next in line. It got progressively easier for our siblings to go to school, so it worked out really well and every one of us graduated either Iowa or Iowa State with a bachelor’s degree or higher.”

Now, Central Iowa is reaping the benefits of the family’s hard work. Besides Nguyen, who owns Net-Integrated Solutions, an information technology staffing and consulting firm, his brother-in-law, B.J. Do, owns ABC Virtual Communications and his brother Allen Nguyen owns ecfirst.com Inc., both of which are computer consulting firms.

“We’re all involved in information technology,” he said. “I guess it’s just in our genes. It is something that has always come easy to us. It just came naturally.”

But no matter how busy everyone’s life gets, the family tries to stay close to its traditional roots.

“In our culture, family is very important,” he said. “So every Friday, we all get together at Mom and Dad’s and have a traditional Vietnamese dinner, and everyone make sure they are there. We have a brother in Omaha who comes every other Friday and a brother in California who calls every Friday and comes when he gets the opportunity. Some people have a family reunion every year. We have one every week.”

After graduating from college, Nguyen traveled all over the country, but when it was time to settle down and raise a family, he knew he would return to Iowa.

“This is my home,” he said. “This is such a good place to raise a family because the people in this state have tremendous values. And everyone who helped me out along the way, when I needed it the most, was from Iowa. So, I came home.”

Plus, he said, the Des Moines market had a lot of opportunities for specialists in information technology.

“This is a great place for us,” he said. “The business community is constantly growing, and we can provide a service to them as they move forward and advance in their technology needs.”

Nguyen’s company provides staffing and consulting for both large corporations and small businesses. He said until last year, Net-Integrated was strictly working in consulting, but the growing market pushed him to begin looking at other avenues where his company could assist businesses.

But no matter how successful Nguyen’s company has become, he never forgets where he came from, what he’s gone through and who helped him get there. He also refuses to rest on his laurels.

“My staff and I have built a trust between each other that is very strong,” he said. “When I find the formula that will allow them to see each other as family and to trust each other the same way, I guarantee we will be the most successful company in town.”