URBANA – Lori Gold Patterson says the 18 employees of OJC Technologies in Urbana probably wouldn't mesh well with corporate America.

"If you're too normal, you probably don't fit in here," said Patterson, president of the 13-year-old computer consulting company.

Many of OJC's employees have incredible strengths, but they also have "quirks" that wouldn't be "welcomed or cherished" in other quarters, she said.

OJC recognizes both the strengths and the quirks, she said.

"Individuals make the world go round – not processes, money or rules," Patterson said. "If you have the attention to recognize even idiosyncratic qualities in individuals, then people shine."

It's unswerving commitment to principles like those that helped Patterson earn the 2011 Athena Award.

The award, presented by the Champaign County Chamber of Commerce and Worden Martin Inc., is given annually to someone who has helped women reach their leadership potential.

Beth Katsinas, who nominated Patterson for the award, described her as "always true to herself, her values and her beliefs. She is not afraid to chart a new path or take a stand for something she is passionate about."

Plus, "people are drawn to Lori – to her intelligence, her kindness, her integrity and her character," Katsinas said.

Patterson, 45, grew up in Urbana and received a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Illinois in 1990. She went on to work for Andersen Consulting, Caterpillar and Solo Cup.

In 1998, she and her brother, Sigfried Gold, founded On the Job Consulting, which would later become OJC Technologies.

Today, the business, located at 121 W. Goose Alley in downtown Urbana, provides computer-related services for businesses large and small and academic units, some at the UI.

The company – owned by 12 current and former employees – started out in database application development and expanded to Web programming and graphic design. Now it's returning to its software engineering roots, Patterson said.

For several years, OJC helped build online supplements for McGraw-Hill's college economics texts. It also helped the UI develop its online course evaluation system.

One of OJC's current projects is helping the American Library Association use Drupal on its website. That software package is used to publish, manage and organize content on websites.

OJC's annual revenues have grown tremendously over the years, Katsinas said. But even more impressive is "the working environment that she (Patterson) has created for her employees – one that is open, collaborative, fast-paced."

In her resume, Patterson said she specializes in "loosening the stuffy ... grounding the chaotic and turning good ideas into extremely effective, sustainable entities."

Outside work, she was president of the Urbana Business Association several years, helping it "run as a business rather than as a needy not-for-profit."

She has also been active in the Executive Club of Champaign County, the Champaign County Economic Development Corp. and Leadership Illinois.

One of Patterson's favorite causes is Mo' Betta Music, a youth jazz band founded by Nathaniel Banks and Robert Lewis to encourage kids – predominantly African-American youth – to get involved in instrumental music.

Patterson has been involved in other ventures. She was marketing and business director for WebEasel, which developed content management software for websites. She and her husband, Will, operated Rap House, a music shop at First and Chester streets in Champaign from 1997 to 2003, as well as an educational consulting company, Innovative Ed.

Katsinas described Patterson as "a devoted wife and mother." The Patterson have three children: daughter Maya and son Jordan, both at Urbana High School, and son Donovan, a student at Next Generation School.

Patterson said she is "unconditionally committed" to the things she cares about – family, business, community, culture.

"I preach that ad nauseam," she said, "If you're in, you're in."

She said she was strongly influenced by her father, former UI Professor Marc Gold, who believed in the "Competence/Deviance Hypothesis."

She described that as: "The more competence one has, the more deviance is tolerated in that person by others."

That's why she elects to spend time on people's strengths. Many great people in history had "major quirks," Patterson said, but people accepted them.