Phil Harrington grew up in South Side, Chicago, Illinois with the spirit of hard work, sense of community, and emphasis on ethics and loyalty that guided him through his life; the only thing Phil cared about more than becoming a successful businessman, was becoming a family man. After receiving a Bachelor’s in Mathematics from Saint Joseph’s College and Bachelor’s in Electrical Engineering from the University of Illinois, he started his business career at Automatic Electric (a General Telephone & Electronics company) while beginning night classes to earn his Master’s in Business Administration from the University of Chicago. Over the next 25 years, he rose through the GTE organization and was ultimately elevated to Vice President of Research & Development while relocating his family to Scottsdale, Arizona, before retiring at the age of 48.

After a couple of years in “retirement” while serving as a business technology consultant, Phil founded Image Conversions & Management to create a digital conversion company specializing in paper and film scanning, CAD drafting, and technical publications. As a visionary with a fledgling organization in the upcoming age of technology, Phil reinvested in the company to expand our scanning capabilities while staffing up a software development team to build what ultimately became the ViewCenter document management product suite. As the world slowly began to embrace a more digital business environment, Phil saw the value of being able to build long-term relationships as a one-stop-shop for a client’s document management needs. Ultimately re-branding to ICM Document Solutions as the company evolved, so too did our taglines, from “Taking Your Business to the Next Level,” onto “Making Paperless Happen,” before “The Total Solution For Your Digital Transformation” of today.

Carrying himself with a larger than life personality, Phil’s passion was making ICM a great place to work, creating jobs throughout the Valley, and giving back to the community. His motivation was to provide for his family and build a legacy; never to get rich quickly. A man whose two favorite catchphrases were “never give up our ability to move quickly” and “are we having fun yet?”, he truly made an impact on the many lives he touched. Phil may have passed away in 2015, but his passion and legacy are still as alive as ever! Today, ICM is a second-generation family business owned by Carol Harrington, his wife of 54 years, and ran by his daughter, President & CEO Michelle Harrington. The third generation – his grandchildren Ryan Wells and Paige Purslow – have also dedicated themselves to continuing and evolving the ICM vision. With the extended ICM family, there are many people hired by Phil that are still current employees!