Diane Mastrull: Haddonfield-based Conigent thrives with good works

The eyes simply couldn't ignore Ameet Shah's toes.

They were just so unexpected in the all-business, nothing-out-of-place office of Anthony DiFabio, chief executive officer of Robins' Nest Inc., a Glassboro nonprofit organization that helps troubled children and their families in South Jersey.

And they were so obvious. Shah was wearing flip-flops - odd attire for a company executive such as himself, and yet his year-round footwear choice unless a client objects. DiFabio wasn't objecting - he was too busy raving about the services Robins' Nest is getting from Conigent, the Haddonfield-based technology-consulting company Shah formed in 2007.

"It's a new frontier for us," DiFabio said of the Google apps-based communication and collaboration system Conigent is introducing for the agency's 225 therapists, clinicians, nurses, and other staff. Free.

That's right, free. Add a philanthropic-laced business bent to the list of Shah's peculiarities, which lately includes a 10-day juice diet he hopes will help improve not only his physical health but his mental acuity.

With the adoption of the so-called 1-1-1 charitable model in January as part of Conigent's "DNA," Shah has committed to giving away 1 percent of the company's profit, 1 percent of its services, and 1 percent of employee individual time each year. That last one means employees are encouraged to take an additional four days' paid time off beyond their traditional vacation allotment "to do something meaningful."

"Frankly, if the only thing we focused on was making money and profitability, I'd be bored," Shah said.

Two other factors motivate the benevolent component of Conigent's business plan: Shah's daughter, Meena, 4, and son, Max, 2.

"I want to be a good role model for them," said Shah, 38, who traces his entrepreneurial spirit to his teen years in Elizabethtown, Pa., when he persuaded the owner of the pizza shop where he worked to adopt daily start-up and shut-down procedures.

"I've always had this affinity toward business process," he said with a shrug.

His idea to start a company devoted to it came after several years in that line of work as an independent consultant in Florida and Colorado. The latter, not the former, surprisingly enough, is where he picked up his passion for flip-flops, inspired by the casual wardrobe of a manager at a Denver technology company.