ISI enables successful communication through full-service language and localization solutions, from a global team of linguists deeply rooted in the cultural and technical nuances of virtually every language used in business.
Founded in 1982, ISI is known worldwide for combining the latest technology with expert human touch at every stage – from project management to translating, editing, desktop publishing, proofreading and review – to enable successful communication in more than 100 languages.
ISI serves a wide range of industries and organizations, specializing in healthcare, life sciences, pharmaceutical and financial services. ISI was one of the first to address the special linguistic and cultural needs of both non- and limited-English-proficient communities of the United States.
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WHY ISI
What Makes Us Different
- Competitive pricing
- A boutique-level, concierge approach to customer service
- A flexible and cost-effective use of technology
ISI’s project managers are degreed linguists and serve as single-point contacts for clients, remaining intimately involved with every stage of every project. This results in the highest possible quality of translation and a concierge approach to customer service.
Our dedication to remaining “technology agnostic” means we can be flexible, fast and cost-efficient – often coming in at less than half the cost of competitors who rely on expensive, proprietary in-house technology.
ISI puts every project through a rigorous process of translation, editing, proofreading and review. Every person at every stage is a professional linguist with full understanding of the source and target languages.
ORIGIN
ISI’s Mission: To help our clients achieve successful communication.
ISI founder George Rimalower saw first-hand how bridging a language gap could turn a situation from unnecessarily confusing and scary to familiar and reassuring.
The son of Holocaust survivors who fled Nazi Germany, George spent his first dozen years amidst the political and economic chaos of Argentina in the 1950s and ‘60s. His family moved to the United States when he was in junior high, and he credits his new home country for giving him tremendous opportunities.
After graduating from UCLA, he gave bus tours of California in Spanish, German and English. His family suggested he put his passion for language to use in a broader way, so he took his last $18 and made business cards offering interpreting services. He handed them out door to door in medical and law office buildings, and one day a doctor in Century City called asking for an interpreter for a patient at the doctor’s office. The business snowballed from there. One day, he noticed that his file cabinet was full, and he was genuinely moved. George was joined in the business by his wife Cathi in 1986.
Today, ISI supports some of the largest healthcare and financial service organizations in the world, along with companies of all sizes in a variety of industries. ISI has been experiencing record sales and robust growth, and the company’s expanded leadership team now includes COO Emilie Villeneuve, VP of Client Relations Michael Bearden and more than 25 team members and hundreds of linguists worldwide.
ISI’s legacy of innovation
- The company was one of the first to add multiple review steps to the translation process, and introduced the concept of hiring project managers with advanced degrees in translation and who serve as a single point of contact for clients.
- ISI was an early adopter of technology as a crucial “member” of the team, which reduced the resources and time required to complete projects, thus enabling the company to pass even greater savings on to its clients.
- ISI was one of the first language services companies to address the special linguistic and cultural needs of both non- and limited English-Proficient communities of the United States.
EXECUTIVE TEAM
George P. Rimalower, Founder & President
George Rimalower has been providing language and localization services to healthcare, financial services and other industries for three decades. With $18, a blue blazer and a yellow VW, Rimalower started translating in the ‘70s back when the typewriter was high-tech. He founded ISI Translation Services, Inc., in 1982 and was joined by his wife Cathi in 1986. ISI has grown steadily since inception, achieving record sales and robust growth even in the midst of a recession.
Under Rimalower’s leadership, ISI was one of the first language services companies to address the special linguistic and cultural needs of both non- and limited English-Proficient communities of the United States. Additional innovations include adding multiple review steps to the translation process, and introducing the concept of hiring project managers with degrees in translation and who serve as a single point of contact for clients. ISI was an early adopter of technology as a crucial “member” of the team, which reduced the resources and time required to complete projects, thus enabling the company to pass even greater savings on to its clients. Rimalower is a published author and a frequent speaker at language industry events.
Cathi Rimalower, Chief Financial Officer
Cathi Rimalower has served as ISI’s chief financial officer and chief IT architect for more than 25 years. She has kept the company at the forefront of technological innovations, helping ISI create a hybrid approach – technologically advanced, yet maintaining the expert human touch at every stage. The result: ISI consistently produces flexible, fast, cost-efficient and high-quality translations.
Rimalower shepherded ISI’s evolution from typewritten translations to digital files, from U.S. Mail to faxes to modems to T1 lines. She guided ISI to become an early adopter of Translation Memory and other Computer Aided Translation tools. She has been doing beta testing for Intuit accounting software since 1990.
Emilie Villeneuve, Chief Operating Officer
Emilie Villeneuve has a passion for helping people of different cultures from around the world communicate successfully. Growing up in France, Villeneuve chose to study English at age 11, and then started learning Spanish at 13. She brings her trilingual expertise to ISI clients, working with ISI’s translators, editors and clients to further ensure quality translations, design and graphics that maintain cultural integrity. She specializes in researching, testing and using the latest tools to improve operational efficiency and develop consistent, culturally-appropriate translations on time and under budget.
Michael Bearden, VP of Client Relations
Michael Bearden holds a master’s degree in English Literature, and has pursued his love of language as a writer, journalist and adjunct professor of English at the university level. He has taught a variety of multi-level ESL classes in a bilingual environment in Latin America, including Grammar, Conversation and Reading. Bearden uses his extensive experience in production and translation project management to best match a company’s needs with the correct tools and processes to achieve successful communication in any language.
ISI is a proud member of the following organizations.
