Got questions? Cade probably knows!

At the start of his working life as the youngest employee at Canaan Hardware & Supply in New Hampshire, Cade Malkin was quickly nominated “de facto IT guy.” He embraced the role, eventually moving beyond the store’s POS technology to learn a new PC operating system from scratch (Linux) and become the store’s specialist in security cameras and loss prevention. His efforts earned a reputation summed up in three words heard frequently around Canaan Hardware at the time: “Cade probably knows.”

Today Cade brings similar enthusiasm, aptitude and a thirst for knowledge to the Paladin Data Corporation® support team, where he works as a technical support representative specializing in software-related cases.

Despite the small-town, East-coast retail origins of his “IT guy” career, Cade originally comes from high-tech roots in the Pacific Northwest. Born in Vancouver, B.C., he grew up primarily in Oregon’s capital city, Salem, where the Malkins owned an independent computer repair business. Later, Cade’s dad led large-scale IT projects and departments for big global companies, and the family moved with the work.

Meanwhile, Cade’s rare classical education (heavy on Latin, logic, philosophy and the like) didn’t necessarily prepare him for a typical career in tech, but that didn’t keep him from building one himself. After cutting his teeth at Canaan Hardware, Cade moved onto plasma torch manufacturer Hypertherm, where he spent a few months mastering manual assembly tasks before earning a promotion and training in the ins and outs of CNC machining.

It was a combination of Cade’s fond memories of his Oregon upbringing and his pursuit of a long-term career in technology that eventually drew him back to the Beaver State, where Paladin was founded in 1980 and maintains a Bend campus. Not surprisingly based on his history, Cade established himself as a reliable support rep right away and earned the elevated status of backup lead.

“Cade consistently demonstrates a strong work ethic, a positive attitude, and a commitment to both our clients and teammates. He is always looking for ways to improve processes and enhance the customer experience. I am grateful to have Cade on our team and appreciate the dedication he brings every day,” raves Cade’s supervisor, Squad 2 Lead Trevor Silwones.

Beyond work, Cade is a renaissance man. While you might expect many techies’ interests to end at gaming, coding, or other high-tech-adjacent subjects, Cade is also an enthusiastic writer, musician, and newly-minted stage actor (he played flashy villain Hans in a recent local production of Disney’s “Frozen”) in his spare time.

Cade’s multifaceted personality fits right into the encouraging family atmosphere at Paladin – the secret sauce that helps Paladin support teams maintain their reputation as the industry’s finest.

“It is a place where I feel supported in excelling as much as I’m capable,” Cade says.

As a former hardware store worker, Cade also knows firsthand what makes a good hardware store POS support team.

“Our customer service is fantastic,” Cade says. “At [Canaan Hardware], we never called anyone for tech support. We didn’t have that. Just having that option would have been really cool for us.”

Acting as a one-man hardware store tech support team arguably could not have prepared Cade better for his role at Paladin. Coworkers and clients already see him as a valuable resource.

“I do find myself a lot of the time being someone that people can go to for information,” says Cade. “I’ve got pretty good ‘RAM’ in my brain…just good random access memory for edge cases – weird stuff.”

In other words, some things have not changed a lot since Cade’s “IT guy” days at the hardware store in Canaan. He’s still a go-to expert for technical issues or questions on POS systems – just with a far bigger set of clients than before. And people still say the same thing about Cade, whether it’s here in the Paladin office or in a store across the country that needs quick, expert advice on their Paladin system:

“Cade probably knows!”