Meet Tommy Nijem: The Valdosta Pro Behind NijemTech’s Local AI & IT
Most of us only think about our computers and networks when they stop working. Tommy Nijem has spent more than thirty years thinking about them so the rest of us don’t have to. He’s the owner and founder of NijemTech, a Valdosta, Georgia company that handles the technology side of local businesses — and these days, that means modern AI as much as it means wires and routers.
We’re proud to have NijemTech as a riktom.com sponsor. And I’ll be upfront about the connection: Tommy is also my business partner. He runs the technical side of riktom.com — including the servers these very pages are served from — so this is one sponsor I can vouch for from firsthand experience.
In computer tech since 1993
Tommy didn’t stumble into this. He has worked in computer technology since 1993, back when “IT support” for most companies meant a back room full of beige towers and a stack of floppy disks. Over those years, by the company’s account, he served some of the largest, most sophisticated companies in the world before bringing that experience home to South Georgia.
That arc is the whole point: he brings a background working in large organizations to a town where most businesses can’t justify a full-time IT department of their own.
Building NijemTech in Valdosta
Tommy founded NijemTech in 2006, hanging out his own shingle in Valdosta to serve small businesses and home users directly. The model was simple and it still is: be the local tech person a business can call directly, instead of a 1-800 number and a hold queue.
Today the company runs on the same idea but with a much wider toolkit, and Tommy isn’t a one-man show anymore. NijemTech’s team includes Nelly Rivera, an IT & AI specialist, and the company’s banner sums up the approach in four words: “Built by Locals. For Locals.”
What NijemTech does today
A major part of NijemTech’s current offering is artificial intelligence — tools aimed at everyday office tasks, including:
- Voice memo to PDF — speak your notes and get a clean written document back.
- A daily task assistant that helps keep the day organized.
- Automatic email follow-ups so leads and clients don’t fall through the cracks.
- Client-call answering for the calls a small team can’t always get to.
- A private, local AI assistant deployed for the business itself — set up and supported close to home rather than handed off to a generic public service.
Underneath the AI, the bread-and-butter IT work is still very much part of the job:
- Computer repair and hardware setup
- Network & WiFi design and installation (Ubiquiti UniFi)
- Security cameras (UniFi Protect) and door-access control (UniFi Access)
- Structured cabling — the wiring that quietly holds an office together
- IT support & help desk
- Data backup & recovery and cybersecurity
It’s a practical mix. The same company that can deploy an AI assistant for your front desk can also run the cabling, stand up the cameras, lock down the network, and make sure your files are backed up if something goes wrong.
Built for local businesses
NijemTech serves the kinds of organizations that make up a South Georgia downtown: dental offices, law firms, medical practices, real estate and insurance agencies, accounting firms, retail stores, schools, and churches. Those are businesses that depend on their technology every single day but rarely have an in-house expert — exactly the gap a trusted local IT partner is meant to fill.
That’s the thread running through everything Tommy does: technology handled by someone in your own community, who answers the phone and stands behind the work. As NijemTech puts it, “Local. Trusted. Always There.”
Common Questions
What does NijemTech actually do?
Both AI and IT for local businesses and home users — from private AI assistants, transcription, and automated follow-ups to computer repair, networks and WiFi, security cameras and access control, cabling, backups, help desk, and cybersecurity.
What is a “private” or “local” AI assistant?
An AI helper set up to work for one specific business rather than as a generic public chatbot — handling everyday tasks like transcribing voice memos, keeping a task list, sending email follow-ups, and answering client calls, set up and supported locally.
Who do they serve?
Valdosta and the surrounding South Georgia area — dental and medical offices, law firms, real estate, accounting, insurance, retail, schools, and churches, plus home users.
How do I reach them?
Call (229) 740-8363, email tnijem@nijemtech.com, or visit nijemtech.com. Hours are Monday–Saturday, 9 a.m.–7 p.m. You can also read more on Tommy’s riktom.com sponsor page.
The Bottom Line
Tommy Nijem has done this work for more than three decades — long enough to have seen the industry move from server rooms to smartphones to AI — and he’s spent a good chunk of it serving his own community in Valdosta. NijemTech is what that experience looks like when you point it at Main Street instead of a corporate campus: modern tools, handled by a neighbor, for the local businesses that keep South Georgia running. As his partner at riktom.com, I get to see that work up close — and it’s exactly why we’re glad to call NijemTech a sponsor.
This article is a riktom.com Local Business Spotlight about one of our sponsors, who is also a riktom.com business partner. It is general information about the company and its services.