photo by jonathan hankin
computer science students with client companies, the former who gain valuable skills
and earn money while in college, the latter who often hire those part-time recruits
when they graduate, and enjoy new staff
members trained on their specific systems.
The company makes about $5 for every
hour one of those students works, charging
the company $20 an hour and paying an average wage of $13.50.
Maverick started in 2006 with an office
at Mankato State, and its first client was
Thomson Reuters, the media and information giant. "In six months they wanted us
to sign an exclusive agreement, which was
the hardest decision I had to make," Hebig
says—he was worried about putting all his
eggs in one basket, right when the business
began.
But the relationship proved fruitful, and
Maverick went to university towns in Wisconsin, Iowa and others with Thomson, before branching out to attract a handful of other
large clients that could each make an $800,000
commitment to the firm.
Then Hebig began thinking of ways to scale
the model down, to serve smaller companies
and smaller colleges, as well, and at a career
fair Maverick's booth was set up next to Apple's. "They hire MIS students, give them a
laptop and they work at home," Hebig recalls.
"So we said, that's the answer," but when
they approached clients with the idea, worries
about security loomed. "That was our problem to solve," Hebig says, and after about a
year of work they're now giving it a try. "We
put a chip in the laptop and encrypt the hard
drive," Hebig says, allowing them to pair students anywhere with companies everywhere.
"It allows us to grow our business a lot
faster and our margins are better," Hebig
says. "We can push this out nationwide,
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december 2013 • january 2014 upsize
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