Small businesses are an extremely crucial part of American life because they are the lifeblood of our whole economy. Most businesses are small to medium in size and are basically the foundation upon which our entire country and economy was built.
Please enjoy our new quarterly feature called Small Business Spotlight, that will highlight a small business in our surrounding area. This quarter our Small Business Spotlight is Marias Technology out of Covington Ohio.
Name: R. Christopher Haines Title: President and CEO
Name: R. Douglas Haines Title: Chairman
Briefly describe your business:
Marias Technology provides software testing and system implementation services, primarily to the insurance industry. Marias also offers a few complementary IT services such as server hosting and managed services.
When did your business start?
Marias was founded in late 2008 but didn’t start fully operating until early 2011. In the summer of 2017, our family purchased the business from its parent company.
How did you get started in this business?
Our roots are in the insurance industry, Chris in IT and Doug as a longtime executive. Marias was started as an IT subsidiary of its parent, which founded it in an attempt to diversify incoming revenue. Chris and Doug have always served as the senior management of Marias since its founding.
Where do you see your business in the next year?
Marias is dedicated to its current service offerings, so we won’t be changing what we do. But we do want to do our best to perfect them. So we’ve been increasing our training initiatives to help strengthen our offerings. Our prospect activity is very strong, and we will continue to grow. We anticipate growing revenue by at least 20% and our staff by at least 25% in 2018.
How has Greenville Federal helped your business grow?
Greenville Federal made our family’s dream of owning Marias a reality. In 2017, we decided to purchase the company we’d built. It was an all-or-nothing decision, which would have seen us walking away had it not worked out. But we’re happy to say the financing from Greenville Federal made this dream come true for us.
What is the one thing about your business that people may not know?
Even though we’re located in Covington, our clients are spread throughout the country. We have five clients in the Los Angeles area and other clients in Seattle, Chicago, Ft. Worth, West Virginia, and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, among various other places.
What is your favorite thing to do when you are not working?
Our biggest family hobby is railfanning and railroad photography. Chris and Doug have had photos published in railroad magazines, books, and calendars. The family has traveled through almost all 50 states to see specific railroads and famous railroad locations. The Marias name actually comes from Marias Pass, a famous railroad pass in Montana, which is now the southern border of Glacier National Park.
To learn more about Marias Technology, visit them online at www.mariastechnology.com
