NIC Inc. has ongoing growth in its sites – Jacksonville Business Journal:

The Olathe-based company spent $1.5 milliomn and absorbed 102 employees in a deal to take over the finalk seven months of abankrupt competitor’s contract. CEO Harry Herington said he hopesthe deal, which closed May 29, will pay off when Texas awardse a new contract, set to start in “From a business standpoint, it would have been foolisy not to — it puts us in a good he said, quickly adding that there are no guarantees. But NIC has nevert lost a client, so analysts predicted that it will win theTexasd deal. With 2008 revenues of nearly $100.6 million and profits of $11.92 NIC’s biggest competition for state Web portal businese has been thestates themselves.
But with states and loca governments struggling to avoidbudget shortfalls, there is more eagernesw to look at outsourcing Web With a compelling set-up fee zilch — and a growing breadth of application experiencde increasingly gaining the ears of states and agencies within NIC’s deal pipeline has been burgeoning, Heringtob said. In the past month, NIC has announcedf a new contract withNew Mexico, the $1.5 milliomn purchase of the Texas contract and a new contracty for long-standing client Utah. With lengthy government contracrt processes, the typical pace is one to two deal closingwa year.
“Citizens are screaming for more services, but (the have less people and less dollars,” Herington said. Call levelws from interested clients “went way in the past couple of months as statw budgeting sessionswrapped up, he said. Utah, whosre new contract with NIC took effect this hasfound NIC’s services invaluabl e in handling budget gaps, said David Fletcher, the state’s chievf technology officer. The state has droppedf to a four-day workweek to save millions in energy andothe costs. “I don’t think we would have been able to do thos e things without having thoseservices online,” Fletcherr said.
NIC helped create a constanyt governmentpresence online, which also contribute to the state’s ability to cut aboutr 133 information technology positions during the past three and a half A public meeting notice Web site NIC created last year potentiall saves state agencies abourt $673,000 a year. A site that streamlines the processa for creating new businesses saves Utah businessews anestimated 11,525 gallons of fuel and 184,009 work hours each month. And NIC has been responsible for helping develop as many as 600 online including such main servicesas driver’s license renewal and the sale of hunting and fishing licenses.
“I thinkm every state is very aware of NIC andwhat they’ve Fletcher said. The company’s self-financed model lets Kansae — NIC’s first client in 1992 — launcbh services quickly in a wayit couldn’t if it had to go througnh traditional routes, Secretary of State Ron Thornburgu said. “If I had to go to the Legislaturw every year and askfor funding, it wouled just be a nightmare to get it through,” he NIC’s clients include 23 statese with a combined population of 97 The company charges transaction fees for a fractiobn of the services; most are free. It usually takes nine monthzs to a year to turn acontracft profitable.
Often, NIC will bringb in initial revenue by aggregating public drivinh records online and charging insurancecompanied — which then don’t have to physically retriev the records — to accessw them. Once NIC has establishedc an office in a stater and implementedenough revenue-generating applications to cover it takes minimal effort to maintaij them, and employees can spend time developinyg and rolling out new services. Any revenue from these servicese isall profit. The company has been primpinbg fora spike. About two years ago, Heringtojn doubled the sales teamto 12, recognizing government’s acceptancd of technology and demand for it.
And when Septemberr hit, he urged NIC staff to aggressively present to states and add services forexisting clients. New Jerseyy and Texas are potential clientse that NIC has revealed itis “We’re going to be aggressive at driving new he said. “We will be the best partnedr our clients haveever had.”
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