EPCHS Alum In The Spotlight: Jonathan O’Brien, Class Of 2014

Jonathan O’Brien’s nickname when growing up in Evergreen Park and attending Evergreen Park Community High School was “JOB,” which is now the name of the information technology business he started shortly after graduating from Loras College in Dubuque, Iowa.

JOB Technologies provides IT services as an outsourced help desk for small businesses. O’Brien, a 2014 EPCHS alum, serves a dozen or so companies in the Dubuque area and a few others remotely in and near Evergreen Park.

“I started it as more of a side hustle to help pay for student loans, but after about a year I saw it could turn into a business,” O’Brien said during a visit to EPCHS a week ago. “I had 0 dollars invested at first, but started making money pretty quickly.”

O’Brien had planned to move back home to Evergreen Park after his 2018 graduation from Loras, but decided to stay out there due to a job offer he received just before graduation and the realization that JOB Technologies could soon turn into full-time work.

“It was a good area to do it in,” he said. “There’s a big need for IT help out there and not a lot of competition.”

As founder of JOB Technologies, O’Brien says he manages 170-180 computers at a time and will soon look to hire his first official employee to get more help on the business side of the endeavor.

Kim Hackett, owner of “The Wicked Dame” business in Dubuque, said O’Brien went “out of his way to make sure (she) understood all aspects of the technology he helped with, and that helped (her) business run smoothly and securely” in a “Duhawk Dozen” feature posted by Loras College.

O’Brien is as proud of his EPCHS alum status as he is of his time at Loras. In his recent visit to his high school alma mater, O’Brien was embraced by several of his former teachers and coaches, including science teachers Ray Mankowski and Anna Papasideris and basketball coach Chris Burras.

It’s his involvement in sports that O'Brien remembers best from his four years at EPCHS. O’Brien was a three-sport athlete, playing quarterback and wide receiver for the Mustangs football team and was involved in basketball, baseball and Mathletes.

“I was here (at school) from 7 a.m. to 6 or 7 p.m. for the majority of days,” he said. “We’d have workouts in the morning and practice after school.”

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By his junior year, O’Brien put his full athletic focus on football and team success came in the form of a state semifinal appearance his junior year and an undefeated regular season as a senior.

His ability to play both quarterback and wide receiver came in handy at Loras, playing the sport all four years at the NCAA Division III school.

“The only reason I was able to do both is because I had a coaching mentality,” he said.

Loras “attracts a lot of Chicago kids,” O’Brien said, pointing out that his college roommates attended Marist and Mount Carmel high schools.

“I had never heard of it (Loras) until their coach came here to talk to players looking to play football. As high schools go, I felt EP was small, but good-sized. I knew everyone in my class and the year below me. I had that similar feeling at Loras, which is why I liked it so much.”

Despite his success in the Hawkeye State, O’Brien stays true to Evergreen Park, making the three-and-a-half hour drive home about twice a month.

“EP is my heart and passion,” he said. “I will make long weekends for myself to see friends.”