From a Bedroom to an Office Campus: Lakeville-Based ImageTrend Expanding

ImageTrend's story is something one reads about in the Wall Street Journal or maybe sees on a morning news show. But it never happens so close to home it may as well be in our backyard.

ImageTrend literally started in a bedroom—a second-floor bedroom in Mike McBrady's Lakeville home.

That was in 1998. His wife was his first employee.

Today, just 13 years later, ImageTrend is ready to embark on a huge expansion for its 140 employees. The company broke ground June 27 on a project to construct a new, two-story, 10,000 square-foot office building that will be adjacent to its current headquarters along Kensington Bourlevard in Lakeville's Fairfield Business Campus.

McBrady reminiced about ImageTrend's humble beginings.

In 1998, McBrady was working for a company that wanted to devote their time to developing Y2k correction products. But he thought that would be a waste of time, so McBrady said he ventured out on his own to put his effort into what he thought was the future of computer programming, developing web applications.

So he cleaned out a bedroom, set up shop, and after a few days, Cargill contacted McBrady and offered him a contract. At first, McBrady had planned on going solo in his new software development business, but after four or five months he soon realized he needed help.

The first helping hand in the business came from his wife, who was a teacher in Lakeville's school district.

“She didn’t start until she realized I hadn’t sent out a bill for a while,” McBrady said. “Once she started sending out bills to people, it was a better business because then we were making money.”

But starting a company had its challenges, one of them being startup money. The company started without investors and little capital, so McBrady said he had to “bootstrap it on a cash basis.” Another hurdle that comes with being a software development company is the challenge of credibility.

“Everyone assumes there are only two possible outcomes,” McBrady said. “Either you are going to go out of business and the customers all get screwed, or you are going to be successful but sellout for millions of dollars and the customers all get screwed. We don’t intend to do either.”

Now, after quick growth, McBrady says the company has the largest share of software development in the medical field. EMS and other medical services have relied on ImageTrend to provide software that saves both money and lives. Hennepin County Medical Center used ImageTrend’s software to react quickly and effectively after the I-35W bridge collapse in 2007.

The company also creates software used by schools across the country to keep academic records like grades and schedules. They’re also well known to college human resource departments for developing a streamlined system to hire new employees. And, unlike numerous companies across the nation, ImageTrend continues to grow in a rough and unstable economy, McBrady said.

Although business has slowed down, ImageTrend has been seen as a cost saving measure by many of its clients, McBrady said. For example, catholic schools around the country that are losing money have contracted ImageTrend to centralize their information technology services, which has allowed the schools to save cash.

But the company doesn’t just help other organizations save money, they work hard to save money themselves. During the long Minnesota winters, they plow their own parking lot and during the summer they mow their own lawn. Refraining from outsourcing jobs like these helps cut costs.

“It’s all about controlling costs.” McBrady said. “When we do things ourselves we know what our costs are.”

A big part of the company’s success thus far has been accredited to their team development model. The office is set up in such a way that teamwork is encouraged, with “pods” or close groups of desks in a circle instead of individual cubicles that are often seen at other companies.

ImageTrend also owns two condos down the hill from their headquarters where new employees and interns stay when they are first hired. The condos give the new hires the opportunity to get their feet on the ground and get used to the Lakeville area. The company also owns two cabins on a lake near Annandale which is used for meetings and employee vacations.

In the future, McBrady and ImageTrend intend to expand on this team model and invest time in leadership development. They also wish to keep customer loyalty by expanding their company to meet the needs of their clients.

That’s why they are adding the massive office expansion, a daycare, and an outdoor patio to their Lakeville headquarters. They also intend on constructing a second building on the lot next door within the next four or five years so they can better serve their customers.

A lot of the expansion will not be used right away but gives the company options when they need to grow. And for a company that’s been in the 50 fastest growing companies in Minnesota for eight years in a row, the space may be used faster than anyone may think.