In a tightening labor market, it’s important for companies to quickly vet top candidates and onboard them seamlessly into their workforce. Background and drug screenings are a critical part of the hiring process, but there are inefficiencies that cost companies time, productivity, and sometimes top talent. Two serial entrepreneurs, Devon Dickinson and Tommy Cheng, felt there was a better way to conduct pre-employment screenings. In 2012, they founded Verified First to bring innovation to a stale industry.
From its humble Idaho beginnings, Verified First has experienced incredible growth. This year, Verified First was ranked #198 on the 2017 Inc. Magazine list of the 5000 fastest-growing American companies. This ranking also placed Verified First as Idaho’s fastest-growing company this year. The company’s success comes from a few key advantages that allows it to compete with titans in the background screening industry:
- Hosted on the cloud, Verified First’s online portal makes background screenings faster, more intuitive, and more easily integrated with Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS). In large part because of the portal’s features and ease of use, Verified First won the Gold Stevie Award for Talent Acquisition and Retention Solution Provider of the Year in 2016 and 2017.
- Integrating background screening services with an ATS improves hiring efficiencies, but usually takes several weeks, costs hundreds of dollars, and creates system downtime when hiring. That’s why Verified First found an innovative solution to speed up the process. Their patent-pending technology reduces the integration time from weeks to minutes and unlike their competitors, this integration is provided free of charge.
- Verified First’s customer service and compliance team are all based in their Idaho headquarters. This allows the company to provide high quality, ongoing training to American workers who already understand the country’s judicial system. With an average 97% customer satisfaction rate, it’s clear this approach has paid off.
Verified First has flourished in Idaho because of its business friendly policies. More specifically, its growth was made possible through Idaho policymakers who passed the Cloud Services Clarification Act in 2013. This legislation, drafted by members of the Idaho Technology Council (ITC), clarified that cloud-based services are not taxable transactions. Supported by Idaho Commerce, the Boise Chamber of Commerce, and private industry, the legislation was signed into law by Governor Otter on April 3rd, 2013.
When Verified First was in its infancy, company leadership considered moving headquarters outside of Idaho. However, because of Idaho’s many advantages for businesses, including the Cloud Services Clarification Act, its headquarters remained in state. Since then, Verified First has created many Idaho jobs and provided a great workplace environment for its employees. The company has received numerous awards for company culture from Best Places to Work in Idaho, Entrepreneur Magazine, and Outside Magazine.
Because of Verified First’s success, it was spotlighted at last month’s quarterly ITC meeting with Governor Otter. As the company grows, more employees will be based out of its headquarters in Meridian, Idaho. In the last three years, Verified First has seen a revenue growth of 2,221% — and it has no intention of slowing down.
Nick Massoth, General Manager of Verified First, said, “Idaho is a great place to grow a company. We’ve been successful through hiring individuals with a strong work ethic and impressive levels of integrity — and we’ve found that workforce in Idaho.”
“We’ve also benefited from the collaboration between industry and state government. It’s empowering to have local policymakers who are responsive to our needs and want us to be successful. Idaho is no longer a hidden gem and we see no reason to stop growing here.”