ITC Drives Tech Initiatives At Governor’s Meeting
Growing a knowledge-based economy requires collaboration between industry and key stakeholders. Here in Idaho, we’re fortunate to have policymakers who support innovation and want to create a thriving technology community. To create alignment, members of the ITC meet with the Governor every quarter to report on key initiatives and identify collaboration opportunities.
Because of Idaho’s success at growing its tech industry, we invite two companies to give brief presentations before we give updates on key initiatives. At our most recent meeting, the first company was Kount , a company that deploys award-winning anti-fraud technology to online merchants and payment service providers worldwide. The second company was Verified First , a background and drug screening company that uses the cloud to provide faster and more efficient screenings.

They joined the ITC delegation that included representatives from some of Idaho’s most prominent companies: Micron , Clearwater Analytics , AlertSense , and the Idaho Digital Learning Academy .


Industry Presentations – Kount

Brad Wiskirchen, CEO of Kount, kicked off the meeting with his company presentation about Kount. His company develops cutting-edge technology that has the ability to fight back against online fraud within milliseconds. With the growing threat of online fraud, the solutions Kount provides are particularly relevant.

For example, one report cited that card-not-present fraud losses will climb to $7.2 billion annually by 2020. Additionally, it’s projected that account takeover fraud will generate an additional $1 billion in losses. Kount’s fraud detection platform protects against these threats and more. The company’s comprehensive approach has placed it among the largest players in the world with online fraud and risk management.

Because of Kount’s industry leadership, CVC Growth Fund provided an $80 million growth equity investment in December 2015. This investment allowed Kount to accelerate its product innovation and expand its global footprint. Because of the company’s success, Kount announced they are moving downtown to a larger building that will accommodate their growing team.

Industry Presentations – Verified First 



In today’s economy, technology has permeated every industry. We were impressed by how Verified First accelerates hiring through technology that improves pre-employment screening. It was also gratifying to see their success because it was made possible through ITC leadership and the Governor’s support of key legislation.

In 2013, the ITC was instrumental in passing the Cloud Services Clarification Act, which ruled that Idaho cloud-based services are not taxable transactions. Because Verified First provides background and drug screening services through the cloud, without this legislation, they would likely have moved outside the state. Because of this key legislation, Verified First stayed in Idaho and experienced phenomenal growth. Earlier this year, Inc. Magazine ranked Verified First as the fastest-growing company in Idaho for 2017.

Verified First’s General Manager, Nick Massoth, and IT Director, John Gerhard, presented to Governor Otter. They explained that one of the challenges Idaho technology companies face is access to talent. A slow hiring process makes it more likely for top talent to drop out and also increases recruiting and onboarding costs . To overcome this challenge, Verified First reduces time-to-hire through innovative technology.

They built their own software platform to make background screenings faster and more easily integrated with Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS). It’s a standard industry practice to integrate background screenings with ATS to improve hiring efficiencies. However, this process normally takes several weeks, costs hundreds of dollars, and creates system downtime when hiring.

Because Verified First found an innovative solution that allows them to integrate within minutes — at no charge to the client — it allows them to compete with the giants of their industry. Because of their technological innovation, Verified First was listed as the 75th ranked company on Deloitte’s Technology Fast 500™ , a ranking of the 500 fastest growing technology companies in North America.

Because of the value ITC provides, Verified First is one of the many companies that have benefited from ITC’s leadership. Verified First’s General Manager, Nick Massoth , said, “The ITC has a level of unity I haven’t seen from comparable organizations. Their focused, intentional approach has created a business environment favorable to Verified First.”





Idaho’s Computing Technology
K-12 Leadership Team


Following industry presentations, we had an update on Idaho’s Computing Technology K-12 Leadership Team. This team is led by James Price, CTO of Clearwater Analytics, and Sherawn Reberry, Director of Education Programs at the Idaho Digital Learning Academy. The goal of this team is to advance computer science education in Idaho’s K-12 educational system.   

The committee members include private industry, educators, and government officials. Two key public officials serve on the committee: Marilyn Whitney, Senior Special Assistant for Education and Government Services, and Angela Hemingway, Executive Director for the STEM Action Center . The team has three main focus areas:

  1. Increase professional development opportunities for Idaho educators.
  2. Improve the quality of computer science curriculum at every level, from kindergarten to AP computer science classes.
  3. Ensure that high schools, especially in rural Idaho areas, have access to devices and Internet connectivity.

Idaho has approximately 1,500 K-12 teachers certified to teach computer science classes. This has been incredible progress from just a few years ago, when Idaho only had six teachers qualified to teach computer science education. Because of this rapid growth, Hadi Partovi, founder of Code.org, gave high praise to Idaho. He referred to Idaho as one of the four “Lighthouse States” that are leading the way in computer science education.




Idaho kNOWledge Report





One of ITC’s newest initiatives is the Idaho Knowledge 2017 Report. This publication will inform policymakers on what industry sectors have the greatest potential for economic growth. The report will show the type of jobs being created, provide a detailed overview of key metrics, and showcase core competencies for Idaho. This initiative has support from key partners such as the Idaho Workforce Council, Department of Labor, Department of Commerce, INL, and more.

Andrew Beck, COO at Ventive , is the Chair of the Committee drafting the report. We anticipate publishing this report in late 2018.


If you would like to get involved with the ITC and support the growth of Idaho’s tech sector, please CONTACT US .
  Idaho Technology Council | info@idahotechcouncil.org | www.idahotechcouncil.org