59% growth
City: Cedar Rapids
Founded: 1997
www.collectivedata.com
1st time on the list
Looking past the surface is difficult for most businesses, but for Collective Data Inc., it’s the name of the game.
Collective Data Inc. provides fleet maintenance software to help its clients manage equipment and resources. In a basic sense, the company collects and filters information for clients, allowing them to keep tabs on anything ranging from what brand of tire a company should buy to scheduling time-sensitive maintenance on a cement mixer.
According to Jason Wonase, president and CEO of Collective Data Inc., the software is best used for “mission critical” equipment.
“If your business is relying on the equipment, that’s when software like ours becomes more important,” he said.
Taking care not to limit the scope of its operations, Collective Data focused operations on developing a quality platform for its software, rather than a specific program. With such a platform as a foundation, the company is free to tailor its software to a specific task for clients, which range from county and city government to construction companies.
“We can help organizations manage different job sites, know where vehicles are loaded and where their equipment is located,” Mr. Wonase said. “If they’re bidding on a job, we can help them know what resources they might need, how much it might cost and necessary resource allocation.”
The ability to serve such a diverse range of clientele, Mr. Wonase said, is one reason why Collective Data is one of the Corridor’s fastest growing businesses. Taking the time to develop the software base was a considerable investment, but the investment gave the company the fleet management experience it needed to move forward.
To progress its business model, Mr. Wonase explains, the company needs to diversify further.
“We’re going to be very focused in fleets and all related aspects,” Mr. Wonase said. “But we’re going to be expanding our product lines so we can be even more in depth with different clients.”
This diversification, which has benefited the company immensely, still presents obstacles.
“The bigger challenge for us is marketing, selling the products, or introducing the products to a new market,” Mr. Wonase said. “Now, developing the software is fairly miniscule, but knowing what to create and how to put it out there is more of a challenge for us right now.”
-Conrad Swanson
