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Ted Mondale Launches New Computer Business
Susan E. Peterson,
Minneapolis Star Tribune - Published September 18, 2003
Ted Mondale's new venture, Nazca Solutions Inc. of Minneapolis, is a small operation hoping to become a big player in helping cities and counties manage the reams of data they collect and disseminate.
Most counties provide limited property data online, Mondale said, "but not the detailed information needed by appraisers, mortgage bankers and title companies." Appraisers can spend half a day at county offices to get the information for one commercial appraisal, and many professionals would be willing to pay extra for expedited service, he said.
"We're building a portal that allows counties to sell third parties property management records," he said. The system will aggregate a number of databases, such as tax records, plat maps and building permits, to provide one-stop shopping for appraisers and others.
The system won't require a large upfront payment by the city or county, Mondale said. It probably would involve 100 to 200 hours of consulting services by Nazca at a cost of $50 to $100 an hour, and a small "transaction fee" for each time an appraiser or other customer uses the system.
"We would share in the revenue stream that we helped create," Hepp said.
Mondale said the firm is working with its first client, an unidentified fast-growing county "outside the seven-county area." He said the county can't be identified because officials haven't received approval for the project from the county board yet, but the system is scheduled to "go live" in January. The county is serving as a pilot project for a 52-county consortium, and other counties have expressed interest as well, Mondale said.
He said Nazca first focused on property management data as "low-hanging fruit," but the system also could be used for other areas, such as tracking residents who need social services or booking time on a city's softball fields or ice arena. The system is "a robust and powerful engine capable of handling all the customer transactions a county or city has," he said.
Mondale said the company is named after the Nazca Indians of Peru, who created huge drawings in the desert 2,000 years ago that could be properly seen only from the air. They chose the name as a symbol of visionary thinking, he said.
The company is being funded by personal investments from St. Paul developer Jerry Trooien , Mondale said. Trooien said Nazca is a good investment because the company will help governments "leverage the benefits of technology in the dispensing of information."
"I have a real interest in efficient government, and I think that's where Ted is going," Trooien said. "The whole intention is that it doesn't cost government a big investment to get into the technology. They're not buying new tech systems unless they can demonstrate an absolute, unequivocal immediate payback, and Ted thinks they've got that."
He added, "The point is, I am betting on the jockey, not the horse. Ted is a determined guy."
For more information, contact: Jason Hepp, jhepp@nazcainc.com (612-279-6104) at Nazca |
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THE NAZCA LINES
Two thousand years ago, the Nazca Indians of Peru created a series of mystifying etchings in the desert which can only be fully appreciated from an aircraft.
The same visionary thinking inspires Nazca Solutions to see opportunities in information brokering which others miss. |
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