By: Deborah Johnson Wood
Grand Haven-based software developer Meal Magic has achieved a 198 percent sales growth and hired nine employees in the past three years. Next spring, they'll hire three software development interns and two out-of-state sales reps.
The company is a nationally known innovator of software for school lunch programs. The software tracks student food allergies, parental food controls (such as a stipulation of no junk food), and which children get free or reduced cost lunches and which pay full price.
In addition, no one—not cashiers, students, teachers, or administrators—know which child receives free or reduced price lunches because most parents submit their applications online, where it's kept confidential. At the cash register, every student pays with a PIN number, and the lunch price is kept confidential.
"We found that students who get free or reduced lunches wouldn't eat because they didn't want their friends or teachers to know," says Brad Boyink, co-owner with Jim Swarts. "Now they eat, because no one knows."
Meal Magic also does a complete nutritional analysis of the food, so each school knows that every child is getting the nutrition recommended by the USDA.
The company plans to hire at least three student interns next spring and train them over the summer. The position pays between $12 and $15 per hour. In the past, all six of the interns they've hired have stayed on as full time employees after graduation.
Expansion plans include hiring two sales reps to mine new markets in Iowa, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Missouri.
This year the firm will do business in 13 states and hit sales of $2.5 million.
Source: Brad Boyink, Meal Magic
Deborah Johnson Wood is development news editor for Rapid Growth. She can be contacted at [email protected].
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