The transition from carpet cleaning to website development may not seem obvious, but the career change happened naturally enough for Clinton Benard III, Co-Founder and Web Developer of
Midwest Intel. Benard owned Dry Green Carpet Cleaning in East Lansing, but his interest began to shift when looking to develop a website for his company.
“There seemed to be a wide range of pricing to get a website done,” he says. “We found developers that were really good. They told us the price and it was out of our budget at the time, but they said if we bring them more business they could work with us.”
Benard quickly became his developer’s best source of referrals, connecting them to more than 20 clients. Over time, Benard began to develop his own skills in web design, and a few years later reconnected with his web development associates.
“It was kind of a hobby at the time,” Benard says, “but I was looking for a new business venture, and they said they wanted to start a company with me and put together a team.”
Bernard and his Midwest Intel co-founder Evan W. Hurst saw things develop fairly quickly from there. What began a year ago as a home-based business is now a 2,000-square foot Okemos office with three interns, two fulltime staff and more than 20 contractors. The firm was helped by incubator-like support in their location, owned by Chris King of
King Custom Homes.
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