Endpoint Utility Corporation is a small local tech company born from some of the biggest businesses in the global market.

The IT service provider was founded in the Flathead Valley by four partners who cut their teeth at big-name businesses such as Microsoft and McDonald’s. Their focus is on making information technology solutions accessible to smaller enterprises.

“Our core belief is to democratize access,” said David Mayer, CEO and one of the founders. The goal is to “put small businesses on a more equal playing field with large businesses.”

Mayer became aware of the discrepancy among IT services while working at various tech companies in Arizona. It was there in the 1990s that the Iowa native learned about the ways small business owners utilize technology — and the ways they are left out by the existing IT options.

“I saw that really large companies can spend lots of money on IT. They have a massive machine,” Mayer recalled. “The small business arena is extremely underserved.”

The Covid-19 pandemic drove Mayer and his family north to Montana, where his wife’s family had lived for years. Along with him, Mayer brought his observations about small business IT solutions.

He mulled the idea with a few longtime friends, and during a virtual campfire in the midst of the pandemic, the four of them decided to do something to address the needs they saw. They launched Endpoint Utility Corp in April 2021.

Their idea was to simplify IT services for small businesses by taking over all of the lower-level technology needs that a company could require, like security, laptops and email.

As the name suggests, Endpoint Utility Corp. is designed so business owners use the service for IT needs like they would use a utility company for electricity or water.

That frees up users to focus on the areas of their business that they specialize in. “We just take care of the rest,” Mayer said.

“We are basically the IT organization for a small business,” he added.

Mayer and his crew know how to work with small businesses, since Endpoint Utility Corp is a seven-person operation at this point.

In the next year, Mayer said, they hope to hire between six and 12 new employees.

One of their focus areas is on local recruitment. Mayer is proud Endpoint offers true entry-level technology jobs that don’t require advanced degrees or experience in the field.

He added he hopes to work with Flathead Valley Community College and local high schools to create a pipeline of talent to the growing company as it gets more established, and Endpoint will happily train new hires with everything they need to know.

The company serves clients across the country, throughout the business day, so Mayer said there will be a definite workforce need to make sure the business is fully staffed from 6 a.m. EST to 5 p.m. PST.

“We’re very intentional in our focus on providing good quality IT jobs here in Montana,” he said.

Find Endpoint Utility Corp. online at https://www.endpointutilitycorp.com.

Reporter Bret Anne Serbin may be reached at 406-758-4459 or bserbin@dailyinterlake.com.