“Buy the plot, I’m dying here,” says Ray Hespen (MineE 09)
when describing his move back to the Black Hills. Like so many who go to school
at Mines, Hespen never wanted to leave the area. “You fall in love with this
place,” he says. “But the money was elsewhere.” After graduating Hespen bounced
around the country in various engineering jobs: Oklahoma, California, Illinois,
Maryland, and Colorado. But he never forgot his college years in the Black
Hills. “The whole time I was looking for a way to come back, but the
opportunities weren’t here,” he says.
Cutting His Own Path
Hespen’s opportunity came, as many do, in the form of a
problem—namely, a bad rental experience. His business partner and co-founder,
David Kingman, had issues with a rental he was living in and couldn’t get a
property manager to answer his phone calls. “Engineers do really well at
starting with a problem and working backwards. So, that’s what I was able do,”
Hespen says. The partners started by talking to twenty-five property management
firms to learn their processes. From there, they built the business case to
form the company Property Meld. The two men quit six figure salary jobs and put
all their resources into the new company. The business they created connects
renters with maintenance service providers and property managers in a simple and
easy-to-use software program. This allows tenants to get issues addressed
quickly and efficiently. “We solved a primary issue many renters have,” says
Hespen. The process also saves property owners and managers money. “We’re
making it less costly to perform the role of property management. Our service
ends up being a significant cost savings for owners and managers,” he adds.
In the early days of the company, Hespen worked out of his
own basement while Kingman developed the software. “It was a little terrifying,”
he says. “It’s a very complicated problem and no one we could find had done
this. That gave us pause.” But Hespen’s education at Mines gave him a unique
skill set that helped. “I’ve realized how my engineering degree has played a
role in understanding marketing at scale and sales processes,” he says. The
business gained traction and when a space opened at the Ascent Innovation
Center on the Mines campus, Hespen brought the company to the Black Hills.
Today, Property Meld is one of the shining success stories
in the area. The company outgrew its space in the business incubator at Ascent
Innovation and moved into its own space in downtown Rapid City. The service
Property Meld provides is proven in the marketplace. “Getting to watch it grow.
Getting to hire a few people every month. Getting to watch the numbers keep
going up. I feel very blessed about that for sure.” Hespen says the company is at 40 people and
doubling staff in the next 12 months. “We've been recognized by multiple
research papers online that list us as one of the prominent software companies
in real estate,” Hespen adds. “This time in COVID has forced many property
management firms to embrace more technology to manage maintenance during the
pandemic. We love that we are able to be
more helpful in times like these.”
Growing Pains and Future Opportunities
When asked to offer advice to other Mines graduates who
would like to come back to the Black Hills, Hespen’s answer is two words.
“We’re hiring.” He laughs, but his sentiment reflects one challenge businesses
in growing tech economies often face––the need for human capital. Mines and
other area schools provide a stream of eager graduates and interns with the
strong work ethic. But a challenge remains in finding experienced engineering
managers, sales personnel, and other positions necessary for a rapidly growing
company. Hespen has found success using LinkedIn to connect with professionals
who were educated in the Black Hills. “It’s amazing how much conversation it
generates when you dangle a carrot in front of someone and say ‘Hey, you want
to come back to the Black Hills?’” Hespen adds, “All my classmates at Mines
wanted to stay in the area and there is a demand for quality jobs here.” In
this demand, many like Hespen see opportunity. “Things are moving in a very
positive direction. I’m legitimately excited for this city. It’s going to be
fun,” he says.
If you want to know more or are interested in job openings
at Property Meld, check out the company website: Careers.PropertyMeld.com.