The Best-Kept Secret in IT That Shouldn’t Be a Secret: Hereshore®

Written by: Lee Farabaugh, Core10 Co-founder & President

The IT services outsourcing market is huge — as in, expected to be over $466 billion this year huge, according to CNBC. Historically, much of those dollars are spent offshore in India, China, and the Ukraine, because project bids there tend to be a fraction of what they are in Silicon Valley or New York.

Which leads me to ask this question: Why? Why are so many companies outsourcing offshore when we have the capability to fulfill this work here in the United States?

Offshoring carries hidden financial costs and other, less quantifiable challenges. For example, the price of travel and visas alone can chip away at any cost savings, not to mention challenges like time zone differences and language or cultural barriers that can make managing project flow difficult.

Four years ago, when we were exploring the idea that became Core10, we decided that one of our priorities would be to provide high-paying jobs with benefits in beautiful parts of the U.S. where the cost of living is low and the talent and skill sets are high.

Core10 started in Huntington, WV, where the hourly cost of project development is about a third to half what it would be in a major market. Thanks to the tremendous support and partnership from senators, the commerce secretary, the mayor of Huntington, and the higher education system, we’ve had the opportunity to give input on the kind of education and training we need, and the talent pool here is deep.

We call this — the concept of outsourcing IT services to smaller cities in the United States — Hereshore®. And after four years of growth, we know it works.

Our vision was to provide financial institutions with the API integration and software implementation they need to extend their capabilities and serve the expanding needs of their customers. We are committed to only training and employing U.S.-based talent, so the high-paying jobs and all the economic benefits that follow are kept here in the States.

We have seen that vision become reality. Today, we produce flexible, reusable API integrations for multi-million-dollar financial institutions. We’ve grown from three employees in one location to 50 across four locations in three states.

We completed more than 200 integrations in 2020, and we have big goals for 2021 and beyond. Over the next few years, we plan to add 100 clients nationwide and 150 employees in West Virginia and the surrounding region.

There’s never been a better time for Hereshore. The new business models that emerged in 2020 around food delivery, ride sharing, and other independent contractors means financial services providers must modernize their payment systems in order to keep pace with how people are working, living, and banking.

That’s where Core10 shines. Utilizing our Hereshore model, we train and foster exceptionally skilled talent not only in core banking systems, but with API development and integration — which is key to extending the new banking services customers demand today.

The laws of physics say energy creates more energy. If we do this right, our success will attract similar software companies to West Virginia who will provide even more high-paying opportunities for West Virginians — and in turn, more talent in our own pipeline. And, even more important, we’ll see more people with more economic security and agency who reinvest in their communities.

So ask me about Hereshore and what it can do for your business. Even if you’re a competitor of Core10, I’m happy to tell you our story and about the success we’ve seen with teams in rural America. It’s powerful, capable, and worth investing in.