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http:// --> Ashland, Oregon HOME Valley & State Sports Nation & World Opinion/Editorial Classifieds Business Columnists Obituaries Weather Archive Hot Topics Forum Photo Gallery Past Readers Polls Revels Etcetera Backpage O-Zone Special Sections Real Estate Guide Menu Guide Shakespeare Subscribe Contact Us Rate Card Place an Ad Online Games Movie Preview October 17, 2006 'What's a Plexis?' By Alan Panebaker Ashland Daily Tidings When Jorge Yant arrived in the United States, he was 13 years old and didn't speak a word of English. After learning the ropes of the software world, he landed in Ashland and started his own business. Now he employs nearly 200 people, and his company — Plexis Healthcare Systems, Inc. — is one of the fastest growing technology businesses in Oregon. At the end of September, Yant bought the A Street Market Place. The approximately 20,000-square-foot building may still not be enough for the growing industry. When Yant started Plexis in 1996, the technology company was a spec on the business radar. "It started out — literally — out of my garage," Yant said. Within three years, Yant changed the name to Plexis Healthcare Systems from Triad. An aggressive online marketing campaign sparked an upswing in business. In 2002, the company grew by 98 percent. In 2003, it grew by 160 percent. A warehouse on Williamson Way and another building across the street currently house the software company. Yant hopes the move to A Street will develop a new image for the company while bringing it closer to downtown. "The idea behind the A Street Market Place was to create a corporate image that is kind of like a Silicon Valley-type cool software company," Yant said. As one of the largest employers in Ashland, Plexis has remained slightly under the radar for the past decade, Yant said. What's a Plexis? Claims processing software may be a tough concept to wrap your mind around, so what Plexis does takes a little explanation. This may be one of the reasons why Plexis has become a common name for health insurance companies but just another business to people in Ashland. "A lot of people don't even know what Plexis is," Yant said. He added with a joke, "'It's like 'what's a Plexis? How do you eat that?'" What Plexis does is create software that helps health care organizations process insurance claims immediately through a computer program. "We build the software that health care insurance companies run on," Yant said. The software company has grown immensely in recent years, and Yant hopes it will go global in the near future. About 70 people work for Plexis in Ashland, three work out of a small office in Chicago and a few more are scattered around the country, Yant said. In 2005, Yant started hiring professionals from Vietnam. Now about 107 people from Vietnam work for Plexis in Ashland and abroad. With nearly 200 total employees, the rapidly-growing business could spread even farther when a new product emerges in the spring that can fit the needs of any country in the world with health insurance providers. And as Yant personally bought the A Street Market Place — in order to lease it to Plexis — the company hit another growth spurt. Who is Jorge Yant? Forty-eight-year-old Yant came a long way from Oaxaca, Mexico, to the United States. After moving to New Mexico when he was a teenager, Yant earned a bachelor's degree from the University of New Mexico. After getting a master's degree from the University of Southern California, he worked for the U.S. Navy as a civilian. Software consulting work for the University of California at Berkeley and consulting for a law firm in San Francisco eventually led Yant to a job as director of computing services and Southern Oregon University. In 1996, the predecessor to what is now Plexis spawned from Yant's garage, and with a young family in tow, he decided Ashland would be a good place to settle. After a marketing campaign led Plexis to succeed throughout the nation, the local company has not found many local clients — which may also add to the company's quiet image in Ashland. "We're kind of hidden back in here," Yant said. "We're pretty quiet." Doing business with Plexis Brian Hogan, C.E.O. and president of Mitan Technologies in Florida, has been working with Plexis for five years. Mitan Technologies software allows medical providers to exchange information with insurance companies who use Plexis. The two companies started working together with doctors and insurance companies in the Cayman Islands, Hogan said. The two companies have grown together, and Hogan credits Yant's willingness to work with other people for the success of Plexis and its partner companies. "Jorge doesn't look at his clients as customers," Hogan said. "He looks at them as business partners. As his business partners grow, he grows with them." As far as Plexis' growth in Ashland, Yant is looking at possibly expanding beyond the A Street Market Place. Staff writer Alan Panebaker can be reached at 482-3456 x 227 or [email protected] . Leave a Comment: Advertisement: Advertisement: Paid Advertising Inkjet Printers Student Loans Water Filter Helzberg Diamonds Mortgage Calculator Security Systems Advertisement: Copyright © 2006 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers. All Rights Reserved.