WS Chronicle

In above photo:  (L-R) Ty McLaughlin, Trinity Manning and Rod Brown founded OnceLogix a decade ago. (Photo by Todd Luck) 

Celebrating its 10th anniversary this month, OnceLogix is an African-American owned, locally based multi-million dollar company that produces ShareNote, a web-based healthcare record management application.

OnceLogix Chief Executive Officer Trinity Manning got the idea for ShareNote in 2004, while he was working as a web designer. He was making a website for group homes – places where unrelated people in need of care, support or supervision can live together, such as those who are elderly or mentally ill and discovered that the personnel at the homes had an issue with the amount of paperwork they had to keep up with. In his spare time, Manning came up with the first version of ShareNote to let the personnel at the businesses do their paperwork digitally.

He realized that others could use the application, too, and began driving around the state offering it to other behavioral healthcare companies while he continued working as a web designer.

“A couple of the people who were using it told some other people who, in turn, told some other people about it,” he said. “I was driving all over the different parts of North Carolina, setting up this system for different providers.”

Manning then got an offer to buy the application for $3 million. He turned to his pastor, Bishop James C. Hash of St. Peter’s Church & World Outreach Center, for advice. Hash had Manning meet with several business professionals who attended the church to get a second opinion. Most told him to sell, but Rod Brown, who had been with Wachovia Securities for 17 years, had different advice. Brown told him to keep it and “swing for the fences” because he could earn a lot more than the $3 million.

“You can earn that, and then create value, and then you’ll actually have a business that’ll be much more valuable at some point,” said Brown, who is OnceLogix’s chief operating officer.

Manning took the advice.

Manning and Brown were joined by a third church member, Ty McLaughlin, who was a financial advisor with American Express, and in August 2005 they founded OnceLogix.

The three men have known each other for years through the church, but never dreamed they’d go into business together.

McLaughlin said at the time larger healthcare companies could afford to get software to help with their records, but smaller companies couldn’t. He said the monthly user fee they charged, instead of making clients pay a large amount for software upfront, set them apart from their competition, and made it affordable for both small offices and large facilities.

“Initially our niche market was the underserved of the healthcare industry,” said McLaughlin, OnceLogix’s chief financial officer.

Manning said Brown and McLaughlin helped pitch ShareNote all over the state, putting more than 50,000 miles on their cars in the first year alone. They eventually expanded to Georgia, where ShareNote was so in demand, the trio lived there for a time.

“When you try to do a lot of stuff on your own, you can only get so far, and then you get a good team, people who really know business and finance and leadership and organization and all that, you can go faster,” Manning said. “Our growth at that time was so fast, so rapid.”

The company has continued to grow over the years. Now the trio doesn’t have to drive to every potential costumer in person; they have webinars and sales staff now, though they still do many face-to-face transactions themselves. There are now nearly 300 companies in nine states that use ShareNote. OnceLogix now has 14 employees, including contractors, and is bringing in millions in revenue.

The company makes a point of giving back to the communities it does business in. The company has supported charitable organizations such as the YMCA, the Autism Society, HoopTee and Big Brothers Big Sisters. OnceLogix also sponsored a summer camp for 100 youth in Lafayette, Louisiana, and will support a local school supply backpack giveaway in Happy Hill later this month.

OnceLogix is not through growing. ShareNote has received ambulatory EHR (electronic healthcare records) certification and will be expanding beyond behavioral health to offer its services to other doctors’ offices and hospitals. Other applications are also in the works to help their clients. The trio said that they hope to see ShareNote used all over the country and eventually internationally as well.

Manning said one of the reasons the company has lasted is that Brown and McLaughlin are not just his partners, but also his friends and “brothers” who are united by a passion to serve their customers.