ID Check LLC was born from founder Jon Ewing’s interests in computers and social sciences, along with his conviction that education makes anything possible.

“I believe you should never pigeon hole yourself into a job for 30 years,” Ewing said. “My mother taught me that education allows you opportunities to do what you want to do, and I’ve taken that to heart.”

Detroit native Ewing started ID Check, a software development company, in 2002, but until last fall, he was unsure whether it would ever get off the ground in Des Moines. Now his vision for the company is starting to take shape. In mid-February, he will move into a new office in the East Village, where he hopes to employ 25 to 35 people soon after his biometrics software hits the market.

Biometrics is the use of a person’s physical characteristics for identification. ID Check’s Multi-Biometric and Smart Card Coupler software system is designed to give different biometrics security devices, such as retinal and fingerprint scans, the ability to communicate with each other. Even before the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Ewing recognized a growing need for products that could connect biometric technologies.

“At the time, pre-9/11, there were already conversations about securing hard assets and access management through biometrics,” Ewing said. “The laws started to change, and insurance companies were told that they had to keep a record of which individuals have access to another individual’s information.”

Ewing’s education includes a bachelor’s degree in race and ethnic studies and urban and regional studies with a minor in computer sciences from Minnesota State University, and a master’s in higher education from Iowa State University. Like many social scientists, he was initially troubled by the idea of using biometrics to identify a person.

“We all have that ‘big brother’ feeling as social scientists, that now someone is going to have this information about me,” he said. “It is kind of unsettling when you think of it on that level.”

But with his computer background, Ewing began to look at biometric identification as an opportunity to protect people from having their personal information lost or stolen.

“The old way of identification checked against what you have in your pockets, but biometrics provides a higher level of security by using information from your body,” he said.

Ewing came to Iowa in the early 1990s to work as director of multicultural affairs at Cornell College in Mount Vernon, and then accepted a similar job at Des Moines Area Community College a year later. In Des Moines, he met B.J. Do, one of the owners of ABC Virtual Communications, and Do encouraged him to use his computer skills and join his company.

Ewing began working at ABC Virtual in 1997 as a systems manager, and left after a couple of years to join one of the company’s previous owners, Alan Nguyen, in his new venture, ecfirst.com. Sanjay Sankoli, a fellow ABC Virtual employee, also jumped ship to join ecfirst. Ewing and Sankoli, along with Aaron Korver from ecfirst, started talking about collaborating on a company of their own dealing with biometric security measures.

them on board.

“We did some venture presentations, and they didn’t really understand the concept,” Ewing said. “Iowa is pretty much an environment where investors understand agriculture and insurance and other things, but software isn’t as clear. It’s not something you can hold. You can’t take it to a bank and take out a loan against it. You can’t levy it against hard assets. It’s pretty much, until it’s actually there and working, it’s a thought. That’s one of the issues we have in this area.”

Until last October, Ewing had “serious reservations” about ever getting ID Check launched in Iowa. It was then that he met an investor from the state of Nevada who was willing to put some of his money behind the company. Six other investors soon followed.

ID Check has completed its initial design and proof of concept for its ID Scan software system, and the company is finalizing plans for local software companies to develop the product. Ewing won’t disclose an estimated launch date for the software out of fear that competitors may try to get something to market before him.

Once the product is ready for market, Ewing estimates he will hire 25 to 35 people during the company’s first year of operation to help with marketing, administration and development. On Feb. 15, Ewing plans to move ID Check to the Creative Entrepreneur Organization Center at 107 E. Fifth St. The CEO Center opened earlier this month with the goal of providing an entrepreneurial environment and shared services and support to young companies.

“Ever since I moved here, I asked people why there was no incubator for small businesses, particularly technology companies,” Ewing said. “The CEO Center kind of offers that. It’s an environment that can foster small company growth. They have space sharing. They’ll have folks in there with legal and marketing and financial backgrounds to help you get started.”

Ewing also manages a consulting company, IT/IS Resources, which he founded in 1996 to help unemployed or underemployed people get training to work or advance in careers in information technology or information systems.

“I’m a multi-tasker,” Ewing said. “There are 24 hours in a day, and I think I can keep busy for most of the 24 hours.”