TechBirmingham thrives through its immensely talented and diverse group of member companies. Meet our Member Companies is an ongoing Q&A series highlighting this group of movers, shakers and makers in B’ham’s tech industry.
Meet Trent Kocurek, Owner of Breeze. Kocurek is originally from Cullman but has lived in Birmingham the last seven years. He founded Breeze about six months ago. Read on to get to know more about Breeze and the great things they are doing in Birmingham and beyond.
Hi Trent! Let’s get started — Tell us more about Breeze.
Our product County Apps started late 2012. We created Breeze, LLC to have a home for it. So Breeze has been here for 6 months but we have been in this market selling for 3 years.
Breeze is comprised of 3 founders, Adam Aldrich, Will Yarbrough, and myself. We all have years of experience in enterprise software development and sales. Our mission is to change the way people interact with and perceive government software.
With our County Apps product, we took antiquated processes and software solutions that counties were having to deal with and reimagined them. We now have a suite of solutions that are laser focused on improving efficiencies in back office reconciliation and processing, as well as drastically improving the user experience for the tax payers. UX and design are top of mind in each and every feature we implement.
We also have products in the works at the state level. More to come on this very soon…
A normal day in our office consists of bouncing yoga balls and deep conversations about how we can improve tax payer’s lives. We like to challenge the status quo with each new idea so you may see some pretty off the wall drawings and brain maps. Without this type of thinking, there is no innovation.
What do you think is the biggest misconception about your field?
One of the biggest misconceptions in this market is that all elected officials in government do not care about technology and improving tax payer lives. This couldn’t be further from the truth, especially with our current county partners.
What exciting news or product/service announcements does your company have on the horizon?
A new website for Breeze and County Apps is on the horizon. No due date on this just yet.
With the launch of new technologies like the Apple Watch, we are always looking for ways to keep government on the cutting edge and stay ahead of the curve. We are also currently working on new partnerships, more on this to come in the future.
How do you feel about B’ham’s tech scene?
Strengths: There are a lot of millennials that care about technology and want to see Birmingham improve with technology. This means there are a lot of new up and comers in the tech scene that are learning at a much younger age. Birmingham is also a more affordable city for those wanting to start something from scratch. This offers a unique opportunity for us to bring companies from around the world here.
Weaknesses: Leadership seems to be afraid of adopting new technologies and having a more open mind to changes in tech. We tech evangelists rely on our leaders to support the changes and new services in the tech industry. Until we start allowing these changes and new services in, we will never be looked at as a tech friendly city.
Birmingham has an identity that needs to be changed to really combat the weaknesses mentioned above.
Anything else about you or your company you want us to share?
We are excited about the future and are always here to help others.
Thanks so much for sharing, Trent!
Follow Breeze on social media here:
https://twitter.com/thebreezegroup
https://www.facebook.com/breezellc
https://www.facebook.com/countyapps
Follow Trent on social media here:
https://www.facebook.com/t2kocurek
https://twitter.com/trentkocurek
https://www.linkedin.com/in/trentkocurek
