Personal Attention High-tech entrepreneur Jim Verhagen ’93 may sport loungewear, but his success proves he’s doing anything but lounging around. Greeting clients in his bedroom slippers at his downtown Ithaca apartment is part of Jim Verhagen’s style of business in a high-tech industry. A religious studies major, Verhagen founded the Cyrus Company (named for his dog) in 1994, the year after he graduated from Ithaca College. He had dabbled in software programming as a teen and helped his friends configure e-mail programs at IC. It was his major, he says, that helped him realize what his goals were and how to interact in the computer industry. Because the major allowed him to study in more than one field, he got a good background in many areas. That helps him deal with his clients, because he is able to keep up with world events and issues that affect their businesses. Cyrus builds on-line catalogs, Internet filing systems, and Web sites. Catalogs on the Web allow customers to shop at home with ease. Internet filing allows a company to track its records. And Web design — well, just about every company in business today either has a site or wants one yesterday. About 30 percent of Verhagen’s clients are local, including People’s Pottery, Glyph Technologies, and Moosewood Restaurant. The rest of Cyrus’s accounts include larger corporations such as Nabisco Foods, Maysles Film, the Made in New York Store, and the Vitamin Discount Connection. "With Jim you are not dealing with the high-powered New York type," says David Hirsch, a co-owner of Moosewood who worked with Verhagen in constructing the restaurant’s Web site. "He reflects the Ithaca style; he is pleasant and accessible." Verhagen and his staff of specialists work out of his apartment. With Ithaca College personnel, they helped design the Ithaca College virtual tour (www.ithaca.edu/ic/vtour), which was a Los Angeles Times pick of the week and which won the CampusTours.com Four-Star Virtual Tour Award in June. "I especially take pride in working with my alma mater," says Verhagen. Verhagen attributes Cyrus’s success to the attention he gives his clients. Cyrus receives dozens of requests for business deals each week through word of mouth. The company is selective in choosing clients, preferring to cater to growing businesses and organizations that believe in personal service. "If you are working with Cyrus," Verhagen asserts, "you are working with me." The relaxed style notwithstanding, Verhagen says his business comes with its share of pressure. In a high-tech environment, with clients scrambling to keep up with the demands of creating and maintaining viable Web sites to attract customers, stress is probably inevitable. Verhagen is himself grappling with decisions about whether to expand the business. He has decided to keep it small and personal for now. But he’s also working to open up a branch in Charlottesville, Virginia. He has no plans to move the company out of Ithaca — or out of his home — anytime soon. Verhagen has never assembled a portfolio, typed a résumé, or produced a major advertising campaign for his company. Nevertheless, Cyrus is going strong, and it looks as if it will con-tinue to grow at a healthy pace — even though the boss wears slippers. — Marissa Tejada ’00 and Maura Stephens