By Lori EhdeBy Monday, more than 20 brand new employees will report to work for training at Total Card Inc. in Luverne.Meanwhile, contractors are working feverishly on the former Tri-State Insurance building to prepare it for the Sioux Falls credit card company expanding operations into Luverne.Workers are repairing the roof, laying carpet, replacing lighting, installing security glass near the entry and transforming file and mailroom space into offices and conference rooms.To top it off, one of the four company owners, Scott Swain, is expecting a new baby in his family any day.But for Swain and the other three TCI owners, Dave Andera, Greg Johnson and Greg Ticknor, it’s just the sort of chaos they’ve grown accustomed to — and seem to thrive on.The four Sioux Falls men teamed up in 2000 to start their own credit card issuing and servicing company after they saw opportunities at the companies they were working for.Swain and Andera helped build Specialized Card Services in Sioux Falls from five employees to 1,500 in only five years. "We made a lot of money for other people," Andera said.So, when the company was on the verge of being sold to Household Credit Services, they decided to venture out on their own.Teaming upThey teamed up with Johnson, who was also looking to invest in such a businesses.Drawing on each other’s individual skills, they successfully broke into a banking and finance industry not typically kind to newcomers.Swain, chief financial officer, handles financing; Andera, chief operating officer, handles operations; Johnson, chief marketing officer, does human resources and marketing; and Ticknor, president, handles marketing and general corporate business."It’s not easy to start a credit card company," Ticknor said. "But because we do everything — from marketing, to collections to finance — it works."Johnson said, "If we’d all been finance guys, it wouldn’t have worked out."The four men weren’t necessarily best friends when they started out, but they say they are now, considering what they’ve been through together.And … staying together as a team has been good for business. "We always have at least four sets of eyes whenever there’s a major decision to make," Ticknor said.Swain said, "That’s kind of the beauty of having four owners on site. You don’t have to contact corporate headquarters every time a decision needs to be made."What is TCI?By definition, TCI is a credit card processer and servicer.It has a contract with Plains Commerce Bank in South Dakota to issue VISA credit cards in the bank’s name.As credit card companies go, Swain said TCI’s relationship with Plains Commerce Bank is unique because of TCI’s proven history with the bank."Other banks might limit our growth, but they know how we operate," Swain said. "We’re ultra-conservative in terms of our finances."As a result, TCI has grown steadily.Two years after launching TCI, in January 2003, the company doubled in size from 55 employees to 110 when TCI took over accounts and services from The Credit Store, Sioux Falls."A lot of their employees became our employees and we took over 60,000 accounts," Swain said.Now the company is expanding again, this time in Luverne, with an additional 100 new hires anticipated over the next 18 months.That kind of growth has some people wondering if TCI will burn out too soon, like some major credit card companies are currently experiencing."Those are public companies," Swain said, explaining that TCI is protected from market influences — such as nervous shareholders — being a privately held company.In fact, it’s one of very few privately held credit card companies in existence.Plus, Swain said TCI is a solid company in that it doesn’t borrow money or understate its reserves — factors that have also presented problems for other companies."It is a volatile industry … and there’s always risk. If there weren’t, everybody would be doing it," Swain said. "But since we’ve been in this business as long as we have, we’ve already met a lot of hurdles that trip up other companies."Luverne is just rightWhen considering a location for their expansion, TCI owners also looked at sites in Rapid City, Watertown, Huron and Sioux Falls. But when they came to Luverne, the decision was easy, Ticknor said. "The building is just what we were looking for," he said. "That and it’s proximity to Sioux Falls, and the JOBZ program were deciding factors."The quality labor market in southwest Minnesota has been an added bonus. Ticknor said TCI has accepted 400 job applications so far. In addition to those starting Monday, the company intends to hire 10 to 20 per month until the building is filled. The capacity is roughly 300 employees."If business goes the way it has been, we’re hoping to fill that building in two to three years," Ticknor said.Jeff Strauss, manager of customer service and collections for TCI in Sioux Falls, will head up operations in Luverne.He’s moving to Luverne with his wife, Barbra, who is leaving her accounting job at TCI in Sioux Falls, and their six-month-old son, Winston.They’re building a home on a lot in the Evergreen II Addition."We’re excited to be in Luverne," he said.