BY Julie Speed
Contributing Writer, Delta Business Journal

    Two boyhood friends with a common love of duck and turkey hunting turned a couple of part-time college jobs into a multi-million dollar business.
    John Lewis and William Alias, both 26, originally from Clarksdale, learned to shoot at an early age and tagged along with their dads on duck and turkey hunts. Even when Alias moved to Atlanta, he returned often to visit his grandmother, Aline Alias of Clarksdale, and to go on duck and turkey shoots with Lewis and pals.
    "I originally planned to go to college at Princeton, Harvard, or Yale, but I chose the University of Mississippi because, one, I wanted to be near the best duck hunting around and two, I wanted to be near the best turkey hunting around," William Alias said, with a laugh.
    Alias and Lewis rented an apartment in Oxford and attended Ole Miss, business school, Alias said.
    Five years ago, a need for extra income led the two young entrepreneurs to sell discount packages for a hair salon to college students. When several checks bounced, they had to collect the money themselves. An idea was born, he said.
    "We contacted local businesses and asked them if we could collect bad checks for them," Alias said. "All we asked was to collect the returned check fees, which in Mississippi $30 each. Merchants are so busy that it's difficult for them to take time to track down bad check writers, so it was fairly easy to talk them into it."
    Alias and Lewis collected bad checks between classes and after school. When the business outgrew their apartment, they purchased a nearby facility. Security Check now has more than 200 employees and more will be added by the end of the year. They recently signed a contract with the NPR, the nation's second largest credit card processor.
    "We wanted to keep the location in Oxford because of the availability of college students who, like we wanted, can work flexible hours and make good money," said Alias. "We give bonuses based on production. If a collector gets a letter that says they were nice, we give them another bonus."
    All checks are routed through the Oxford facility, he said.
    "The way we operate our business, there's no reason for the service to ever break down," said Alias. "It's better than it's ever been. It will get even better as the business grows, and we're determined to do that. The only way excellent customer service would ever diminish is if employees stopped respecting customers. That won't happen here."
    Joint venture partners sell the concept to retailers in local markets. Security Check now has 28 joint venture partnerships in 14 states. More than 15,000 long distance calls are placed daily from Security Check. The company has a database of 3.5 million habitual bad check writers.
    Alias often makes a trek to visit friends and family in Clarksdale. At 79, Aline Alias is vibrant and active - but doesn't go on hunting sprees with "the boys," he said.
    "She'll cook the duck and turkey but she won't go hunting with us," Alias said, with a laugh.