When Gary Goodrich started at ProPay, the Orem-based company had a strong product and a shaky future.

But Goodrich and company officers Chris Jensen and Richard Sorensen have built ProPay into an industry leader in just a few years by providing safe and affordable credit-card processing to merchants of every size — and by effectively outlasting most of their competition.

ProPay was founded in 1997 with a service that allowed small businesses to accept credit cards using a fax machine. In 2000, ProPay launched its first online auction account and soon moved into providing services for direct-selling companies, which need easy, secure ways to process payments and commissions.

But ProPay had low revenues, little cash and high costs.

Then Goodrich became the company's chief executive officer, president and director. He raised millions from private investors, cut costs, galvanized the sales staff and negotiated ProPay out of several costly marketing arrangements. In 2002, ProPay became profitable.

Sorensen, who became executive vice president and chief operating officer in 2006, has helped steer the company through difficult economic times thanks to his ability to unify staff, minimize costs and initiate the development of new products.

Jensen, corporate secretary and treasurer, was one of ProPay's first employees and has risen through the ranks thanks to his independent thinking and ability to grow revenue and build trusting relationships with business partners.

ProPay offers payment services to nearly all types of businesses; secure and fast risk-assessment tools; and the MicroSecure card reader, a device launched in late 2008 that lets merchants encrypt credit-card information from the moment a card is swiped all the way through transmission and processing, greatly reducing errors and data compromises.