Businessman who dreams of buying Dallas Cowboys says he proved his critics wrong on contact tracing

Who is this guy who seriously claims he wants – get this – buy the Dallas Cowboys?

The Nobel turned when the state awarded it a $ 295 million contract last year to run the Texas contact tracing program for coronavirus victims.

Even if it’s federal money, that’s a lot of money for someone nobody has heard of.

Several readers have contacted The Watchdog with questions related to this. One wrote, “I’m not really sure what the money is going to be used for.”

“I did not see or hear anything about the progress of the project or the results of the investment,” wrote another. “Could you investigate and share the results with the readers?”

The watchdog is happy.

Knocked out giants

In the beginning it was a real underdog story. Nobel, who came to America as a teenager from Bangladesh 25 years ago, beat some of the best-known global brands to win the contract.

MTX Group, his little-known Frisco-headquartered company, knocked out giants like IBM, AT&T and Accenture to win an emergency contract.

His job? Build a contact tracing call center in Texas in less than a week.

When MTX won, legitimate questions were asked from competitors, reporters and politicians, Republicans and Democrats in the legislature. A group of Republicans even sued for stopping the treaty, which was not approved by lawmakers.

Why did the Texas Department of State Health Services skip the public bid process and invite 11 companies to submit bids? Why did companies only have 48 hours to prepare a quote? And why was the contract only awarded five days later? Answer: The state was in a hurry to organize a nationwide traceability system amid the pandemic.

Why choose a company that has little contact tracing experience? Answer: Which company had experience with it a year ago? Nobel promised a quick setup, which happened, but the program didn’t go smoothly for the first few weeks.

Why does Nobel’s LinkedIn profile say he has a PhD even though he has not yet completed his PhD? Answer: An embarrassing bug was fixed after being pointed out.

The MTX offices in Frisco(Shelby Tauber / special article)

“A quick process”

As promised, MTX built a call center in four days and eventually hired 600 Texans to fill it. The service was offered to each county. San Antonio is the largest city that uses the center.

People who may have been exposed to an infected person could speak to a telephone worker, find out their status, and learn how to take care of themselves.

In January the contract was renegotiated with the state. As of this week, MTX has raised $ 46 million. Nobel says it is likely to hit $ 65 million, a quarter of the original grand total that MTX will never hit.

Did it work? As well as contact tracking can work when people don’t answer the phone or call back. Many view tracing as intrusive and an invasion of privacy.

Plus, it was impossible to keep up with thousands of new cases during the virus spike each day.

State Health Service spokesman Chris Van Deusen says, “You had the best deal. It was a quick process, but it was a fair process. The bottom line is that they did what they said they would. “

A government audit of MTX’s performance released this week did not identify any major issues.

In his office, Nobel – a small man in a low voice – says to me, “We are awaiting a close inspection. It’s taxpayers’ money. “

Control is what he gets.

Conclude international treaties

When I ask if his rough introduction to Texan politics hurt him, he says it wasn’t as hard as it was when he was new to America, didn’t speak English, and was beaten up by four boys.

Nicknamed Gandhi, it took him a while to find out that his classmates were mistaking India for Bangladesh.

His father, a teacher, moved the family to the United States for a better life. Since his father could not teach, he found a job as a dishwasher.

Six years ago Nobel launched MTX, the name of which pays homage to one of his favorite films, The Matrix. Remove the vowels, he explains, and you have MTX.

MTX specializes in software creation and data management, serving governments in areas such as licensing, vaccination cards and traceability.

Before the pandemic, MTX had contracts with 13 states. That has grown to 30 states. What is his secret to winning so many states so quickly?

“We bring speed,” he says. It’s his mantra. Big companies can’t move that fast, he explains. “We are like a fighter jet. We can turn left and right very quickly. “

It was at this rate that Texan officials agreed to give him his greatest government mandate.

He tells me that he uses the credibility he deserves with one state to impress another. He calls it “rinse and repeat”.

“We often say: ‘Take a chance with us. Give us two weeks and let’s build something. ‘”

The company also has contracts in Australia and India and is hoping to expand into Canada.

“Dealing with Adversity”

When the criticism hit a year ago, it was initially a big surprise and distraction, he says.

“Did it bother me last year? Yeah, maybe for an hour. You will be taught to deal with adversity and to keep your cool. ”He focused on the job because he knew he could get the job done and save lives.

When politicians sued to terminate the contract, his lawyer told him not to worry. The suit was thrown away.

Matt Hirsch, a former policy advisor to Governor Greg Abbott, is now advising MTX. Hirsch told The Watchdog: “There is no question that MTX’s major competitors were not happy to lose this contract and, of course, they had an interest in discrediting the CEO and the company.”

To strengthen it, Nobel quotes a poet from the Victorian era: “I am the master of my destiny. I am the captain of my soul. “

Buy the cowboys?

The youngster from Bangladesh made friends with football and found acceptance in the USA. In honor of this, MTX is the main shirt sponsor of FC Dallas. You can see MTX in large letters on the front of each player jersey.

An FC Dallas jersey with the MTX name on it is framed in Nobel’s Frisco office. MTX is a team sponsor.(Shelby Tauber / special article)

The state legislature has the last word. In the new state budget, the money for the MTX contract is set to zero.

MTX’s contract will now likely expire on August 31, the last day of the public finance year. Tracking may no longer be necessary anyway.

Before I leave his office on Cowboys Way in Frisco, I ask Nobel about his alleged desire to buy the Cowboys. I expect him to smile and laugh at it. But that doesn’t happen.

“I would like to buy the Dallas Cowboys,” he says. Really. He even mentions the target year – 2027.

“Dream big,” explains the man who is master of his fate and captain of his soul. He is no longer an outsider.

Updated at 7:35 pm: An earlier version of this story attributed the line “Master of His Fate” to Nelson Mandela. Mandela quoted the line, but it was actually written by a Victorian era poet.

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