TheHireCompass.com began in the fall of 2009 in Portland OR.  The State of Oregon had eliminated Credit Checks as a form of Applicant background assessment.  To develop an alternate method of applicant and reference assessment, Dr. L. Bryan Williams, Associate Professor of Ethics, Religion, and Health Care at Warner Pacific College in Portland Oregon began a partnership with database guru Travis Van Staaveren to develop a mechanism of assessing the virtues of applicants.  Dr. Williams holds a Ph.D. in Social Ethics and has researched and taught on the virtues and the development of virtuous activity in society and business.  When Dr. Williams left Portland in 2010, the team drifted apart and the ideas were put in suspension.

In 2015, Dr. Williams, now Founding President of McCall College in McCall Idaho, resurrected the idea.  Travis was willing to continue and the journey began anew. The company launched on July 1st, 2015.