Mac Clemmens (TMAC 2005) got to hang out with a presidential candidate recently.

On Nov. 4, the CEO of Sacramento web development firm Digital Deployment attended a $2,700-a-plate fundraising lunch for Hillary Clinton, where the two chatted about tax policy.

As reported in the Sacramento Business Journal, Clemmens – who started his company in 2004 as his capstone project at CSUMB – told Clinton that he pays "three times more" in taxes than Apple. According to Clemmens, who recounted the experience in a Facebook post, the talk apparently struck a nerve with the Democratic frontrunner. Clinton later mentioned him during a speech at the fundraiser and used his example to outline her plan to make things easier for small businesses. Clemmens was clearly wowed by the encounter, according to the Business Journal, posting that Clinton's "focus and retention of issues is quite stunning.” Digital Deployment has grown into a multimillion-dollar business. It has helped clients such as Google – which hired the company to build a website for its

Smithsonian exhibit – the California Bankers Association, CalSTRS, the United Way and the Graduate School of Management at UC Davis, from which he earned an MBA in 2007.

In 2013, the Business Journal named him one of Northern California’s most promising CEOs under 40.

Nov. 5, 2015