Hot Job, Cool Sites

Earlham grads turn passion for Web into profit
by Beth Musgrave
Staff Writer
The Palladium-Item, Sunday, Aug 22, 1999

They say things like “data-base driven, dynamic interfaces,” “e-commerce” and “static HTML pages.”

And it ain’t all talk.

While the rest of Wayne County might be satisfied simply surfing the Web, Chris Hardie and Mark Stosberg, of Summersault Web site design and hosting, are building and maintaining it.

And they’re doing it right here in Richmond, in the back corner of the Infocom office on East Main Street, far from the hoopla of San Francisco’s Silicon Valley or Multimedia Gulch.

Although there are other cyber junkies designing Web sites either in the comfort of their own homes or as a sideline to their business, Summersault is the only Web site design firm with office space dedicated from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and beyond to Web site design.

And it’s the only Web site design firm to begin in an Earlham College dorm room in 1997, before either Hardie or Stosberg could legally enter a bar and order a beer.

Since its rather humble beginnings, Summersault has designed approximately 20 Web sites and has helped maintain and redesign many more. And that’s despite the fact that Hardie only graduated from Earlham this May. Stosberg graduated in 1998.

Both computer science majors, Hardie, a Cincinnati native, will turn 22 on Monday. Stosberg, hailing from Frankfort, KY., is 23.

Young? Perhaps. You won’t catch them on their Web cam wearing three-piece Brooks Brothers suits at work.

And yes, they have a passion for the art of juggling.
But they aren’t amateurs.

They know what they’re doing, said Nancy Wilson, director of marketing and community relations for Reid Hospital & Health Care Services.

When Reid Hospital wanted to revamp its Web page to make it more user-friendly, interactive and helpful to the public, the hospital contacted Summersault.

Hardie and Stosberg were able to create a program that would allow babies born at the hospital to be viewed on the Web site. But the program also was written so the nurses and clerks in the Mother-Baby Care Unit could update the information easily.

They also worked with the hospital to produce database-backed sections to the site, including the physician listing and employment opportunities.

“Chris only had to come here three times in the six months we worked together,” Wilson said. “We mostly communicated via e-mail.”

And that’s how Summersault does much of its business.

“There are some clients we’ve never even met,” Stosberg said.

They even send out invoices through e-mail.

“We found that most people prefer that,” Hardie said.

Although they would like to meet clients face-to-face, it isn’t always possible. Some clients are hundreds of miles away.

Web site design can be as complex as Reid Hospital’s, which need database backed programs, or as simple as a one page site with basic information about the company.

“We have had people come in and know that they need a Web site but aren’t sure what to put on it,” Stosberg said. “And we’ve had others come in and realize that maybe they shouldn’t have let their son develop the business Web site and they need some help.”

Summersault also hosts Web sites on its secured webserver. Stosberg and Hardie are then able to maintain the site from a central location.

But place is not an issue for Summersault. The Earlham graduates ran the business from two different continents for several months.

In the spring of 1998 Hardie spent the semester in Scotland while Stosberg completed two internships in New York City. They were able to communicate and keep track of the company’s accounts on-line.

They decided to settle in Richmond out of necessity. Hardie had to finish school. And they liked the small-town market. They want to be accessible to small businesses, not-for-profits and other humanitarian organizations, Hardie said.

Although both had internships with a Web site design firm in Cincinnati, much of what they do everyday is self-taught, Stosberg said.

Web site design is constantly changing, he said.

“Much of the maintenance and technical supervision (skills) we learned at Earlham,” Hardie said.

According to its Web site, Summersault offers the following Web site design and hosting services:

• Web site design
• Web site hosting
• Web site maintenance
• Database development
• Online commerce
• Consulting
• System administration

As far as running a business, they learned what they could on the Internet, through books, from the Infocom staff and by trial and error.

And judging by the multiple projects listed on their dry erase board above Hardie’s desk, it’s worked.
But Summersault isn’t just about turning a profit, Stosberg said.

“We like to think we have the most fun, too,” he said.