Volume 3, No. 10 January 24, 2003
Companies pair to share Web skills By Hannah Pittard The Jan. 17 issue of The Campus Chronicle profiled WebSavannah.com, a local company that specializes in Web hosting services. But there is more to the story: its partner company Velocity Works. Though Velocity Works and WebSavannah.com share office space and clients, they remain two separate companies whose distinct specialties complement rather than compete. "I’ve always had a close relationship with Rusty Nations (founder of WebSavannah.com)," said Kevin Thompson, who graduated from SCAD in 1998 with a B.F.A. in computer design. "It was Rusty who helped us obtain office space." During his junior and senior years at SCAD, Thompson worked as a free-lance Web designer. After graduation, the transition to full-time free-lancer was an easy one. "Several of my clients were also clients of WebSavannah.com," said Thompson. But it soon turned out that free-lancing wasn’t enough for Thompson who, with the help of several loyal clients, co-founded Velocity Works with his partner Bob Clagett (B.F.A., computer art, 1999). It was immediately obvious to both the Velocity Works design team and WebSavannah.com, whose specialty is Web hosting and access and HTML design, that the two companies could form a formidable alliance without sacrificing their individuality. "We’re able to offer their product and they’re able to offer ours," said Thompson. In part because of WebSavannah.com’s name, the two companies agreed that all joint efforts performed locally would, for ease of clarity, be labeled WebSavannah.com, while all services outside Savannah would be labeled Velocity Works. Though the difference between companies may be instantly clear to insiders, the fact that they share office space, clients and sometimes even their names makes the distinctions less obvious for an outsider. But there are distinctions and the distinctions are acute. "One big difference," said Clagett, "is that Rusty and his team want to be the best at hosting and servicing the local market. That’s what they’re better at." And Velocity Works, an interactive design firm, is better at Flash application, site development and other interactive services. Still, as far as the client is considered, the two companies collaborate as a team — allowing them to offer the most complete and possible services to their clients. Today, the Velocity Works design team is made up entirely of SCAD graduates —Thompson, Clagett, Alric Comery (B.F.A., graphic design, 1998) and Ryan Terry (B.F.A., computer arts, 2002). The company recently launched its latest version of its Web site, www.velocityworks.com. The designers hope the new site can live up to the reputation of its last version, which won numerous Savannah Advertising Federation awards. For the time, Velocity Works and WebSavannah.com are content to join forces as separate entities, though they do think about the possibility of some day becoming a single business. Together, the companies, though small, offer the community a strong selection of Internet capabilities. Separately, they continue to master their unique specialties.
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