1-22-03
Web Design Firm Grows in Shaky Internet Market
The Pawtucket Times

By Joel Furfari

PAWTUCKET -- At first sight, Embolden Design, Inc. might look like any of the other late-1990s firms fueled by the Internet boom. The small Web design company occupies a funky, colorful office accented by cool, modernist furniture.

And yes, the boss keeps a cappuccino maker on hand.

But now that the Internet boom has turned into a bust, the company has no plans to follow its peers into cyber-oblivion.

Embolden was founded four years ago by Ann-Marie Harrington to build powerful Web sites for non-profit organizations. Now she has four full-time employees, a fresh Pawtucket office in a former mill and more clients than ever.

In an interview last week, Harrington said Embolden has since expanded beyond just non-profits, but the company’s heart is still there.

She said her firm’s greatest asset is its ability to turn Internet sites into useful tools instead of just computerized billboards.

"The Internet is a great medium for non-profits. It’s a wonderful way for them to communicate," Harrington said.

Embolden now has about 50 clients ranging from the Rhode Island Foundation to Northeast Import, a Pawtucket-based toy company.

The Web firm’s approach to growth has been slow and steady, Harrington said, but the results are beginning to show.

"We have a simple philosophy: that we’re going to make great Web sites," she said.

The company has roughly doubled its revenues and its number of clients every year for the past four years, according to Harrington, who is now Embolden’s president.

Harrington herself has a background in the non-profit world.

"We would like to be able to work with more non-profits," she said. "Right now we’re at about 50-50 between non-profits and private companies, but we know that there are a lot more non-profits that need Web sites."

The Providence native, who has a business degree and master’s degree in social work, actually started Embolden as a part-time project.

"I actually started this on a part-time basis and found that I was working 100 hours a week," Harrington said.

Marc Ardizzone, who is now the company’s vice president of design and development, was Embolden’s first employee. He already had his foot in the Internet industry as a Web designer.

"We kind of clicked and found that we had very complementary skill sets," he said of the collaboration with Harrington.

The key to Embolden’s Web sites is a program called Matriarch, which allows non-programmers to constantly update their organizations’ Web sites without needing the background of a computer geek.

"It allows you to upgrade your Web sites by using forms on your Internet browser," Harrington said. "It puts the control back in the hands of the people who know the content."

One example of Embolden’s work is at www.rifoundation.org, where the firm designed a Web site for the Rhode Island Foundation that is interactive and constantly updated with fresh information.

Students can search the site’s database of college scholarships, donors can make their donations on-line and the general public can get up-to-date information.

"The research shows that if you don’t update the site, they’re not going to come back to visit," Harrington said.

Embolden isn’t just going for practicality; creativity is an important quality, Ardizzone said. He pointed out that while the technology behind Web site design has improved, many sites have become hyperactive, unfocused or cluttered with gimmicks.

"One of the things we’re kind of known for is very clean, easy-to-use sites," Ardizzone said. "We don’t feel we need to use every bell and whistle."

Harrington said she takes pride in the various styles that Embolden has created for different clients. Last week she mentioned the Web site her company made for the Brain Science Foundation (www.brainsciencefoundation.org).

That organization was recently created by Steven Haley, a former Cisco Systems executive, to find a cure for brain tumors. Harrington worked with Ardizzone and Nguyen Stump, Embolden’s Web application manager, to create an entire on-line identity for the fledgling foundation.

"They came to us as a new organization," Harrington said. "They didn’t have any identity so we worked with a graphic designer to come up a with a look and feel.

"We built a Web site from scratch."

© The Pawtucket Times 2003