Going up!

John Rumery

Holland-based web and software development firm, Elevator Up, has added two new hires in the last three months with intent to aggressively grow the web-hosting side of their business. 

Dan Ryan, system engineer, was hired in the early summer and Dennis Walters, lead developer, was brought on in August.  Both Ryan and Walters had previously worked together at Liquid Web, a Lansing-based technology firm.

According to Ryan, the opportunity for Elevator Up is to simplify the hosting process and target the gap between "the small web hosting services that work with bloggers and simple websites," and the complex corporate web hosting services.
 
"I call that market the Fortune one million," says Ryan, alluding to the number of small and medium-sized companies that could potentially use their hosting services.  

"We primarily target firms in the tech industry that aren't quite big enough to have their own I.T. services," says Ryan. He adds that many of these businesses embrace the "start-up mentality" that Elevator Up founder Aaron Schaap champions through a variety of community initiatives.

Although Elevator Up has always had a hosting service, Ryan will be building the web hosting service as its own brand with its own marketing plan.  The goal is to have the infrastructure and service offerings in place sometime in October to launch the new hosting company.   Ryan envisions that at least nine new hires, primarily in the systems administration field, could be added as the business grows.
 
Dennis Walters is excited and optimistic about his new role as a lead developer, and also the continual growth of the tech community in West Michigan. "More than anything, the key factor that keeps me in West Michigan is the generally awesome attitude of the folks in the area," he says. "That is, the mentality seems to tend towards both optimism and excitement, and that sort of vibe lends itself well to getting things done, and aids very much in the elimination of red tape. Between Elevator Up, Liquid Web, Bar Camp, the Great Lakes Ruby Bash, and the random 'geek-ups' in the area, I'd say that the entire culture is optimistic."

According to Sara Hogan, Operations Manager for Elevator Up, the addition of Ryan and Walters brings their team up to seven individuals.  For more information on Elevator Up and future job opportunities, you can visit their website.

Source: Interviews with Dan Ryan, Kevin Walters and Sara Hogan

John Rumery is the Innovation and Jobs Editor for Rapid Growth Media. He is an educator, board member of AimWest, WYCE music programmer, entrepreneur, raconteur and competitive barbecuer living in Grand Rapids, MI.  He can be reached at [email protected]
 For story tips you can e-mail [email protected]