Our Story

Our story starts in the mid-1990s with a computer science textbook and the launch of a website for one of the largest technology companies in the world.

From the Mid-1990s to Today

 In the mid-1990s, Microsoft based a high school teacher training initiative on a computer science textbook written by then full-time author Todd Knowlton. As part of the collaboration that followed, Microsoft asked Todd to build a website to serve as a home for a variety of academic initiatives. That website, which launched in 1996, was the first of hundreds of projects that ultimately led to the founding of Smooth Fusion in January of 2001.

Smooth Fusion was founded six years before the iPhone was released, five years before Twitter began, and three years before Facebook. Over almost two decades, we have evolved with the industry and with changing technologies.

More than ten years ago, our team selected Sitefinity CMS as our content management system of choice. We are now a leading Progress Sitefinity Partner with a team of Sitefinity Certified Developers and Professionals.

Today we provide custom design and development services for web and mobile projects and marketing services that help these websites perform at their best. Our services include consulting, business analysis, solution architecture, UI/UX and design, implementation, and ongoing support.

smooth fusion office building

Some Fun Facts about Smooth Fusion 

  • Smooth Fusion and Wikipedia were launched the same month
  • The first website built by Smooth Fusion CEO and Co-founder, Todd Knowlton, was built in 1996 for Microsoft. Smooth Fusion took over the maintenance of that site in 2001 and it served Microsoft for more than 10 years before being redirected to a page on microsoft.com. 
  • Smooth Fusion was founded three years before Facebook, five years before Twitter, and six years before the iPhone.
  • We turned a profit before Amazon did, but they have since outpaced us a bit.
  • We have completed almost 2,000 projects for customers in 29 states, the District of Columbia, and at least six other countries.

20+ Years in the Making

Learn about how Smooth Fusion started and how we got to where we are today. 

Our Roots in the 1990s 

CEO and Co-Founder Todd Knowlton tells the story of the events in the 1990s that created the team that eventually became Smooth Fusion. Back when the world wide web was just getting started, Todd became a full-time author writing computer science books for high school students, including a best-selling book on C++ programming. The book piqued the interest of Microsoft and they chose it as a base for a Microsoft K-12 initiative to bring teaching resources to schools. Todd was then asked to build a website for the academic initiatives at Microsoft. That simple website in 1996 led to hundreds of other projects for Microsoft and to thousands of projects for other companies.

The Early Days of the Internet

Todd tells the story of the team in the early pioneering days of the internet. During the dot-com boom, Todd and his team were doing web development for multiple customers, including Microsoft, and became a part of a roll-up of several tech companies during the growth of the dot-com bubble. That merged entity was not as successful as hoped, so before the bubble popped, Todd and some of the core members of that initial team, including Brad Hunt, started Smooth Fusion in January 2001.

 

 

Mission, Vision, and Values

Smooth Fusion president Brad Hunt discusses our mission, vision, and values and how they shape the work we do.  Constantly reminding ourselves of these over the years has enabled us to consistently provide excellent work for our clients. 

Our Mission
We create functional, usable, secure, and elegant software while striving to make the process painless for our customers.

Our Vision
To be a friendly, trusted partner delivering innovative software solutions to help our customers thrive.

 

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