Connect Think specializes in developing solutions for web, mobile and desktop platforms. Justin Bolles, Chris Waugh and Chris Swinefurth are partners in the Broad Ripple-based company located at 6507 Carrollton Avenue. They recently shared their entrepreneurial story in a round table discussion.

"Chris (Waugh) and I originally met in Westlane Middle School and then went to North Central High School and Purdue University. Chris (Swinefurth) was my first boss out of college. The three of us worked together for about three years. We actually worked at home for about a year before we got the office space in Nora," Bolles said. "One of the reasons we got together was to play with the iphone. We started this company to get together and work with apps. When we were working for other companies, we decided to see if we could do this for ourselves. We've had a 100 percent retention rate of our clients with IndyGo being our newest client this year. Growing the staff has helped us grow and take on more projects," Waugh mentioned.

"For example, we're creating a mobile commerce website, e-brochures and Word Press websites. Our client interfacing and marketing has found great success with a team dedicated to it," Swinefurth noted.

"When designing apps, there is a phone component and a web component that helps drive home the experience of using the web. It really depends on the solution that the client is asking for," Waugh explained.

"That's really the interesting part of our job. We have apps that range from brewer's beers on tap from Flat 12 Brewery to helping a 600 person sales force access a catalog," said Bolles. "The apps are automated to make your device do something for you and to make your life easier," Waugh added.

Laurie Blackburn is Connect Think's Director of Marketing. "My background is in marketing and advertising. I began with an ad agency in New York City, which is where I'm from. After years of managing branding and advertising for larger clients like Community Health Network, Marsh and The Indiana Blood Center, I decided I wanted to use my writing and marketing skills to consult for companies who needed to grow their business," she explained.

"My friend, Linda Brundage, co-owner of Nogginwerks (a local ad agency in Broad Ripple that handles a lot of brand and advertising work for Simon Property Group) told me about Connect Think. They had been working with Simon, developing the Atlas app and wanted to add someone with marketing and account management experience. I was impressed by these guys because they are so good at programming and yet completely able to talk through technology with a marketing person like myself," she added.

"The original idea for Connect Think came about through three friends who were all working independently in IT. Chris Swinefurth had 15 years of experience designing and implementing enterprise solutions. Chris Waugh had been a technology consultant and worked in large corporate IT departments; while Justin Bolles was writing embedded code for custom hardware. Independently, they provided a number of services, but together they could deliver a wider range of solutions, from system integration and development of databases to website applications. For a while they worked remotely, but then decided an office space would allow them to collaborate more easily and bring on new people. One of the strongest benefits of the Connect Think team is that everyone brings particular strengths in programming and IT. As for our location, Broad Ripple is thriving and we think it's the perfect place to grow a technology business. This is our second office in three years. Our first was in Nora. We now have 2,400 square feet of completely renovated space and we seem to be filling it pretty fast. Plus, we're right down the street from the Broad Ripple Brewpub," she said.

Connect Think's clients are as diverse as the apps they design for them. "We work with a wide range of companies, from large Fortune 500's like Simon Property Group, to smaller start-ups. Some of our projects include FatStax for iPad, a cloud-based solution that integrates electronic catalogs into the iPad for sales teams. We built and maintain a large-scale custom integration solution for Central Restaurant Products. Another client, Art to Remember, needed a large-scale ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) solution for their business. There are simple, elegant apps like the Drumstick Dash for Wheeler Mission, the Wheeler Mission website and a mobile website for Central Restaurant Products. Most recently, we were hired by IndyGO. We also partner with companies like The Basement, Raidious and Hirons to provide specific technology solutions for their clients," she added.

Bolles described one of their apps: "We did an app for the Drumstick Dash to provide participants (runners and walkers) information on the day of the event, like the layout of the course, water station locations, how volunteers could help and the ability to donate to the event for Wheelers Rescue Mission. There were 15,000 participants last year." Waugh added, "It's having information in your pocket." Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs would be proud of them.

"We always work in groups of at least two developers on a project and have a lot of direction between the client and developer so it won't get lost in translation," Swinefurth noted. Waugh added, "It's great having a business like ours in Broad Ripple. It's still a very attractive place for business to attract customers and it was a very big step for us to move here back in March. We're thrilled to be in the neighborhood. One of our partners is Nogginwerks that used to be located here in this building."

They recently attended the Apple World Wide Developer Conference in San Francisco and are already applying information learned there. Bolles said, "We've already had a meeting this morning (in mid-June), where we were talking with a client about some of the new features that were discussed at the conference. We met developers from all across the U.S. and around the world from Brazil, Belgium, Hong Kong and Japan. There were 66 countries represented." Waugh added, "There were a lot of new fun tools and toys and OS X 10.9 Mavericks, the new Macintosh operating system." Swinefurth noted, "There are new features that will benefit our clients in a huge way." A popular Macintosh website, 9to5mac.com, has daily breaking information.

The Indiana Economic Development Commission recently offered Connect Think up to $370,000 in conditional tax credits and up to $25,000 in training grants. The plan is to create up to 25 new jobs by 2016.

A portfolio of Connect Think's work can be seen at: connectthink.com/portfolio. Use @connectthink to follow them on Twitter. Questions can be answered at: info@connectthink.com or by calling (317) 682-0242.

"Connect Think has developed an innovative business model, which allows us to grow our business while simultaneously supporting other technology companies and businesses as they strengthen their core competencies. It's all about helping people who are looking to understand how technology can be used to improve their business. We like to work as a partner and a consultant to help you create the right software solution. We were a finalist for the Techpoint MIRA awards in 2012. It's always nice to be recognized by your peers for the work you're doing," Ms. Blackburn concluded.

The camaraderie between Justin Bolles, Chris Waugh and Chris Swinefurth and their results-driven staff is helping Connect Think pioneer new technological frontiers for clients from their new domain in Broad Ripple Village.