|
 SPARK now has a full-time staff of six. Our suite of product development services is robust
and sophisticated and our network of specialists, vendors and suppliers
is top-notch. We look forward to working with you in the years to come.
In October 2007, as an investment in our future, SPARK purchased and moved
into an office condominium – with a full shop and garage bay – in a San Francisco
warehouse-style development (complete with fog) near Staples Mill and I-64.
We are enjoying our new space and more central location. Come by and visit
us some time.
Bill, Sean, Paul, Bruce, Jim and Catherine
| 10 ORBITS AROUND THE SUN = |
| 74,665 | MAN HOURS + 8,952 OVERTIME HOURS |
| 839 | FLIGHT HOURS + UNCOUNTED TRAVEL DELAYS |
| 185 | ROAD TRIPS (105,873 MILES) |
| 4,652 | HOURS IN MEETINGS |
| 12 | PRO-E AND 9 SOLIDWORKS MAJOR RELEASES |
| 7 | DIFFERENT OPERATING SYSTEMS |
| 1,594 | SOFTWARE CRASHES |
| 9,654˝ | CUPS OF COFFEE |
| OUR TIMELINE |
| 1997 | Bill Riley and Sean Anderson leave AMF Bowling to start SPARK.
October - Open for business |
| 2000 | Hire Paul Rockwell from Richmond as Design Engineer. |
| 2001 | Bruce Ferris, who worked with Bill and Sean at AMF, joins the firm as a partner. |
| 2002 | Weather the recession after September 2001. |
| 2003 | Develop longer term client relationships and strengthen product development network. |
| 2005 | Hire marketing consultant who dubs the firm's capabilities "crackerjack". |
| 2006 | Hire Jim Doerr from Michigan as Design Engineer. |
| 2007 | Move into new offices. |
| 2008 | Hire Catherine Barnes from Richmond as a Biomedical Engineer, Ph.D. |
| 10 THINGS YOU DIDN'T KNOW ABOUT SPARK |
| 1. | If SPARK were better businesspeople at the time, we would have
known during the recession after September 2001 that we were
actually out of business. Most companies don't make payroll with
credit cards. |
| 2. | Bruce, Sean and Jim are accomplished table tennis players. |
| 3. | Our office recycles all of its paper, plastic and glass. |
| 4. | SPARK does James Bond-like defense work you will never hear
about or see. |
| 5. | Bruce is an elite beer geek and amateur, ribbon-winning brewer. |
| 6. | Bill is an accomplished mariner and is building a wooden boat, and
Bruce is refurbishing a boat on the Chesapeake Bay. |
| 7. | Sean was an avid rock climber and hiker in his youth. |
| 8. | Paul is an amazing, all around, jack-of-all-trades / master of many
and a mechanical and electrical wizard, but he can be a bit of a
curmudgeon. |
| 9. | Jim has worked on top-secret military projects in Michigan that he is
sworn not to reveal, even to his wife. |
| 10. | Catherine researched tissue engineering “scaffolds” to grow human
tissue for advanced skin replacement. |
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