Fry, Inc. is headquartered in Ann Arbor with offices in San Francisco, Chicago and New York. Which kind of begs the question: Why stay here? Dave Fry, the company's founder, president and CEO says, "Ann Arbor is a great place to run a company." Noting the area's quality of life he says, "There is no need to move our head-quarters. Our geographic diversification was more about being closer to clients."
Fry is an e-commerce designer, developer, hoster and manager for such companies as Crate and Barrel, Eddie Bauer, Godiva Chocolatier and Whirlpool. Dave Fry says their success is due to the fact that, "We focus on everything. We're there to make the site's visual design better, easier to use and engaging and fun. We provide the tech support, we build the websites, are responsible for their operation, we keep them running, we provide servers."
Fry employs 270 amongst its four offices, 60 of which have been brought on this year. Dave Fry estimates that 120-130 are based in Ann Arbor, with 10-15 hired in 2007. He says he would employ even more here but for the fact that, "In our sector it is still hard to find good talent." For example, one of his current needs is for JAVA developers. He says the problem is that most people qualified in that realm come from an automotive background where their jobs were "not very fluid. We require changes from week to week, someone who is flexible. And want people who crave that type of environment." The company is also looking for user experience experts and project managers with a technical bent.
The company was founded in 1994, has doubled in size since 2003 and managed more than $1 billion in internet sales in 2006.
Source: Dave Fry, Fry Inc.Writer: Kelli B. Kavanaugh
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