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By Greg Lamm, Contributing Writer
April 7, 2006
Nancy and John Janzen
When Nancy and John Janzen started their software company in 1996, it seemed to make better business sense for them to be in high-tech centers near Portland or Seattle rather than in Spokane. Plus, Nancy Janzen has family in the Puget Sound region.
But both husband and wife had graduated in 1984 from Northwest Christian High School in Spokane and later started dating as students at Washington State University. They knew Spokane had good schools and affordable housing, and they liked the region's recreational amenities such as skiing and hiking.
So the Janzens, who had lived in Bremerton and Portland, Ore., returned home to Spokane to be close to family and friends and to launch Maplewood Software Inc.
Ten years ago there was not a lot of economic development support for new tech companies in the region. But in recent years things have changed for the better, Nancy Janzen said.
Janzen said her company has benefited from networking with other business owners through the Spokane Regional Chamber of Commerce. The company also attended an eight-week business boot camp run by Connect Northwest, an organization supported by Spokane County that promotes business growth and entrepreneurship. At Connect Northwest, the Janzens got pointers from business experts on things like marketing, sales and financing.
Janzen said the region's state-funded tech incubator, the Spokane Intercollegiate Research and Technology Institute, also provided invaluable business consulting advice. So too did one of their best customers, Spokane's Sacred Heart Medical Center.
The Janzens had originally decided to sell their software to hotels and restaurants, to help them with the time-consuming chore of staff scheduling. But when hospital managers read about Maplewood's product in the local newspaper, those managers approached the Janzens about tailoring their automated product to help solve staff scheduling problems at the hospital's pharmacy. That collaboration continues today and helped convince the Janzens to adapt their product for hospital pharmacy use.
The company was fortunate enough to land major contracts with Microsoft Corp. early on. But Maplewood saw a downturn during the tech bust and had to lay off workers. But Maplewood Software survived and is one of only a handful of software companies in Spokane.
Today Maplewood has a dozen workers, and the company has 45 clients. Their customers, all hospitals with 200 beds or more, are as far away as Hawaii. In Seattle, Maplewood provided software for Children's Hospital and Regional Medical Center. The Janzens hope to develop similar automated software for other hospital departments.
It hasn't always been easy and they still enjoy visiting family in the Puget Sound area. But Nancy Janzen said they are glad they decided to come home. They live near downtown, near Spokane's popular Cannon Hill Park. Spokane has many of the amenities of Seattle and Portland, she said, just on a smaller scale.
"Spokane is a great community. We feel very supported here," she said. "We have no regrets."
Contact: seattle@bizjournals.com 206-583-0701
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