Entering Our 21st Year

GWW Opinion

January 28, 2020

In 1999, the words blog, carbon footprint, and texting were added to the dictionary. Plus, dashcam, and The Matrix. On top of all that, Justin Davis was setting up shop as Portland Webworks, a web and software development company, in a one-room office at 5 Milk Street in Portland, Maine.

Today, we occupy the whole floor of the same building, and spill over to another level for additional meeting and workspace. President Justin Davis still runs the company he founded with a cousin and a brother-in-law, but now along with the support of 38 employees.

As we enter our 21st year, as an official “grown up,” we’re celebrating 20 years in business with the publication of our first official company timeline.

View our company timeline, 1999-2020.

From the vantage of the present, we find the past 20 years are about two things. Our employees and our clients. Bright spots include the many contributions of the original founders, former and current team members, and business partners. And then there are the milestones. From the first account, to the first million and beyond, the company has consistently exceeded expectations and overcome obstacles to earn a place as a trusted industry service provider.

Enter GovWebworks

In 2016, the GovWebworks brand was created to reflect the predominantly public sector client base. Already well established in a dozen states including Idaho, Washington, and Missouri, 2020 brings more states and significant projects. Focused on improving access to government and community resources, this work ensures that critical services are available to people in need.

“We’re gratified to find states responding to this mission to modernize government service delivery,” said Tom Lovering, Director of Client Engagement at GovWebworks. “Updating tools in areas like child support, workforce development, and benefits delivery helps agencies provide a more human-centered experience so citizens can easily find and access vital services.”

2020 also opens the doors to working with the Federal government on the heels of an important GSA contract awarded late in 2019. “The GSA IT 70 and 00CORP contract awards validate our ongoing effort to streamline the way in which government agencies are able to work with us,” says Lovering. “It provides a simplified procurement process for Federal and state partners interested in our services.”

Other significant recent projects include:

Modernizing online child support software for Idaho Department of Health and Welfare
Innovative workforce development tools for Minnesota’s CareerForce
Improving usability for Missouri Department of Transportation and Vermont Judiciary

Here’s to the next 20

The success of Portland Webworks is in part about the expanding world of online technology. With the addition of GovWebworks, we join a national movement to improve technology for government services. This priority is evident in the growth of organizations like Code for America (CfA), the U.S. Digital Services Agency, and 18F. (GovWebworks is proud to sponsor the local CfA brigade, OpenMaine, which meets monthly at our Milk Street offices.)

We are certain to see the tech landscape and our company continue to evolve as we enter the next 20 years. As the public sector embraces technology best-practices from the private sector, we look forward to supporting this modernization process and improving consumer expectations around government service delivery.

From our beginnings in 1999 to today, the mission remains the same. To “deliver highly reliable, stable, secure IT solutions with intrinsic value.” Our thanks goes to the team members and business partners who have made it all happen.