©2017 Saratoga Photographer.com
By Jill Nagy
After eight years in an at-home office, J.C. Sweet & Co., a website design company, moved to larger quarters and increased its staff from two to eight.
“We outgrew the home office. Things got too busy,” said Jenny Crawford, founder of the company.
The company plans a formal ribbon-cutting on Oct. 18 at its new quarters at 1 Lake Hill Road in Ballston Lake.
Five people work in the office and three more work off-site.
The company builds websites and helps to manage them. It also helps business owners come up with effective strategies to use social media to promote their businesses and trains business owners and their employees.
“We help people who are uncomfortable with technology, become comfortable,” Crawford said.
Training and education are a large part of J.C.Sweet’s business. Crawford, who trained to become an elementary school teacher, enjoys the training and teaching role. She provides internet-related training at state Small Business Development Centers, real estate companies, the Financial Planners Association, Chamber of Commerce programs for new businesses and similar venues.
“It’s just fun,” she said. She enjoys the “value of seeing ‘a ha’ moments’ in other people.”
The company also employs student interns. Last year, a student from Cazenovia commuted for two hours each day for the opportunity to work at a woman-owned technology company, Crawford said.
Currently, the company has approximately 175 active clients.
Crawford estimates that 95 percent of those were referred by other clients. She estimated the company has created more than 850 websites. They also host, manage and maintain websites for clients and help to keep the sites secure.
In addition, J.C. Sweet helps clients become skilled at using tools like Facebook and Google. In some cases, “we become extended staff” for the companies they work for. Most of the company’s clients are from an area ranging from Lake Placid to Kingston. Others are from more distant parts of the country.
Crawford grew up in Ballston Lake. Her daughter is the fourth generation to attend the same elementary school. Her husband also has local roots; the new office is in a building where his grandparents once lived.
The company’s website is jcsweet.com. The telephone number is (518) 288-3036.