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Angela Kern and Kenneth Silver help run Line 9, a successful, but small, high-tech computer business based in a Siskiyou Boulevard apartment. Ashland Daily Tidings/Vickie Aldous High-tech firm finds website software niche By Vickie Aldous Ashland Daily Tidings The next Microsoft could be sprouting inside a small Ashland apartment just off Siskiyou Boulevard. Well, maybe not quite, but the high-tech company Line9, Inc. is showing promising signs of growth. For now, the company is made up of three full-time workers who farm extra work out to a half-dozen freelance computer experts. After more than two years of work, the company recently launched a major release of a line of applications that builds web sites in as little as 15 minutes. "You don't have to know how to write (programming) code, only how to punch a button and read," said Angela Kern, one of the three main employees of Line9. The application allows business owners to choose colors for web site pages and text, include graphics, enter information about inventories and perform other functions. Customers soon could be browsing through items listed for sale on the business's new web site. "All you have to take care of is the orders coming in," said company founder David Silver. Silver started his company in 1993, under the name Rasadmin. The company became known as Line9 in 1996. Although it may seem unusual to operate out of an apartment a company which pulled in $9,000 in one recent month, Line9 is part of an underground network of computer experts in the Rogue Valley. Many move in and out of jobs with established companies such as Project A in Ashland, while pursuing freelance jobs and launching the occasional startup company. Silver said he relies on the talent in the valley to pick up the work overload at Line9 - and is always recruiting. Even though Line9 lacks a storefront, it's not lacking in business. Appropriately enough, the company is advertising its website software on its own website. Silver said a large volume of visitors are coming to the site, which recently experienced 800 hits in one night alone. He said the key to attracting visitors is to give away free software. One freebie allows customers to add informative articles to their web site. "Things are looking really good," Silver said. "People's interest in the site is phenomenal." For more information about Line9, log on to the company's web site at www.LINE9.com, or call 488-4598. NEW Click here to visit the Daily Tidings archives. Email your... Technical questions & comments to: WebMaster Daily Tidings editorial comments & questions to: Editor Visit our other Western Oregon Newspapers... | Albany Democrat-Herald | Corvallis Gazette-Times | Lebanon Express | Newport News-Times | | Ashland Daily Tidings | Gresham Outlook | Springfield News | Ashland Daily Tidings 1661 Siskiyou Blvd. Ashland, OR 97520 Telephone 541-482-3456 © Copyright 1997, 1998, 1999 Lee Northwest Publishing