MobileDataforce buys Treetop Technologies
Two of Boise’s better-known high-tech companies are joining forces.MobileDataforce, which develops software for mobile computing applications, announced Tuesday that it had bought Treetop Technologies, a company that focuses on database management, Web design and Web development projects.The sale price was not disclosed.Kevin Benedict, CEO of MobileDataforce, said the purchase will better position his company for future growth.”We keep doing bigger and bigger worldwide projects that require bigger and larger enterprise databases and more complex skills and for 11 years Treetop has focused on delivering those solutions,” said Benedict, who will continue to lead the merged company. MobileDataforce was founded in 2000 as a information-technology consulting company but in 2004 started transforming itself into a mobile software company.Benedict joined the company in 2004 as CEO. Originally from the Seattle area, where he worked in the software industry, Benedict came to Boise in 1999 to take become an e-commerce manager for Micron Electronics, now MPC Corp.Founded in 1997 by Jason Crawforth, Treetop Technologies is one of Boise’s highest profile technology companies. In 2005, Inc. Magazine named the company the 18th fastest-growing software company in America. Crawforth, the CEO and an Idaho native, has been a leading voice in the Idaho tech sector’s effort to better promote itself and win more support from state leaders. Crawforth served for more than two years on the Governor’s Science and Technology Advisory Council before it was disbanded earlier this month.The merger will combine MobileDataforce’s 30 employees with 13 from Treetop. All employees will be located at MobileDataforce’s offices at 3380 Americana Terrace.Benedict said MobileDataforce had already been contracting with Treetop to provide things like database management, Web design, Web development and integration, so it made sense to combine the two companies.Although he’s relinquishing the CEO title, Crawforth said he will remain with MobileDataforce as a board member and the company’s chief strategy officer.Benedict said the company plans to hire more employees.”The merger was based upon growth, and we expect in the next 24 months to double the size of MobileDataforce,” Benedict said.MobileDataforce will benefit from Treetop’s client list, which includes companies like Bose, Hewlett-Packard and the state of Idaho, he said. Since the company was founded in 2000, Benedict said the demand for MobileDataforce products has grown each year. The company’s primary product is called PointSync, which allows users to develop custom software applications on mobile computing devices like personal digital assistants, cell phones and laptop computers. “Everyone is always pushing the envelope for efficiencies, and instead of having someone out with a clipboard writing things down and going back to an office and typing information in, we’re automating the entire process from end to end,” Crawforth said.Ken Dey: 672-6757
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