Issue link: http://www.insightdigital.biz/i/252322
26 | I nsIgh t • F e b r u a r y 2 0 14 w w w . i n s i g h t o n b u s i n e s s . c o m innovation that can help the company and the region grow, says De pere Area Chamber of Commerce president Cheryl Detrick. ere are fewer than a handful of tech companies in the area, and Detrick points out that northeast Wisconsin is not necessarily top of mind for envelope-pushing technology people. still, she says sparknEt proves opportunities exist here. "It's not just paper and packers." Big building, big amenities ACross froM thE pEACEful Mount CAlVAry Cemetery and fronting a tucked-away residential area off Main street, just west of hwy. 41 straddling De pere and Ashwaubenon, towers sparknEt's 70,000-square-foot, black- glassed building. It's the tallest building in Brown County by elevation, notes sparknEt Vice president of operations Chris Knutson. It's also a bold footprint for the company, which launched in the late 1990s with dial-up services and email list hosting. Aer occupying office space in a multi-office building next door, sparknEt built its new headquarters in 2011. e four-story building was originally planned with three floors. "We expanded it aer we broke ground," says Knight. "e anticipation was that in the next three to five years we'd fill the building. "our new headquarters was designed to operate comfortably at 300 full-time, and even though the type of jobs in demand has changed, it's our intention to continue to grow our team size as fast as we can find qualified talent." Knight hopes to add at least 24 to 40 more full-time employees this year. While there is plenty of open space and one floor is barely occupied, the company's current 40 employees – most Millennials and gen Xers – seem to be enough to make the company profitable. "We're not committed to hiring for hiring's sake," Knight stresses. rather, his goal is to be prepared to add people when the time is right. sparknEt may be a long way from filling its new building, but it also didn't lay off any employees during the recent recession. Knight took advantage of lower costs during the recession to expand the company. But holding onto those employees may have had a delayed effect. is may be the first year the company has not been profitable, Knight adds, noting proudly that it's been more than a decade since the innovative company didn't turn a profit. he's not worried. "We could stop the whole company and just have two people and continue with seven figures for several years," he boasts. A so-spoken, yet extremely articulate guy who oen comes to the office in shorts – and sometimes, barefoot – Knight epitomizes the company's corporate culture of working hard while still having fun. sparknEt's corporate core values are emblazoned in bold typography on a big black wall on one of the floors. Among them are "Be resourceful," "over deliver with a smile," "Create a burning sense of urgency" and, perhaps one of sparknEt's leading tenets, "Be fun and playful while getting your work done." e latter is probably not hard to do – although it may cause a distraction for less disciplined workers. foosball, table tennis and billiards beckon in the lounge area, where most meetings are informally held on oversized beanbag chairs. soda and coffee flows, gratis, in several kitchenettes; underground parking is available and one floor houses a gleaming neon smoothie bar for corporate socials. e amenities don't stop there. since one of sparknEt's core values is "Be healthy, active and fit, both physically and mentally," it really puts its money where its mouth is, offering employees a gleaming modern fitness room, with top-of-the-line equipment. A hot yoga room, sauna, hot tub and massage room are just steps away from posh locker rooms, complete with heated floors, heated toilets and a bidet feature. And, indeed, there is a free lunch – healthy fare is homemade daily by full-time chef and corporate ping-pong champ Ben griggs. e fastest way to get to that free lunch? try the lightning- "Chris Knight and SparkNET is so far 'out of the box;' they're in their own sphere." — Cheryl Detrick, De Pere Area Chamber of Commerce president BEINg KNIghTEd Some people may wonder why Christopher Knight's name sounds so familiar. I asked him just that as we chatted — him barefoot, me in boots — in the oversized beanbag chair lounge at SparkNET. "Is that your real name?" I queried, reminded of the actor Christopher Knight, best known as Peter Brady in the 1970s sitcom The Brady Bunch. Seemingly surprised at the question — and perhaps never asked that before — Knight admitted that he legally changed his surname years ago; since he was starting businesses, he wanted a name easier to pronounce than his given last name, "Sevcik." Knight chose his surname based on his affinity for the 1980s television series "Knight Rider," about a car outfitted with artificial intelligence. While the original car (K.I.T.T.) in the series was a black Pontiac Trans-Am, Knight himself drives a black BMW M5…as far as we know, with no artificial intelligence features…yet. – Sharon Verbeten