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News Articles: Finding the Right Solution
Friends expand business from two to 15 employees
By Brook Stockberger
The two friends were in the middle of a conversation Wednesday when the phone rang.
David Cecil and Jason Crowson own the Las Cruces business Digital Solutions. Not too long ago, the two friends made up the entire staff and worked out of their homes.
The situation, though, has changed for the former New Mexico State University students. Neither made a move to answer the chiming telephone.
"We've got people who can answer that," said Cecil, 28.
Crowson, 30, chuckled.
"Things have really changed," he said.
The duo, who not only studied at NMSU together but also worked shifts side by side at Pizza Hut where they dreamed about running their own business one day, cannot seem to keep the smiles off their faces these days.
"We had goals and dreams, but we did not anticipate growing this fast," Cecil said.
In a little more than one year, Digital Solutions has grown from just the two owners to a company with 15 employees. This week the firm will move out of its current offices into larger digs, still within Pueblo Plaza at 1100 S. Main St.
Genesis
Cecil and Crowson ran into each other at Wal-Mart one day.
The duo had worked together at Pizza Hut while they studied at New Mexico State University, but after graduation in 2000, they said they fell out of contact.
The chance meeting at Wal-Mart, though, changed both men's lives.
Cecil and Crowson began to talk. By the next day, the two were outlining a business they wanted to open together. Before long the friends started Digital Solutions and ran the business out of their homes.
"This is really a dream come true," Cecil said.
"We're doing exactly what we wanted to do," Crowson said. "Not everybody can say that."
The Biz
Last Year the business concentrated on multimedia presentations for, primarily, the real estate industry. Digital Solutions also shot high quality video and put information on interactive DVDs and CD ROMs that builders and Realtors can hand out to potential buyers.
The company still performs all of those tasks. A hot item last year for the firm was what Cecil called "business card CDs" - a CD ROM that is not much larger than a business card.
But, as the duo continued to try and drum up business - mostly Cecil's area of expertise while Crowson oversees the creative end - the company had to turn down clients.
"I got tired of telling people no, I said no so many times," Cecil said. "I'd be trying to sell a customer an interactive CD ROM and they'd say, 'I like that; can you also do a Web site for me as well.'"
So the partners decided it did not make sense to turn away business if they did not have to, so they hired another employee. They admitted they were nervous as to wether they would be able to pay an employee and keep the business afloat.
Fifteen employees later, they believe they made the right decision.
"You never know how things are going to work out," Crowson said.
Web site design and maintenance has become a big bread winner for the company.
"That has just exploded," Cecil said of the Web site business.
Plus, the company has begun to produce television commercials.
"That is kind of our new thing," Cecil said. "We can do explosions, animation, special effects."
The company also continues to produce interactive CD ROMs, and produces DVDs for businesses or for weddings or any occasion.
Digital Solutions also makes business cards, pamphlets, personalized license plates, brochures and will design logos for clients.
The Staff
Cecil's wife Holly is among the staff, which the partners said is tight-knit.
"They can come and talk to us about anything," he said. "We're very open."
Crowson said Holly is a big asset, "She's as important as us for making this work."
Cecil said that 13 of their 15 employees are either NMSU graduates or are currently attending the school.
"We like hiring local people," he said. "Many of them graduate and they leave town; we want to keep them here."
"The bottom line is we hired the right people," he said. "They make this thing work."
Crowson said that they still interview potential employees and keep resums on file.
"The phone might ring and we have a new job that'll require us to hire five more people," Cecil said. "You never know."
The Future
"We have used words like, 'franchise,'" Cecil said. "We don't know where this is going, but we're open to keep growing and growing."
But even if the duo end up being the Bill Gates and Paul Allen of southern New Mexico, they plan to stay true to their roots.
"Las Cruces is home to us," Cecil said. "We want to keep Las Cruces our home."
Digital Solutions can be reached at 523-7661 or at www.digitalsolutionslc.com.
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