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TECHNOLOGY: HealthTech founder buys IT company; SolarCraft expands

Mark Spongberg, longtime office supply entrepreneur and founder of HealthTech Solutions, has acquired Information Technology Group and intends to grow it.

Mr. Spongberg founded and operated two Sonoma County office supply companies: Office Helper and Consumers Discount Office Supplies.

The former was known for its fleet of trucks sporting colorful paper clips. It was sold to a Nashville company in 2002 and then to Staples, which still occupies the Office Helper building off McDowell Boulevard in Petaluma.

Consumers Discount grew to five cash-and-carry office supply outlets and after a series of owners became Office Depot.

Mr. Spongberg founded HealthTech Solutions in 2003 to provide a one-stop shop for physicians wanting to move their billing, scheduling and medical records to electronic systems. The company offered a range of PCs and software packages as well as consulting, installation and maintenance.

“Sales never really met my, or the manufacturers’, expectations,” said Mr. Spongberg. “Doctors are reluctant to change the way they run their businesses, although from a businessman’s point of view, moving office procedures to computer systems is clearly an advantage.”

Not willing to wait for paperless medical record mandates to force physicians, Mr. Spongberg decided to expand his market to small and medium businesses of all types. He purchased Information Technology Group at the first of the year for an undisclosed amount.

Founded by the IT director of Empire College and staffed by electronics teachers, the company has a well-deserved reputation among its more than 150 customers in and around Santa Rosa.

“We offer preventative IT maintenance to small to mid-sized businesses,” said Mr. Spongberg.

Although HealthTech Solutions is still technically operating as a corporation above ITG, which is currently running as a DBA, the plan is to make ITG the parent company and phase out HealthTech, moving its clients under the ITG umbrella.

Combined staff numbers about seven full-time employees. Mr. Spongberg would like to grow it to about 18 in a year or two. “We’re looking – very carefully – for a couple of new hires right now. The place is bustling, and that’s a great feeling,” said Mr. Spongberg.

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SolarCraft of Novato is on the move. The 35-employee company just doubled it space on Bel Marin Keys to about 13,000 square feet, said co-founder Bill Stewart.

SolarCraft also recently hired Bruce King as CFO, an MBA and CPA who’s been with several high-growth companies.

“We just finished installing the system you can see from the Highway 121 at Jacuzzi Family Winery. It’s a 100-kilowatt installation, interesting because the space required us to use three different mountings. Half of them are tracking systems, moving with the sun.”

Jacuzzi Family Winery is owned by Cline Cellars across the highway. SolarCraft installed Cline’s spectacular rooftop solar system as well.

Mr. Stewart said projects are steady so far this year. But like many in the industry, he expects to see the effects of last year’s Energy Bill late this month or next.

A plan to extend the 30 percent tax credit for commercial solar projects was stripped from the bill, as it was from the recent stimulus package.

“Now the bill is back as a standalone, asking for a six- to eight-year extension. It has bipartisan support, and even though Bush has said he’ll veto it because paying for it drains incentives from the domestic gas and oil industries, we’re hopeful,” said Mr. Stewart.

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Submit items for this column to Loralee Stevens at 707-579-2900 ext. 205, lstevens@busjrnl.com or fax 707-579-8475.

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