Five Questions With: Megan Knobbe

BY ACQUIRING CROWN WEB/EMBOLDEN, Envision Technology Advisors is looking to expand and improve its offerings, says Meghan Knobbe, who worked for Embolden but now leads Envision's new Digital Innovation & Design division. / COURTESY ENVISION TECHNOLOGY ADVISORS
BY ACQUIRING CROWN WEB/EMBOLDEN, Envision Technology Advisors is looking to expand and improve its offerings, says Meghan Knobbe, who worked for Embolden but now leads Envision's new Digital Innovation & Design division. / COURTESY ENVISION TECHNOLOGY ADVISORS

Megan Knobbe is leading the new Digital Innovation & Design division for Envision Technology Advisors in Pawtucket. The technology consulting firm recently acquired Crown Web (formerly Embolden), where Knobbe worked. She talks about the acquisition, and the new division that she is leading.

PBN: Why was Envision interested in acquiring Embolden/Crown Web?
KNOBBE:
There’s a lot of shared principles and history between the two. Both organizations started locally, from the ground up, and have always believed that hiring quality people is key to success. Also, both companies started at a time when the Web, the internet and business technologies were just becoming important business drivers. At the time, Envision was pioneering virtualization and IT services in New England while only a few miles down the road Embolden was innovating in the Web development and the digital marketing space. From inception, both Envision and Embolden have leveraged strategic thinking with technology to provide the best solutions and support, and as a result we both grew in our markets side-by-side. Our shared commitment to clients, technology and culture made this a perfect pairing. Joining forces and creating our new Digital Innovation and Design Division under Envision was about elevating and expanding upon what we could do and what we can offer. Ultimately, putting the two businesses together was a natural evolution for both of us.

PBN: How do you think this acquisition will enhance your services?
KNOBBE:
The landscape of digital services is changing rapidly. The days when you could consider your online presence, e-commerce, mobile apps or Web-based application development in a vacuum are long gone. Everything is integrated now. Our Web development services, strategy, analytics and online communications work has to be delivered in a way that positions customers to take advantage of the economies of scale that come from cloud computing, managed services and innovation. These are things that Envision does really well. Coming together means we can bring a broad, yet tightly-integrated set of skills and products to bear for our clients in a way that makes sense. It’ll mean everyone can benefit.

PBN: How long has Envision been in business and how did it begin?
KNOBBE:
Envision was founded in 1998, which is actually the year that Embolden got started as well. Envision’s CEO, Todd Knapp, began by offering computer repair services out of his college dorm room. After bringing on Brent Ouellette (Envision’s first employee, who is still with the company), the pair started offering a variety of networking and technology consulting services. A focus on customer service and innovation has helped the company continue to grow and become a nationally recognized leader in business and technology consulting solutions.

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PBN: Do you have plans for additional locations beyond Rhode Island and Greater Boston, or plans to hire more employees?
KNOBBE:
Envision is always seeking opportunities to grow, but we don’t really look at it in terms of geography. While we do have a significant number of customers here in New England, we also have a well-established national client base. Together with Envision, we will continue to explore strategic partnerships and acquisitions that benefit that client base. We will go wherever that mission takes us. While this could include new office locations to serve select markets in the future, our commitment is always to continue to support and grow our business here in Rhode Island and in the New England market. We already have plans to hire new employees here in Rhode Island to help support our customers and our growth plans.

PBN: What types of customers do you serve? Will the acquisition of Embolden broaden your client base?
KNOBBE:
Many knew Embolden best for our work in the nonprofit and philanthropic sector. Embolden has been nationally recognized for our talent and offerings in that area and that will continue to be a specialty of our Digital Innovation and Design division.

However, one aspect that we like about Envision is that they have a breadth of experience that can only come from servicing a variety of businesses and verticals. We used to do that at Embolden, and we look forward to getting back to that again. Solving problems across a variety of industries will also allow us to bring fresh ideas to our existing customers.

The door really opens for us with this change, especially locally. With Envision, we can do even more work that will benefit organizations and businesses in the area; that’s very exciting for us. It’s one of the reasons behind the acquisition – that we wanted to get back to a local focus, alongside the work we’re doing nationally.

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