When two Fox Valley Tech IT students met in class, their friendship launched a booming business.

When Dustin White and Jim Dobinski met 15 years ago in Web Development and Programming classes at Fox Valley Technical College, White was a recent high school graduate and computer enthusiast and Dobinski was an experienced businessman. Despite their differences, the two immediately became friends. This unconventional friendship eventually evolved into the creation of Stellar Blue Technologies, a fast-growing full-service internet marketing agency headquartered in Neenah, Wisconsin.

“It wasn’t by chance that we sat next to each other in both classes,” says Dobinski. “I sat by Dustin because I wanted to learn from him as he clearly knew all about computers. Little did I know how life changing that choice would eventually turn out to be.”

Today, White, a 33-year-old Appleton native, and Dobinski, a 44-year-old from Manitowoc, Wisconsin, are leaders in providing custom web design, development and search engine optimization packages for a wide range of clients at local, national and international levels.

The two earned their Information Technology associate degrees at FVTC before completing more education in computer science. Stellar Blue was launched 10 years ago, and today the two are seeking to expand their staff of more than two dozen professionals. “We can’t find enough skilled people—especially programmers and web developers,” says White. “Our region’s healthy and diverse commerce is driving demands for IT pros like we’ve never seen.”

Both Dobinski and White believe that the Internet for business marketing purposes will keep evolving. “So many companies are still discovering the power of the Internet,” notes Dobinski. “We’re on a mission to show them what the Internet can do for their business.”

White and Dobinski highly recommend FVTC. “We work with Fox Valley Tech to find qualified interns and often hire them full-time when they graduate,” says White.

Software Development & Web Programs at Fox Valley Technical College >>

 

IT = Here and Now

Projected growth for IT jobs in the region is more than 2,100 over the next 10 years
Northeast Wisconsin Educational Resource Alliance Report, 2015

In 2014, there were 130 grads from FVTC’s IT programs... and there’s room for more in the workforce
Fox Valley Technical College Graduate Employment Research Report, 2015