It is often said that a company takes on the personality of those who steer and manage it. We think this is true of WideNet. Our owners have unique personalities and talents that create an effective balance and together create the WideNet company personality. Allow us to introduce our owners to you:


THE INNOVATOR
Chris Williams likes to improve things. 

Chris gets tremendous personal satisfaction from being innovative and improving things. Here at WideNet, that mainly involves making our client's lives easier through the WideNet Control Panel and other innovative programs currently in progress.   He originally programmed the control panel when the need for full content control over a website presented itself through frustrated future clients.  After listening to the problems they had experienced with other website venders, or internal employees, he realized there was a great need for website service in the local market.  Since no pre-packaged website solution met the "ease of use" standards we here at WideNet strive for, Chris set out to create it on his own, and create it he did.  Two years later, he is pushing towards a third version with vast improvements, greater organization and simplification, and overall, more power and control for all the clients, current and future, of WideNet.  Chris regularly pushes the envelope and other partners to make changes that make the company run better. 

Chris grew up as a Navy brat in places such as Virginia Beach, VA and Jacksonville, FL before eventually moving back home to Oxford, AL early in high school, where his mother had grown up after her father had retired from the Army. He went on to graduate from Oxford High School and then Jacksonville State University with a BS in Information Management / eCommerce. During college and afterward he worked at the Aerospace Development Center, eventually becoming the Director of Information Technology with a staff of four reporting to him. It was there that he met his future business partner Derek and gained the majority of the knowledge he uses every day. Chris has a talent for being able to figure out the answer to any technology problem and to devise a logical solution. His speciality is in empowering non-technical users by creating simple solutions for complex problems through his expertise in programming and databases. At WideNet, Chris oversees and actively participates in website development, programming, e-commerce projects, and all technology issues.

Chris and his wife Christy have two young children, Carly and Grayson,and they are active members of Antioch Baptist Church in Oxford, AL. 

Little Known Fact: His grandmother is a native Hawaiian.
Hobbies: Staying up to date with all of the latest technology, Blogging, Movies, Spending time with family


THE GROWER
Derek Conrad Brown likes to grow things.

Derek gets immense personal satisfaction from growing things. In the company that includes growing the company's reach and revenue by finding new clients and growing the company's name recognition through regular networking and public relations activities. Most importantly it means growing relationships: growing and developing new and existing client relationships, growing and developing relationships with company referral partners, and growing relationships with prospects. Part of growing is also smart growth. Derek brings to WideNet a strong sense of focus, emphasizing focus on the company's core offerings and a balance between realistic expectations and risk, as well as focus on budgeting and client service. At WideNet Derek manages company sales, finances, client and public relations, business operations, and some project management.

Derek grew up in western metro Birmingham, Alabama. His family has lived in what is today metro Birmingham for eight generations, since 1813. He graduated from Oak Grove High School and then Samford University where he received a BA in Public Administration. After college he began working on a masters degree at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and Jacksonville State University while employed by the Aerospace Development Center. While working at ADC he met his future business partner Chris. 

Derek is an active member of the Anniston Rotary Club, northeast Alabama's oldest and largest civic club, and is its 95th President, is a member of the board of directors of the Calhoun County Chamber of Commerce, the YMCA of Calhoun County, and The Opportunity Center-Easter Seal.  His other activities include being a member of the Anniston Runners Club and  a member of the Knox Concert Series Host Committee. In the past he served for several years on the selection committee of the Youth Leadership Forum of Birmingham and is a former member of the boards of the West Jefferson County Historical Society, Leadership Calhoun County, the Samford University Young Alumni Council, and of the Samford University Scholars Initiative External Review Board. He served for 12 years as a volunteer member of the staff of the American Legion Alabama Boys State program at the University of Alabama.  He has written articles that have appeared in local newspapers, Country Extra Magazine, and Longleaf Magazine. Derek also actively represents WideNet in the Calhoun County Chamber, the Hoover Chamber, the Bessemer Chamber, and the Alabama Association of Nonprofits. Derek was honored with the Calhoun County Chamber of Commerce 'Ambassador of the Year' award for 2008 and he was also selected as a participant in the 2008 Alabama Leadership Initiative, a program of Leadership Alabama.

Little Known Fact: He was a member of the Samford University Mock Trial Team.
Hobbies: Running, hiking, cycling, traveling, gardening, broomball, reading, learning about history, spending time with family and friends.