Published February 2002

Raycast Northwest:
Web, marketing and more

By John Wolcott
Herald Business Journal Editor

Don’t call Don Alexander’s business — Raycast Northwest in Everett — just an Internet service provider.

In the years since he left Microsoft to launch Everett Networking in 1994, he has built the company into much more, to the point where he now calls it “a managed technology provider,” a business that helps others understand and use technology to grow their business.

Today, Raycast Northwest provides everything from dial-up and DSL high-speed Internet connections to high-end Web development, secure Internet systems, Web hosting for businesses and nonprofits, and e-commerce solutions for those who want to market on the Internet.

Among the Web sites hosted by the firm are the Tulalip Tribes, Workforce Development, Marysville Floor & Tile, Arnold Arms of Arlington, The Jim Lambright Medical Research Foundation and the fund-raising site for the Washington State Law Enforcement Memorial Foundation.

Alexander, a Cascade High School graduate, spent six years as a Navy nuclear technician, worked for Snohomish County government and later Microsoft, as a network administrator and lab manager. He left there when he saw Internet service providers starting up in the Seattle area in the mid-1990s and “wanted to follow the craze.”

“I saw lots of them fail quickly, not because they didn’t have a good customer base but because they grew faster than they could support the business,” he said.

Alexander has avoided that mistake by carefully planning his business and growing slowly, first with Internet service, then by setting up office computer networks and providing Web commerce services, including marketing plans and protective firewalls.

“I started getting referrals from outside the county, so I changed the name to Northwest Net. Then, as our Web design and hosting grew, I merged a couple of years ago with Raycast Web Solutions,” he said, joining forces with Raycast owner Boyd Bryant to form Raycast Northwest, with Bryant as President of the company and Alexander listed as the founder.

With seven people employed at the company, Raycast Northwest is now the largest Web developer north of Seattle.

“We build a lot of new Web sites, but we also rebuild sites created by other companies or by someone’s spouse’s brother who knows a high school student who does sites. Or, they had one built and then no one kept it up,” Alexander said.

He’s creative about marketing his own business, too. In addition to his own Web site, Alexander will soon be distributing examples of his services and Web-site work on CD-ROM disks, mini-CDs and business-card-size disks that present information about his business, plus a direct link to his Web site.

“They’re eye-candy, complete with video segments. People like them. We’ll be doing these for customers, too,” he said.

As for his success, Alexander said, “Integrity is huge in this business, that’s how we’ve survived and grown. Our focus is on exceeding our customers’ expectations and always being honest.”

One of Alexander’s favorite projects is the fund-raising Web site for the Washington State Law Enforcement Memorial Foundation.

“They were having trouble finding ways to illustrate the project, so we took blueprints of the memorial plans and samples of the marble they’ll use and created a three-dimensional model and video that is helping them raise funds,” he said. The memorial site is at www. wslem.com.

More information about Raycast Northwest is available by calling Alexander at 425-337-1100, sending e-mail to dalexander@raycast.net or visiting the firm’s Web site, www.raycast.net.

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