Ibcatalyst adds news, more to users’ sites

Spokane businessman Greg Green has launched a company to provide Web content to business sites wanting to retain visitors.

The new company, Tahoe, has been added to the Web site for Green’s area business publication, www.ibcatalyst.com. A portion of the main page will provide changing links to news, weather, stocks and sports.

Potential customers who would license content through Tahoe would be banks, service organizations and nonprofits, Green said.

Green is a telecom company veteran who recently took on publishing two area magazines, Inland Business Catalyst and Prime. Before that he was president of OneEighty Networks, a local telecommunications provider. OneEighty was sold to other companies, including South Dakota-based OrbitCom.

“Tahoe is designed to help a company’s Web site become more sticky,” said Green, meaning that it has enough news or content to keep visitors longer.

Tahoe has established a licensing agreement with UPI, an established news provider, to use its stories and photos. The company also is looking to obtain news feeds from area TV stations, Green said.

He said one early adopter of the Tahoe content module is the Spokane Valley Chamber of Commerce. Two banks also are lined up to test the service.

Sirti startup adviser John Overby has looked over Tahoe’s business plan and said he sees Green doing the right thing. “This is a good example of how to bootstrap a new company,” Overby said.

In a bootstrapping startup, the company offers an early customer to test the product, offer review and help refine the results, Overby explained. Then the company goes to the next customer and continues the refinements.

That effort gradually improves the Web service offered by Tahoe and leads to a product that gains paying customers.

Tahoe has a staff of four, Green said. A full-fledged marketing effort will start in January, said Chad Hutson, president of Vivo Publications, the parent of ibcatalyst.com.