They both grew up in the suburbs of Chicago and met in high school. When Barrett Lombardo and Andy Crestodina graduated, they headed off to the University of Iowa together.
They shared a dorm room and one of those boxy Macintosh computers. It was the early 1990s. Most people didn’t have a computer of their own. It was the age of the “computer lab” where you waited your turn to write your paper and spell check was a program you ran when you finished.
There were no classes in digital anything. Barrett got an art degree. Andy majored in Mandarin. They went very separate ways after college (Indianapolis and Beijing) but kept in touch and when they both landed back in the Chicago area, they started making things together: interactive comics, mostly using Macromedia Flash. Soon, Barrett got a job as a web developer and a few years later, Andy quit his job as an IT recruiter to join him. In 2001, Orbit Media was born. And they never looked back.
During the next 20 years of gradual organic growth, Orbit has made the founders’ parents proud.
- One of the first certified B-corps in Illinois
- 3x Inc 5000 winner
- Clutch Top 1000 B2B Service Provider
- 40+ industry awards
Today, Orbit is a team of over 40 experts with a stellar reputation for web development in Chicago, and a world-wide reputation for its SEO, Analytics and content strategy blog. The site attracts a million and a half visitors per year, which is a lot for a little local web shop.
Orbit is also known for its events. The Content Jam marketing conference is the largest content marketing conference in Chicago. And the monthly Wine & Web event is celebrating its 11th year.
Strangers find Orbit by searching Google. But friends hear about it from friends. Ask anyone in Chicago who they trust for web design and development and Orbit is a name you’re likely to hear.
