== Background ==

BitWise Fellows is an extremely selective web design firm based in Carmel, IN for high school students that builds websites for mid to low budget web and graphics design projects. Led by current President Joshua Cunningham, BitWise Fellows has completed a variety of web projects since its March 2007 inception. The firm's website has undergone several iterations and will continue to evolve as the staff changes annually. Employment is open only to high school students, and thus BitWise Fellows is constantly hiring replacements for positions that have been vacated by graduates.

As seniors comprising the first generation of BitWise Fellows (2007-2008) graduate, they will remain connected to the program via an alumni network that functions as both a coaching and networking medium for future employees and alums.

Concept

The initial concept of BitWise Fellows resulted from BitWise Solutions CEO Ron Brumbarger's idea for the creation of a program to encourage young entrepreneurship as well as a firm to take on projects that were too small to be assumed by BitWise Solutions. Instead of having to turn away projects with scopes that were not large enough for BitWise Solutions to allocate resources to taking on, the project would be referred to BitWise Fellows, which has a much lower operating cost and thus can more easily assume it.

Above all, Brumbarger envisioned BitWise Fellows as an opportunity for highly skilled high school students to capitalize and develop their skills in web design, development, marketing, and management.<ref>http://bitwisefellows.com/</ref> BitWise Fellows has been featured in Inside Indiana Business and the Indianapolis Star as a concept that has positive implications for high-school age students and be applied to other industries as well. The firm works with Hamilton County Alliance and other programs that promote young entrepreneurship.

Current Employees

President: Joshua Cunningham (11) <br />
Senior Project Manager: John Shi (grad) <br />
Marketing Manager: Sarah Cunningham (10) <br />
Project Manager: Michael Ratliff (12) <br />
Web Designer: Jameal Ghaznawi (grad) <br />
Web Developer: Jeff Sites (grad) <br />
Web Developer: Josh Kimpel (grad) <br />