What began as a senior project at Plymouth State is now a successful Internet business. Two cousins who grew up in the Lakes Region now run HomeworkNOW.com, which is used by more than 1,000 schools throughout the United States. Nick Rago, who graduated in 1998 with a computer science degree, and his cousin, Patrick Capone, who graduated in 1996 with a degree in elementary education, own the business.
The two were roommates at PSU and Capone, during his senior year, was student teaching at Campton Elementary School. He mentioned to Rago what a help it would be to have a computer program that would allow him to post homework assignments, class notes, etc. that would always be available for his students. The two began working to create the software.
Rago’s advisor, Dr. Zhizhang Shen, professor of computer science, encouraged him to create the program as a senior project. “He really pushed me to make the best possible program I could. That’s one of the things I found great about Plymouth—I was doing a senior project I was already invested in,” notes Rago.
The project wasn’t an immediate success. Both held other jobs while running the Web site part time. Capone left teaching and worked in the telecommunications industry. He eventually went back to Plymouth to earn his MBA. Slowly they’ve developed the business to the point where the two of them run the company, located in Stratham, N.H.
They’ve relied on large companies like Verizon, Sprint, OpenTV and Comcast to fund much of their expansion. They are currently in a private fund-raising effort that, within the next year, will allow the site’s content to be available over interactive television.
“We see the advantage of having the site’s K-12 information network available on a number of different media, not just the desktop,” Rago says. The content is also currently accessible through mobile devices such as cell phones and PDAs.
HomeworkNOW.com gives teachers and schools the ability to post their homework, classroom activities, announcements, notes, files, references, extra-credit assignments, images, important dates and much more on the Internet.
Their business model calls for larger businesses like Verizon to provide the revenue, while they keep the costs to schools very low. Rago points out that by keeping the costs down, the decision to use the program can be made at the level of the individual school, adding, “It costs schools just $175 to become part of the network and use the site. It’s free for students, parents and teachers.” -Terry Rayno
