Retailing on the Internet isn't as simple as putting up a website and buying a few Adwords anymore. That's the mindset of the two friends behind Grand River Interactive.

Scott Robertson and Steve Thallman started Grand River, their second Internet venture together, last October with the idea that web-based consumers have matured and now shop at websites whose evolution reflects that maturity.

Grand River specializes in taking e-commerce sites for retailers and manufactures to that next level of Internet consumerism. They do this by pairing companies (Mercy Health Partners, Midwest Wireless and Gander Mountain to name a few) with open-source technology that will help facilitate the online shopping experience.

Right now the company is made up of four people and a stable of contractors that handle the firm's six clients. Robertson wants the company to stick to 10 to 12 projects a year from 8 to 10 clients. But he sees the company's employee base doubling a couple of times until it grows to about 25 to 50 people within the next 2 to 3 years. Those new jobs will all be based in Ann Arbor.

"Ann Arbor just really offers us a great opportunity from a resources perspective," Robertson says. "The people here are wildly talented."

Source: Scott Robertson, partner of Grand River Interactive
Writer: Jon Zemke