by Dan Morris-Young
Bellingham, Wash., is a lively Pacific Northwest sea port located a hop, skip and jump from the Canadian border as well as the bucolic site of Western Washington University.
It is reportedly now also home to the world's largest producer of scriptural software, Logos Bible Software.
"The Christian community has always been out in the front of getting stuff onto new technology platforms," said Bob Pritchett, the 40-year-old president and CEO of Logos, in a Sunday feature in The Seattle Times by Eric Lacitis. "There was the Gutenberg Bible [around 1450]. When radio was introduced, you had people preaching on radio the next week."
Logos was launched in 1991 by Pritchett and Kiernon Reiniger. Both Microsoft employees, the pair met at Overlake Christian Church in Redmond, a suburb of Seattle. Reiniger left Logos in 1998 to join a dot-com.
Logos recorded sales of $35 million last year and now employs 250 people.
"The software is chock-full of enticements for techies. For example, it shows you the original Greek or Hebrew in which the text was written, complete with audio on how to pronounce those ancient words. And it zooms in on maps and photos of historical sites," Lacitis wrote.
Pastors account for a fifth of sales while individuals' purchases add up to two-thirds of Logos' revenues.
Michael Haverluck, Logos' senior media relations specialist, vouches for the accuracy of the Times' feature, which can be found here.
