Digging Into the Zurka Archives

In 1995, Zurka Interactive was founded with the belief that the power of technology could benefit everyone when married with thoughtful and intuitive design. While this idea occurred more than 20 years ago, it has remained an integral part of our DNA.

Having built websites for a computer research group starting in 1993, the founder of Zurka was already a big believer in the power of the web but the early years were filled with a variety of projects: CD-ROMs, databased designs, user interfaces for enterprise software, laptop based sales presentations and more.

Zurka

Verb
To search for the solution that lies beyond satisfying the basic requirements.

Noun
1. The pride derived from helping others achieve a lofty goal.
2. An Amish word for a technology or innovation so powerful as to warrant a ban in the community.
3. When the result that was difficult to uncover is so spot-on it seems obvious after the fact.

As the '90s, progressed more organizations saw the vast potential online for, well, everything. Zurka's work with a DC-area venture capital firm introduced us to a number of startups. In one case, we worked with a client to do our part as the client grew from a 12-person company in dingy offices to a publicly traded company with over 100 employees. All that in less than two years.

Today, our work has expanded beyond the tools and technology from our origin. Web development — which is more sophisticated and complex than ever — is just part of the work we do. Zurka provides a wide array of IT expertise including system administration, cyber-security and program management.

But where did the name come from? That’s a question that comes up once in awhile. Much like Xerox or Kodak, Zurka wasn’t named after anything in particular. Sure, it’s distinctive, and the pronunciation has some energy to it, but our goal from the very beginning was to have the quality of our work build the definition over the long term.