Spartan Systems, a Chattanooga-based software and application development company, announced the hiring of another leader from Chattanooga’s technology community. Aaron Hoffman has been hired as Spartan’s new director of user experience. Mr. Hoffman is known throughout the interactive industry as a pioneer of web-based animation with the series called Joni Nitro in 1999. The series was recently named by CNN as one of six “Milestones of the Internet."
"The more I learned about Spartan the more I wanted to work here,” said Mr. Hoffman. “Their talent and expertise in the interactive industry is top notch and their passion for emerging technologies is the perfect environment in which I want to make a difference."
After co-founding Tubatomic Studio in Kansas, Mr. Hoffman and his business partner moved the company to Chattanooga in 2000 where he has been a visionary in the technological renaissance of the city. In 2005, Mr, Hoffman helped bring a worldwide web competition to Chattanooga, Create24, which helped attract some of the city’s most prolific tech and design leaders including Leslie Jensen-Inman, founder of Chattanooga-based Center Centre, and her husband Shaun Inman.
“I am very grateful that Aaron and his team put together Create24 in 2005," said Ms. Jensen-Inman, reflecting on her first trip to Chattanooga. "It was the perfect introduction to the city and we would not be here if we had not been invited to be a part of that event.”
Throughout his career, Mr. Hoffman has worked for national and international clients including Turner Broadcasting, Intercontinental Hotels, HGTV, Food Network and CBS Radio. Most recently, Mr. Hoffman was the director of marketing at Nudge, a company that aggregates health data across digital platforms to measure a healthy lifestyle, where he spent his time crafting the interactive strategy and refining the user experience of Nudge’s application.
“Aaron's unique expertise and dedication to creating engaging digital experiences are rare qualities that we had to harness within Spartan," said founder of Spartan Systems, Ben Wald. "We are blessed to have Aaron bringing his skills to our clients' projects."
This marks the second major hiring announcement from Spartan leaders after engaging Sheldon Grizzle, co-founder of The Company Lab and Blank Slate Ventures, to head up the newly-formed Spartan Ventures.
“It’s amazing that we have been able to partner with experts like Aaron and Sheldon because we are always looking for people with meaningful experience in the interactive world,” said Jesse Morris, president of Spartan Systems. “The addition of them to our team makes Spartan stronger, and also brings enormous value to our portfolio companies and clients.”