Digital Scholarship and Initiatives

Brief profile of Tom Godwin, who established a company called Complexity Simplified to provide data-entry services and switchboard operators for the Federal Center in Lakewood, Colorado. Another branch of his company provides computer training for a wide range of customers. The branch of Complexity Simplified about which he is most passionate is BASvan (Buyer and Supplier Value Added Network), which he, his wife Ruth, and one other employee run from the basement of his home. BASvan is a Web-based service, costing $1.00 a day (most companies subscribe for a year), which links larger companies and government agencies to minority- and women-owned businesses. BASvan also offers online instruction and chat rooms for beginning entrepreneurs needing to learn about exporting, proposal writing, and joint ventures. Godwin helped establish the Colorado Indian Chamber of Commerce in 1989. He also, in 1989, convinced the state's Indian, Black, women's, Asian, and Hispanic chambers of commerce to unite as the Minority and Women Chambers' Coalition, which he headed until June, 1996.