Web services nonprofit FortNet to shut down June 1
FORT COLLINS — FortNet, a local nonprofit organization that for two decades provided free web hosting and maintenance for other nonprofits in Larimer County, will shut down on June 1.
As the Internet grew and the services FortNet provided became cheaper, its value to nonprofits in the community diminished over time, executive director Dave Colliton said in a phone interview Friday.
The nonprofit had been winding down its web services over the last two years, cutting loose its last site three months ago. Founded in 1993, the nonprofit built, hosted and/or maintained sites for 350 local schools, clubs and other organizations over the years, with a peak of 100 at any one time.
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“It just got so easy for people to find and afford web hosting someplace else instead of our volunteers,” Colliton said.
Also an Internet service provider at one point, the only thing FortNet is operating now is its website. The purpose of the site over the years, Colliton said, has been to serve as a resource of community information and directories of everything from local nonprofits to schools to churches to businesses to recreational opportunities.
“These days, people just Google that on their cell phone, and maintaining that just ended up being a lot of effort,” Colliton said. “Most people weren’t interested in taking advantage of that anymore.”
FortNet got its funding through donations and early on received boosts from grants and support from Hewlett-Packard and the local United Way. Colliton took over as executive director 15 years ago but for the last two has been running the organization as a volunteer rather than a salaried employee.
Colliton, who is also an investment adviser, said he’ll devote more time to that role once FortNet is wound down completely.
