Student's Web Design Startup Helps Local Businesses in Pandemic

When the COVID-19 pandemic put an indefinite pause to how local bricks-and-mortar businesses serve their communities, an NJIT student and his friends stepped in to help small companies take the concept of shopping local online.

Franklin Tan said his website development business, Tartan Technologies, formed in 2018 and became much busier as small businesses, many of which never even had a website, needed to quickly catch up to the times with online storefronts because regular customers could no longer shop in person.

Tan, a business information systems major from Summit, grew up in Roselle Park and attended Union County Magnet High School before joining NJIT. He and his team of current and recently-graduated college students started Tartan as a way to be more engaged in the industry they were studying, apply their education to help other businesses, improve their skill sets and earn money, something in short supply for many college students.

The company’s mission is reflected in its name, Tan explained. For more than 300 years, small merchant ships called tartans plied the Mediterranean delivering goods and services to coastal European towns, helping those small businesses and communities grow. Tan said he sees a parallel between the ocean-faring tartans and the role his business plays.

“We grew up in New Jersey communities like the ones we help our clients reach, so we know just how important our clients are to the vibrancy and economic health of local towns,” Tan said. “We are passionate about being part of our local downtowns through our work and are proud to help navigate them to success. It is work that Tartan has always done, but the urgency and the need were definitely heightened with the pandemic.”

“Even as life slowly returns to normal, our clients now see the value of having a well-designed and managed website,” said co-founder Kush Amin, a Rutgers University student in economics and mathematics.

“Ying Wu students are a hardworking and talented group, with many looking outside of the classroom for opportunities to put their skills to good use and make a difference,” said Craig Gotsman, dean of the college. “Franklin embodies that Ying Wu entrepreneurial spirit. With the pandemic putting so many local businesses at risk, I commend him and his partners for using their expertise to help those important community resources stay open and accessible.”

Tan will graduate with his bachelor’s degree from NJIT after the fall 2021 semester. Amin is graduating from Rutgers this May.

Christiene Darquea, of Brigham Young University, Emily Warshowsky, of Tulane, and Allison Freese of Fashion Institute of Technology round out Tartan's team.