About FM Net Design

Butch Fralia and Sharon Mastbrook founded FM Net Design to help small to medium business, and non-profit organizations realize their internet presence.  Sharon works full time in the insurance industry and still finds time to provide creative assistance for FM Net Design.

Between the two of us, we've worked in industry for something like 60 years.  We've accumulated a lot of experience in information technology and other areas that we'd like to share with you.  We offer website design, redesign, maintenance and technical support services.  We want to be your working partner and let the work we've done inside large companies benefit small to medium businesses and non-profit organizations.  We offer competitive rates and high business ethics.  We firmly believe you should get what you're paying for.  

Please feel free to contact me at any time.  E-mailing bfralia@fmnetdesign.com is usually the best way but you can also call at 817-346-2039 (H) or 817-229-7693 (C).  Sorry about not providing an address but I work from home and don't have a store front.

It doesn't cost anything to talk so let's get together and see what FM Net Design can do for you.

Business Objective

Website design, development, implementation, maintenance, and technical support services for small to medium businesses and non-profit organizations.  We want to share our experience and skill with people who can use it the most.  Our goal is to give our customers what they request at a reasonable price. 

Butch Fralia - Summary of Professional Experience

Joined Information Technology full time in 1988 with experience concentrated in database administration, program/system design, project management, website management and application programming.

Before joining Information Technology, I enjoyed twenty-five years experience in various functions of the electronics field including Repair/Service/Design Technician, Supervising Technician, Design Engineer and Manufacturing Engineering Group Manager.  I began programming in the mid-1970's.

Butch Fralia - Companies I've Worked For

  Central Industrial Supply
  Anderson Consulting (now Accentuate)
  Halliburton Oil Field Services
  Gearhart Industries
  R-Tec - Reliance Telecommunications
  Harris Intertype
  Texas Instruments
  United States Navy

Butch Fralia - Personal Interests

Cave Exploration - I'm became involved with caving in 1985.  I currently serve on the Board of Directors of the Texas Speleological Survey a non-profit corporation that maintains records of Texas caves.  I maintain the electronic database and electronic files as well as the website.  I'm a charter member of The Maverick Grotto, the local caving club of Fort Worth and Tarrant County.  My only regret is that I didn't start younger, I was 39 when I made my first contact with cavers and became involved.

GIS - working with GPS and Mapping Software.  It's a great benefit to find a place and be able to get back to it.  The applications are endless, finding that obscure deer blind on a hunting lease.  Knowing you're where you intended to be.  Applied to caves, being able to retain locations may be the difference between relocating one which was explored years before or knowing you're made a new discovery.  It's interesting to note that when I'm in the boondocks and set out to explore the area, I mark the location of my vehicle.  I've probably spent more time looking for where I parked the vehicle than surveying the original search area.  I work with new GPS users to help them get maximum benefit from their investment in the shortest time.  As a TSS board member I was instrumental in getting a grant from ESRI for the ArcView GIS Software.

History - as it crosses my path.  I'm currently involved in researching the route of a Cedar Railroad (The Scholten Railroad) that ran between Lometa, TX and what's now Colorado Bend State Park (Map).  The railroad ran from about 1912 until 1920.  Evidence of the old roadbed still exists in the area.  Use of a GPS receiver and mapping software is helping retrace the railroad.  Mainly I'm more interested in the history that doesn't make the mainstream history books.  I'm involved with a cave that has human bones from the prehistory period > 2000 years old.  This involves maintaining cave exploration while leaving the bone deposits undisturbed.

Photography - while not a great photographer (I'll never be on a list with Ansel Adams) I've tried to document my adventures and experiences over the years.  I'm in the process of going back through years of negatives and scanning them into an electronic format, useful for websites and presentations.  These days I use digital still and video cameras.  Video can be a lot of fun, especially when edited into something folks might be interested in watching.  Video editing takes a great deal of time but the finished product is personally rewarding.

State Park Volunteerism - I've been involved with Texas State Parks as a volunteer since 1987.  This has mostly been cave inventory related projects but also low impact trail identification and other projects opening areas to park visitors while maintaining a primitive environment (no development).