Mark and Dottie Oman recently celebrated the 10-year anniversary of their local business, Prairie IT. The Haxtun based information technology company marked the April milestone with a celebration with local employees.

Prairie IT is an information technology company that specializes in software that makes computers more useful. Mark said the company provides software on USB drives that makes old computers like new and does photo back up for phones and computers.

"When we started in April 2012 our main goal was to have a family technology business in Haxtun," Mark said. "We began with the idea of being a rural IT outsourcing company."

Over the past 10 years, Prairie IT has transitioned into a consumer focused technology business. "We have sold millions of our Xtra-pc and ThePhotoStick products to customers in over 100 countries," Mark added. "We have grown from a smaller northeast Colorado operation to a global provider of our products with employees in many states and cities and in four countries."

Today, Prairie IT employs about 50 people in Haxtun, Holyoke, Sterling, Fort Collins, Littleton, Colorado Springs, Sidney, Neb., Florida, California, Oregon and North Carolina as well as three additional counties.

Prairie IT headquarters is located at 146 North Colorado Avenue in Haxtun. The Oman's purchased and remodeled the building to include office space as well as a conference room.

Additionally, Prairie IT also includes the building at 129 North Colorado Avenue, space that once housed the American Legion. Oman said the building has been completely renovated, both up and downstairs along with the exterior, to now include a warehouse and order fulfillment center. The second location also includes the shipping department, office space and software duplication process areas.

"We have created a tech company in Haxtun that provides high tech jobs serving customers in virtually all countries," said Mark. "We value being a part of Haxtun. Haxtun people are a real asset for us. We appreciate all of the people that have worked for us and that currently work for us."