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About Us
About IMPACTThe IMPACT database was written by Stewart Meyers in Spring 2001 using Microsoft Access. It was originally designed for nonprofit organizations that desire to manage membership, raise funds, and track various activities.
IMPACT was first written for Nearby Nature, a nonprofit organization based out of Alton Baker Park in Eugene, Oregon. However, Stew quickly realized the widespread need for an affordable, yet comprehensive database to support the information needs of small- to medium-sized nonprofit, as well as of for-profit, membership organizations.
In a relatively short period of time, Stewart generalized IMPACT to provide a modularized, well-documented, and user-friendly application that is now a mature and well-respected software system. Shortly thereafter, IMPACT was purchased by several more organizations.
Stewart grew up in the main-frame world, designing custom applications for small- to medium-sized businesses. As a result, IMPACT is infused with old school integrity that comes from years of experience in the accounting and business world. It contains security, audit trails, editing, and balancing mechanisms to ensure the integrity of your data. It is clearly and consistently designed, and makes good use of colors, formatting, and white space. IMPACT uses built-in Microsoft features and extensive edit checks to ensure that the values you enter are as correct as possible.
IMPACT is the "new kid on the block," but I challenge you to find a better application for the money!
About Stewart Meyers and SDSProfessionally, Stewart 'Stew' is a data processing consultant specializing in accounting systems for the healthcare, timber, and utility industries.
Stewart has a degree in Mathematics and Computer Science from the University of Oregon. While there, he was a consultant at the Statistical Laboratory and Computing Center. From 1968 -- 1973, he was Data Processing Manager at Sacred Heart General Hospital in Eugene. From 1973 -- 1976, he was a System Services Manager and Regional Hospital Specialist with NCR Corporation in Eugene, OR and Seattle, WA. He then became an independent consultant, specializing in the medical, timber, and utility industries.
Stewart has substantial mainframe experience on IBM, HP, and NCR computers using a variety of operating systems and languages including Assembly, FORTRAN, COBOL, ALGOL, PL/I, RPG, BASIC, PASCAL, and another dozen specialized languages that you have probably never heard of. Over the last 10 years, he has specialized in writing custom applications for small businesses using PCs, Microsoft Access, and the underlying computer language, Visual Basic.
He has analyzed, designed, programmed, documented, and implemented nearly every standard mainstream business application from the ground up, including accounts receivable, accounts payable, inventory, payroll, job cost, general ledger, financial reporting, budgeting, cash receipts, and a sizeable number of more specialized applications. He's even worked on a pigeon tracking system.
Writing and editing is Stew's second profession. He taught technical writing at Lane Community College in Eugene, Oregon, was a copy editor for two environmental newsletters, and has published multiple articles in various publications, including NEWS 3X/400 magazine, Midrange Computing, and Veggie Life. For two years, he was a contributing editor of NEWS 3X/400 magazine, an international publication that targets midrange IBM systems. Stew's pet peeve is poor user documentation He has written the IMPACT documentation in a friendly, easily accessible, and easy-to-understand style.
Stewart's avocation is food, cooking, and entertaining. He and his wife Kassia ran the Tuscany Inn, a bed and breakfast, for over four years, While there, Stew pursued and honed his cooking skills to the delight of their relatives, friends, and guests. He enjoys serving strange and exotic greens, fruits, vegetables, and other foods that are unusual or relatively unknown. He has recently self-published a cookbook entitled "Off the Beaten Palate, Recipes from the Tuscany Inn." (To purchase over 160 pages of culinary fun and adventure, send $16.95, plus $3.00 postage and handling to Stew in care of SDS.)
Stew's spiritual source is Nature; he loves the outdoors. He has been an avid backpacker for over 30 years and has hiked all over the Pacific Northwest. He has backpacked across the Olympic Mountains of Washington, the Oregon section of the Pacific Crest Trail, and climbed several Northwest mountain peaks. He has been a passionate wild food forager for the last 20 years and a devout mushroom hunter for the last 35 years.
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A Testimonial from Elizabeth Lyon
"I am especially indebted to Stew Meyers, not only for his years of friendship but also for IMPACT, the Access-based database he created for nonprofits but willingly adapted with hundreds of lines of code to accommodate this directory. Few people, friends or not, would walk the extra mile, and he walked on water."
-Elizabeth Lyon
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