01
Listen First
Every project starts with understanding your business: your workflows, your pain points, and what success looks like for you. We don't pitch generic solutions. We listen, learn, and then design something that fits.
About
Sky Forward Design
Always Onward & Upward
Helping small businesses modernize their technology with practical, high-quality custom solutions.
- Founded
- 2024
- Based in
- Westbrook, Maine
Our story
Our name reflects what we believe in: a growth mindset. Sky Forward means always looking onward and upward. For our clients, for our craft, and for the community we serve.
Sky Forward Design was founded in Westbrook, Maine with a simple observation: small businesses deserve the same caliber of custom software that large enterprises take for granted. For too long, bespoke solutions were out of reach for local companies. The cost of custom development just didn't make sense at that scale.
That equation has changed. Advances in AI-assisted development have made it practical to build tailored, high-quality applications at a fraction of what they used to cost. We started Sky Forward Design to bring that opportunity to the businesses that need it most: the small businesses that are ready to modernize but have been stuck with off-the-shelf tools or aging legacy systems.
How we work
Listen First. Build Smart. Quality Obsessed.
The result is technology that works the way you need it to.
02
Build Smart
We use AI-assisted development tools to work efficiently without cutting corners. This means you get production-quality custom software at a cost that actually makes sense for a growing business.
03
Quality Obsessed
With deep roots in quality assurance and software testing, we approach every project with a QA-first mindset. Reliability and attention to detail are built into our process from day one.
Why Sky Forward
What sets us apart
Local & Invested
Based in Westbrook, Maine. We're part of the community we serve and genuinely invested in our neighbors' success.
Direct Access
You work directly with the engineer building your solution. No layers of project managers or account reps between you and progress.
Practical Costs
Custom software is no longer a luxury. Modern development approaches keep costs practical without compromising on quality.
Proven Results
Our first major client engagement, a complete enterprise modernization for The Maine Tour Connection, has delivered measurable results from day one.
See the case study
Meet the team
The people behind Sky Forward
Sky Forward Design is growing carefully. We're bringing together experienced engineers who share a commitment to practical solutions, technical quality, and client success.
Westbrook, Maine01
Mark Westover
Founder & Lead Engineer
Mark brings over 15 years of experience spanning quality assurance, software engineering, and engineering leadership. He holds a degree in Industrial & Systems Engineering from the University of Rhode Island and built his career at organizations ranging from defense systems integrators to enterprise software companies like Kepware Technologies and Garmin.
After rising to a senior director role managing a department of 30 engineers, Mark made a deliberate choice to return to hands-on development which was the work that energized him most. He founded Sky Forward Design to combine his deep technical skills with his passion for understanding what businesses actually need and delivering solutions that make a real difference.
When he's not writing code, Mark is coaching his son's flag football team, building hockey rinks in the woods behind the house, reading Harry Potter with his boys, or hitting the trails with his family. He's a builder at heart whether it's software, custom PCs, or backyard rinks.
Gorham, Maine02
Aaron McCollough
Co-Founder & Head of Vision
Aaron brings over 17 years of experience in full-stack software engineering, from embedded C and large-scale C++ to test automation and web frontend, and now AI-native development. He holds a BS in Electrical & Computer Engineering and an MS in Computer Engineering, both from the University of Maine in Orono. During his 11-year tenure on the Kepware industrial-connectivity platform, he rose from entry-level engineer to Principal Software Engineer on the Architecture Team, with two years as a Technical Product Manager along the way.
As Co-Founder & Head of Vision, Aaron is the team's big-picture thinker, mapping out where Sky Forward is headed and what's newly possible with the rapid advances in AI tools. He's known for turning work scoped in months into weeks, and he brings that force-multiplier mindset to everything he does, complementing Mark's engineering and quality depth. For Aaron, Sky Forward is an opportunity to build great things with great people and turn ideas into reality faster than ever before.
Aaron lives in Gorham, Maine, with his wife Morgan and their three young kids: Theo, Desi, and Lily. A lifelong tinkerer and creative-software hobbyist, he's an avid runner and hiker, serious about fitness, longevity, and healthy living. He's a lifelong learner, often found bingeing audiobooks at 2x speed. He brings the same question to work and to life: what do we really want to build, and how can we get from here to there?
Get in touch
Let's build something.
Ready to modernize your application or start a new project? Let's talk.
Always Onward & Upward