Jamie Smyth formed the Smyth Group in 2005 when he moved from New York to his home state of Louisiana to volunteer his time and software development talents in the relief effort following Hurricane Katrina. Jamie there met other software developers from other parts of the country who had also moved to Louisiana to volunteer All of these volunteer software developers needed a way to also make a living while volunteering with the relief effort. Jamie started The Smyth Group in response to this need.

The Smyth Group was initially formed to create an environment wherein professional software developers who were volunteering portions of their time to relief work could also work on secular projects in order to support themselves. Jamie provided much of the administration and management of the projects and the other software developers worked part time on a consulting basis to fulfill the requirement of the project. This allowed Jamie and the other developers to continue their volunteer work and also support themselves financially.

In 2008, when Hurricane Katrina relief work ended, The Smyth Group was reorganized and moved to full time work schedule. That same year, The Smyth Group started developing iPhone applications and started a project called “SnapDaddy Radio” where radio stations can stream their broadcasts directly to iPhone users. They are proud to say that LSU’s radio station, KLSU, was the first radio station on SnapDaddy Radio. The Smyth Group went on to partner with LSU, South Eastern Louisiana University and some 100 other stations to put their radio stations on the iPhone and Android.

The Smyth Group continues to participate fully in the mobile app development community by sponsoring user groups, hosting seminars, speaking at conferences, writing articles, and mentoring interns.