SmithBucklin, based in Chicago, is an association management company, founded in 1949 with secondary offices in Washington, D.C.; Old Lyme, Conn.; St. Louis; and San Ramon, Calif. William E. Smith started the company with nine client organizations—headlined by the Popcorn, Seed Pea and Frozen Potato Products Institutes—and just 22 employees. On July 24, 2004, Smith died at age 90. During the Dot-com bubble of 1997-2001, some of SmithBucklin's client associations encountered "painful" financial cutbacks. On June 29, 2005, the company became employee-owned.