This article describes the development of interactive text message applications at the University of North Carolina Wilmington. We describe how the university's information technology innovation program led to the formation of a faculty owned company in which the university holds an equity interest. Next, we discuss the collaborative development of short message service (SMS) applications for the university community. We also describe the interactive SMS applications we have developed thus far, which range from simple data access applications to a novel discovery game designed for the first-year experience.