diff --git a/client/app.js b/client/app.jsx
similarity index 100%
rename from client/app.js
rename to client/app.jsx
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index df04c7fc..8e3bd71b 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -7,12 +7,14 @@
     "test": "mocha --recursive",
     "test-all": "mocha --recursive",
     "start": "node index.js",
-    "start-dev": "nodemon index.js",
+    "start-dev": "nodemon server/index.js",
     "lint": "eslint .",
     "fix": "eslint . --fix",
     "precommit": "eslint .",
     "babel": "babel",
     "build-dev": "webpack --config webpack.dev.js",
+    "build-dev-client": "webpack --config webpack.dev.client.js",
+    "build-dev-server": "webpack --config webpack.dev.server.js",
     "build": "webpack --config webpack.prod.js"
   },
   "repository": {
diff --git a/server.js b/server.js
deleted file mode 100644
index d5f772b4..00000000
--- a/server.js
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,98 +0,0 @@
-// app dependencies
-const express = require('express');
-const bodyParser = require('body-parser');
-const expressHandlebars = require('express-handlebars');
-const Handlebars = require('handlebars');
-const helmet = require('helmet');
-const passport = require('passport');
-const { serializeSpeechUser, deserializeSpeechUser } = require('./server/helpers/authHelpers.js');
-const cookieSession = require('cookie-session');
-const http = require('http');
-// logging dependencies
-const logger = require('winston');
-
-function SpeechServer () {
-  this.configureMysql = (mysqlConfig) => {
-    require('./config/mysqlConfig.js').configure(mysqlConfig);
-  };
-  this.configureSite = (siteConfig) => {
-    require('./config/siteConfig.js').configure(siteConfig);
-    this.sessionKey = siteConfig.auth.sessionKey;
-    this.PORT = siteConfig.details.port;
-  };
-  this.configureSlack = (slackConfig) => {
-    require('./config/slackConfig.js').configure(slackConfig);
-  };
-  this.createApp = () => {
-    // create an Express application
-    const app = express();
-
-    // trust the proxy to get ip address for us
-    app.enable('trust proxy');
-
-    // add middleware
-    app.use(helmet()); // set HTTP headers to protect against well-known web vulnerabilties
-    app.use(express.static(`${__dirname}/public`)); // 'express.static' to serve static files from public directory
-    app.use(bodyParser.json()); // 'body parser' for parsing application/json
-    app.use(bodyParser.urlencoded({ extended: true })); // 'body parser' for parsing application/x-www-form-urlencoded
-    app.use((req, res, next) => {  // custom logging middleware to log all incoming http requests
-      logger.verbose(`Request on ${req.originalUrl} from ${req.ip}`);
-      next();
-    });
-
-    // configure passport
-    passport.serializeUser(serializeSpeechUser);
-    passport.deserializeUser(deserializeSpeechUser);
-    const localSignupStrategy = require('./server/passport/local-signup.js');
-    const localLoginStrategy = require('./server/passport/local-login.js');
-    passport.use('local-signup', localSignupStrategy);
-    passport.use('local-login', localLoginStrategy);
-    // initialize passport
-    app.use(cookieSession({
-      name  : 'session',
-      keys  : [this.sessionKey],
-      maxAge: 24 * 60 * 60 * 1000, // i.e. 24 hours
-    }));
-    app.use(passport.initialize());
-    app.use(passport.session());
-
-    // configure handlebars & register it with express app
-    const hbs = expressHandlebars.create({
-      defaultLayout: 'embed',
-      handlebars   : Handlebars,
-    });
-    app.engine('handlebars', hbs.engine);
-    app.set('view engine', 'handlebars');
-
-    // set the routes on the app
-    require('./server/routes/auth-routes.js')(app);
-    require('./server/routes/api-routes.js')(app);
-    require('./server/routes/page-routes.js')(app);
-    require('./server/routes/asset-routes.js')(app);
-    require('./server/routes/fallback-routes.js')(app);
-
-    this.app = app;
-  };
-  this.initialize = () => {
-    require('./server/helpers/configureLogger.js')(logger);
-    require('./server/helpers/configureSlack.js')(logger);
-    this.createApp();
-    this.server = http.Server(this.app);
-  };
-  this.start = () => {
-    const db = require('./server/models/index');
-    // sync sequelize
-    db.sequelize.sync()
-      // start the server
-      .then(() => {
-        this.server.listen(this.PORT, () => {
-          logger.info(`Server is listening on PORT ${this.PORT}`);
-        });
-      })
-      .catch((error) => {
-        logger.error(`Startup Error:`, error);
-      });
-  };
-};
-
-module.exports = SpeechServer;
diff --git a/server/server.js b/server/server.js
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..cd3da657
--- /dev/null
+++ b/server/server.js
@@ -0,0 +1,81 @@
+// app dependencies
+const express = require('express');
+const bodyParser = require('body-parser');
+const expressHandlebars = require('express-handlebars');
+const Handlebars = require('handlebars');
+const helmet = require('helmet');
+const passport = require('passport');
+const { serializeSpeechUser, deserializeSpeechUser } = require('./helpers/authHelpers.js');
+const cookieSession = require('cookie-session');
+const http = require('http');
+// logging dependencies
+const logger = require('winston');
+
+const {auth: { sessionKey }, details: { port: PORT }} = require('../config/siteConfig.js');
+
+// create an Express application
+const app = express();
+
+// trust the proxy to get ip address for us
+app.enable('trust proxy');
+
+// add middleware
+app.use(helmet()); // set HTTP headers to protect against well-known web vulnerabilties
+app.use(express.static(`${__dirname}/public`)); // 'express.static' to serve static files from public directory
+app.use(bodyParser.json()); // 'body parser' for parsing application/json
+app.use(bodyParser.urlencoded({ extended: true })); // 'body parser' for parsing application/x-www-form-urlencoded
+app.use((req, res, next) => {  // custom logging middleware to log all incoming http requests
+  logger.verbose(`Request on ${req.originalUrl} from ${req.ip}`);
+  next();
+});
+
+// configure passport
+passport.serializeUser(serializeSpeechUser);
+passport.deserializeUser(deserializeSpeechUser);
+const localSignupStrategy = require('./passport/local-signup.js');
+const localLoginStrategy = require('./passport/local-login.js');
+passport.use('local-signup', localSignupStrategy);
+passport.use('local-login', localLoginStrategy);
+// initialize passport
+app.use(cookieSession({
+  name  : 'session',
+  keys  : [sessionKey],
+  maxAge: 24 * 60 * 60 * 1000, // i.e. 24 hours
+}));
+app.use(passport.initialize());
+app.use(passport.session());
+
+// configure handlebars & register it with express app
+const hbs = expressHandlebars.create({
+  defaultLayout: 'embed',
+  handlebars   : Handlebars,
+});
+app.engine('handlebars', hbs.engine);
+app.set('view engine', 'handlebars');
+
+// set the routes on the app
+require('./routes/auth-routes.js')(app);
+require('./routes/api-routes.js')(app);
+require('./routes/page-routes.js')(app);
+require('./routes/asset-routes.js')(app);
+require('./routes/fallback-routes.js')(app);
+
+// create server
+const server = http.Server(app);
+
+// configure logger
+require('./helpers/configureLogger.js')(logger);
+require('./helpers/configureSlack.js')(logger);
+
+// sync sequelize
+const db = require('./models/index');
+db.sequelize.sync()
+  // start the server
+  .then(() => {
+    server.listen(PORT, () => {
+      logger.info(`Server is listening on PORT ${PORT}`);
+    });
+  })
+  .catch((error) => {
+    logger.error(`Startup Error:`, error);
+  });
diff --git a/webpack.client.common.js b/webpack.client.common.js
index a8447be0..8370a688 100644
--- a/webpack.client.common.js
+++ b/webpack.client.common.js
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 const Path = require('path');
-const REACT_ROOT = Path.resolve(__dirname, 'client/');
+const CLIENT_ROOT = Path.resolve(__dirname, 'client/');
 
 module.exports = {
   target: 'web',
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ module.exports = {
   },
   resolve: {
     modules: [
-      REACT_ROOT,
+      CLIENT_ROOT,
       'node_modules',
       __dirname,
     ],
diff --git a/webpack.dev.client.js b/webpack.dev.client.js
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..ad9be8bc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/webpack.dev.client.js
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+const clientBaseConfig = require('./webpack.client.common.js');
+const merge = require('webpack-merge');
+
+const devBuildConfig = {
+  watch  : true,
+  devtool: 'inline-source-map',
+};
+
+module.exports = [
+  merge(clientBaseConfig, devBuildConfig),
+];
diff --git a/webpack.dev.server.js b/webpack.dev.server.js
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..b8c812e3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/webpack.dev.server.js
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+const serverBaseConfig = require('./webpack.server.common.js');
+const merge = require('webpack-merge');
+
+const devBuildConfig = {
+  watch  : true,
+  devtool: 'inline-source-map',
+};
+
+module.exports = [
+  merge(serverBaseConfig, devBuildConfig),
+];
diff --git a/webpack.server.common.js b/webpack.server.common.js
index 1c73080d..c631af87 100644
--- a/webpack.server.common.js
+++ b/webpack.server.common.js
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 const Path = require('path');
 const nodeExternals = require('webpack-node-externals');
-const REACT_ROOT = Path.resolve(__dirname, 'client/');
+const CLIENT_ROOT = Path.resolve(__dirname, 'client/');
 
 module.exports = {
   target: 'node',
@@ -8,10 +8,10 @@ module.exports = {
     __dirname: false,
   },
   externals: [nodeExternals()],
-  entry    : ['babel-polyfill', 'whatwg-fetch', './server.js'],
+  entry    : ['babel-polyfill', 'whatwg-fetch', './server/server.js'],
   output   : {
-    path         : Path.join(__dirname, '/'),
-    publicPath   : '/',
+    path         : Path.join(__dirname, 'server/'),
+    publicPath   : 'server/',
     filename     : 'index.js',
     library      : '',
     libraryTarget: 'commonjs-module',
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ module.exports = {
   },
   resolve: {
     modules: [
-      REACT_ROOT,
+      CLIENT_ROOT,
       'node_modules',
       __dirname,
     ],