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Promising signs for SC technology

Submitted by: John Warner on Jul 02, 2001 at 5:00 am Tagged with: General Archives Source:

Swamp Fox

Promising signs for technology

By JOE GUY COLLIER Staff Writer
The State

The technology industry hasn't been booming in Columbia, or the rest of the
United States.
Money is tight for most technology companies. Staffs have been trimmed, hiring
freezes put in place and contracts difficult to come by.
In this downtime, though, several promising developments have taken place in
the Midlands. Here's a quick look at three encouraging movements.
(box) NCR is still here. In April, NCR Corp., a technology firm based in
Dayton, Ohio, was ready to close its West Columbia operations. About 100 jobs
were already going to California, and the remaining 200 to 300 jobs were
halfway out the door to Atlanta.
Local NCR and state officials stepped in to not only save the 200 to 300 jobs
in jeopardy, but also add about 500.
NCR announced in June that it expects to have 700 employees in the Midlands
within a year and plans to build a $20 million to $30 million facility to house
NCR's Americas Customer Care Center.
Yes, the loss of the 100 jobs, many of which were in product development, is a
blow to the Midlands. The area can't afford to lose technology jobs, especially
high-level development jobs.
The complete loss of NCR's presence in Columbia, though, would have been a
tragedy. NCR has been here for 30 years and represents the kinds of companies
and corporate partners the Midlands needs to attract.
The state Department of Commerce and the governor's office are to be applauded
for stepping in and persuading NCR to stay in South Carolina.
(box) A summit with action. The South Carolina Software Workforce Summit, held
in Columbia in early June, provided a model of what the state should aim for
when it gathers people for a conference.
The event was designed to produce results. The morning was spent gathering
information from executives about what they need for their organizations to
grow. This information will be used to produce a plan later this year for
addressing the state's shortage of information-technology workers.
The software summit was not just a meeting for the sake of meeting. It was a
meeting for the sake of getting something done.
If South Carolina wants to move forward in technology, it needs more meetings
with defined goals and follow-up action.
(box) Getting organized. Two local technology organizations are quickly getting
their acts together.
The Columbia Information Technology Council, run through the Greater Columbia
Chamber of Commerce, had about 50 people show up for its first monthly luncheon
in June.
At a breakfast in June, the High-Tech Entrepreneurs Council, an informal
organization for smaller Midlands technology firms, had a lively discussion
about becoming a formal group.
The entrepreneurs council is moving forward to incorporate as a nonprofit
organization. The group doesn't have all the specifics ironed out, but a
passion for the organization has returned.
At least a handful of entrepreneurs seem to care about making the council a
productive force for small technology companies in the Midlands.
A well-rounded and organized technology community would be created if the
chamber made its Information Technology Council an organization for bringing
together large and small technology firms. The High-Tech Entrepreneurs Council,
in turn, would emerge as a place for budding technology firms to talk about and
address their specific needs.