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Local 'hidden tech' entrepreneurs meet at GCC- March 29, 2005 |
Businesses say shared work space, telecommunications service needed by Richie Davis |
| GREENFIELD - To call Paul Hake, at 22, an entrepreneur, might seem a bit grand. Yet as a partner in Paul Hake Productions, a business he created in November, he's already compiled an impressive list of credentials, including developing prototypes of five games for Hasbro's Tiger Electronics division, as well as multi-media work for Fidelity Investments. "One of the big issues for me is getting health insurance, as a small company," said Hake, a University of Massachusetts graduate who moved here from Rhode Island to be with his fiancée. He was among 50 small scale, technology-related businesses to attend a recent meeting of the Pioneer Valley's "Hidden Tech" business group at Greenfield Community College's downtown center. Like the other small start-up businesses, which included research services, a voice-over recording artist, a conference planning service, and graphic designers, Hake's small operation pointed to the need for a shared "incubator" space where the tech-savvy business could not only share facilities and support service but also "bounce ideas off each other. " "Without this (cross-pollination provided by the two-and-a-half-year old organization, which now boasts about 600 members) we wouldn't know who else was out there," said Hake. "It's like a chain-reaction, networking with other people, and it opens up more doors." Other needs expressed by the business people - from a Gill-based "Shop Western Mass." e-commerce business to nationwide voiceover artist Jill Connolly of Shelburne Falls - were better telecommunication services in -the region, tax and legal advice, as well as training. "It was probably the tip of the iceberg," said Ann L. Hamilton, president of the Franklin County Chamber of Commerce, which co hosted the event. "It was fascinating to see how broad the scope of this group is. They all have the potential to grow, and to work with local companies, as they get known." The significance of such "hidden tech" looms ever-larger, Hamilton said, as giant employers downsize, steal away to other regions or countries or disappear altogether. In fact, 75 percent of Pioneer Valley businesses employ 10 or fewer people, she reported. Christopher Sikes, executive director of the Valley Enterprise Fund, said, "This area's always been a breeding ground for micro-enterprise. Technology is advancing to the point where individuals can make a living out of their own homes doing some pretty powerful things." Although there are potential spaces for more "incubator spaces" like the Greenfield Venture Center, it's hard to find the public financing now to develop them, Sikes said. Patricia Crosby, who heads the Franklin Hampshire Employment and Training Board, showed up at the gathering to stay in touch with emerging businesses but said she was blown away by "the energy in the room, the youthfulness and new ideas" she found at Wednesday's event. Some of the businesses are already at the point of needing to employ workers, Crosby said. "They've been telling us for more than five years that the workplace is changing," she said. "But this is the first time I've seen that made real. Increasingly what you are is what you can do. If you can promote it, you don't necessarily need the big, paternal company. That may not be available, and this may be the way to make your own niche." On the Web: www.hidden.tech.net |