By Mark Laliberte
HippoPress.com

Inside the offices of wedu design on Bedford Street, the decor is not of a typical office; it is anything but. The set-up is that of a trendy salon, where soft lighting and Bauhaus-style furniture suggest discussions of abstract thought over a latte. The recording studio has leather couches, neon lighting and a foosball table. The look is modern and industrial; a look that became familiar in what seems like the halcyon days of the dot-com.

However, like Manchester?s foray into the technological world, looks can be deceiving. The owners of wedu and friends built the entire office décor; a way to save money and to give the area the look they wanted.

?In building this recording studio ourselves, we spent one-third of what we would have paid if we had a contractor build it,? said George Holt, 28, who founded wedu in 1996 and moved to 300 Bedford St. in 1998. ?Doing things ourselves allow us to create our own creative space. It also allows us to survive during the slowdown.?

As for the tech slowdown, Holt sees a bright side to it. ?While it?s frustrating to survive during the bad times, it?s good in a way. It allows the very talented to survive while the weaker are thinned from the herd. It?s survival of the fittest.?

Responsible Growth

Manchester is wired for technology. The city, now the linchpin of the technological economy in New Hampshire, is dealing with its first major downturn. Back in the early 90s, it was Digital, a staple in the state, which took the hit from the sluggish economy. Over the last two years, the slaughter of the dot-com provided many here with a cautionary tale of how good things can go bad...fast.

Lesson learned.

Today?s technological revolution in Manchester is one that many small companies interviewed said was the result of responsible growth. Gone is the rush for the fast dollar. These companies understand it takes thriftiness, an eye on the bottom line, and an understanding of fundamental economics to grow.

?Technology is happening in Manchester and here it?s healthy,? said Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce president and CEO Robin Comstock. ?Those companies that are struggling are the ones that were underfunded and mismanaged their growth; while some stable companies have had to downsize. However, this is a healthy shakeout. Manchester is a diversified economy and a diversified economy is a healthy one.?

As a company, wedu looks to diversity within its own company to become stronger.

?We don?t produce vapor,? said Holt. ?We do networking and new-media technologies. We also work with digital audio and recording.?

Holt said investing in staff allows the company to handle market fluctuations.

?While other companies may cut staff and layoff people when times are slow, we have our staff invest in ourselves. If they know Flash, then we want them to learn After Effects. If they work with databases, I?ll have them learn Linux.?

Despite these efforts and wedu?s efforts to stay ahead, Holt acknowledges the reality of the 2001 economy. ?We?re certainly not doing as well this year as in year?s past.? Holt said.

Starting up

Right now, there are hundreds of small firms in and around the city. While the local scene is abuzz over Dean Kamen?s ?IT? project and the setbacks larger companies Kana and Autodesk face, it is the smaller firms that look to guide Manchester?s fortunes. And while it?s easy to compare this fundamental shift of economy to that of the Manchester?s mill past, the difference is one of scale. One hundred years ago, the Amoskeag Manucfacturing Company became the largest textile mill in the world. The events of today won?t make Manchester the next Silicon Valley, but that?s not the intention.

While these companies reside in the millyard and Elm Street, the discovery is that there is an abundance of space in these areas, rife for starting up new and moving existing companies.

A company that recently started up is Xactitudes, a firm that specializes in IT consulting for businesses. The co-owners, Wendy Sykes and Dave Lague, were coworkers at a firm called RCM, where they did IT business development.

?We saw that companies were charging way too much for their services,? said Sykes, 32, who said that the fees charged by companies for their work were detrimental to the businesses and the consulting firms. ?They would charge 25-35 percent of what the IT person would charge for consultation. This was an incredible cost to companies. We decided we would charge a 15 percent commission across the board for our services.

?Sure we wish we started this company three years ago, but we?re still making good money,? Sykes said. ?We realized that what other companies charged don?t reflect the realities of the market. Right now, building relationships is what?s important.?

Brew Crew

Morgan Smith understands the importance of building relationships. She has seen the future, and it is brewing in Manchester. Smith, 29, is in charge of the TechBrew, a program started in May by the Chamber of Commerce. The Brew is simple. Bring in a bunch of people from various companies to meet at Margarita?s once a month to mingle, network and discuss tech in the city.

"When I worked in Boston, our company was part of something called the ?CyberBrew,? ? Smith said. ?When it first started, there were only 35 people in attendance. The last time I checked, they had to hold the event at a two-story restaurant, with attendance over 500.?
Smith, who works for O?Neil Griffith Bodi Communications, works with the chamber to put the event on. Comstock was the head of the Greater Portsmouth Chamber before this and was instrumental in starting the e-brew, Portsmouth monthly discussion of tech issues.

"We saw that there was a segment of the business community not represented in the city and that was the younger tech worker,? Smith said. ?We thought that we would implement something that would get them together.?

Indeed, the age is younger. The majority of people interviewed for the story were between the ages of 25-35. Many at the event represented that demographic.
On May 17, TechBrew made its debut. There were modest expectations, considering the numbers the first CyberBrew in Boston only drew 35. ?By the first hour of the first event, we had 60 people that came already,? Smith said with a smile. ?That day, we drew 200 people. For the June event, we drew 250. There was a line to get in after the first hour.?

After two months, Smith has seen enough to plan for a larger venue for future TechBrews. ?We love Margarita?s and I feel it?s the perfect place for people to unwind and talk about technology in a casual way,? Smith said. ?However, after the summer months, the place may be too small.?

At the TechBrew, there are more than just tech companies in attendance. High Point Communications out of Bow sponsored the previous event, and O?Neil Griffith Bodi had a strong contingent there as well. Both companies work in tech public relations, so for them, it?s important to be seen.

Comstock thinks that the intermingling of companies can only strengthen a diversified economy.

?The TechBrew provides a venue for business-to-business interaction,? Comstock said. ?One will see that other businesses not directly involved in technology will want to interface with these companies. What may appear like an unrelated group will discover that they have a common connection. Working together will benefit tech and non-tech based companies alike.?

Incubation period

At 670 North Commercial Street, there are small businesses in the infant stage. Their development hinges on how they market their wares and weather the economy. Failure can hinge on many factors, but not, according to the business owners, because of where they work. They are a part of the Amoskeag Small Business Incubator. This program, started by Southern New Hampshire University and the city in May 1997 and managed by the college, allows for companies to work in a low-rent, community business environment. This allows companies to network amongst themselves and to develop their business without peripheral worries. For technology companies that have little margin of error to start, this can determine survival.

?We wouldn?t have survived if it wasn?t for the Incubator,? said Tony Dancoma, president and CEO of Celerent, which installs and services enterprise systems. ?The Incubator allowed us to focus on business development. The rent wasn?t a burden, we had a fax machine, conference room and copier at our disposal, and we had an address for clients to visit us.?

Celerent started last year when seven employees of Compaq split from the company, concerned that their division was about to fold. With the need for an office, they looked at the Incubator. Celerent has since moved out of the Incubator, relocating to Windham.

While wanting to stay in Manchester, Dancoma claims space concerns as a reason to leave the city.

?There appears to be a lack of 1,000-4,000 square feet space in the city,? Dancoma said. ?While there?s abundance of large-more than 5,000 square feet-and small-under 1,000 square feet-space in the city, we had a specific need. We didn?t think that Manchester had it and we found a great deal in Windham.

Ty Glasgow challenges that notion.

?I would call him on that,? said Glasgow, part owner of Waterfront Partners, another tenant of the Incubator. ?There are an incredible amount of space options in the city. I think the space situation is a benefit to the city, not a drawback.?

Waterfront is a soup-to-nuts type of tech firm. They compare themselves to general contractors, where they will design and maintain computer and networking systems for companies.

?You call the general contractor and the designer before you call the plumbers,? Glasgow said. They, like Celerent, started in a basement last year. They moved into the Incubator at the beginning of the year and said they have found the ideal working environment.

?Because our involvement with the Incubator, we?re going to be on WMUR?s Business New Hampshire. I don?t think that opportunity would exist if it wasn?t for the Incubator,? Glasgow said. ?We?ve thrived here, and we couldn?t be happier.?

Quality of life; long-term success

The growth of these companies seems to have coincided with the revitalization of the downtown. In fact, the revitalization of the downtown is one of the draws for companies to start up here.

Solara Systems, formerly a Bedford company, recently moved to 1045 Elm St., above Margarita?s. The owner of the company, Dana Farnham, moved her technical staffing company in February. Even though she lived in Bedford, she rarely came downtown. However, the renovated Chase Building drew her here.

?This space is the perfect place for our company,? Farnham said. ?It?s in a high-traffic area and with the civic center, Manchester?s growing. This is an ideal situation.?

Most of those interviewed said the revitalization of the downtown and the coming of the civic center can only help draw tech people to the area. Qualified employees and employers moving into the city would help solidify Manchester as a technological destination.

?The city needs an influx of young leaders,? Holt said. ?We need to have advanced, forward-thinking young leaders to buck the conservative mindset.?

Issues like parking and continued renovation of the millyard are areas that local government need to look at. Many of the companies viewed one or both as a possible impediment to growth.

?Parking in the millyard area is a problem, which is only going to get worse,? Dancoma said. ?The addition of the civic center will only make it worse and I'm afraid it will give many clients and visitors to the city a bad taste in their mouth.?

Glasgow thinks that the mills need renovation at a faster pace, to keep up with what she thinks will be a pickup in companies coming to the area.

?If they can get more of the mill buildings renovated, then it would certainly be an inducement to come,? Glasgow said.

Despite these drawbacks, many companies give high marks to the Chamber for working toward improving the economic climate.

?Robin (Comstock) and the chamber have done a great job with developing a progressive environment for technology,? Sykes said. ?She has brought Portsmouth?s E-Coast initiatives into Manchester. One of the things she developed was Tech World at Pease (Tradeport). With the civic center coming, I'm sure Robin will bring that here.?

The tech environment in Manchester appears poised to withstand this downturn and, when the economy makes its inevitable turn upward, looks to play the pivotal role as the technological leader in Northern New England.

?There are many catalysts to development in this area,? Glasgow said. ?The combination of UNH, the diversity of companies, the combination of large and small companies and the development of the downtown make the millyard the perfect place for us.?

As for the importance of technological future of Manchester, there is no doubt.

?The tech community is a vital prong in the overall business profile of Manchester,? Comstock said. ?Technology is interwoven with everything now; as basic as the pencil and eraser.?

Mark Laliberte can be reached at
wildcat14_14@yahoo.com.