Tech future is subject of meeting
February 15, 2001
Bruno J. Navarro
The Arizona Republic
Though it's larger than most people realize, the East Valley's nascent
technology industry suffers from a relatively low profile.
But that will change if leaders of high-tech companies, city officials and
educators who met Wednesday have any say. Francine Hardaway, whose firm,
stealthmode.com, consults start-up firms, told two dozen people gathered at
a west Tempe office building that cooperation is the key to developing a
local economy that one day could rival Silicon Valley.
"We need to be working together and get on the same page somehow," she said.
The meeting was organized by Tech Oasis, an informal partnership of
business and city leaders, to figure out how to best promote local
technology industries. Representatives from Motorola, Mesa and the Greater
Phoenix Economic Council attended.
Collaboration has been one of the group's strengths, said Jan Schaefer,
Tempe's economic development director.
"We didn't study how to do it," she said. "They told us, 'It would be great
if you did this,' and we did it."
There are approximately 100 software companies in Tempe alone, and
technology firms in the past year have leased nearly 300,000 square feet of
office space, Schaefer said.
The group also established contacts with Arizona State University,
community colleges and DeVry Institute to help companies and job seekers
find each other.
"What did it cost? Next to nothing," Schaefer said. "It just took a bunch
of staff time."
Among its goals, the Tech Oasis aims to expand to other Valley cities,
promote a better telecommunications infrastructure and make Arizona a
national player.
ASU, for instance, already possesses the patents and research capabilities
to support a larger technology industry but could use private-sector
funding.
"We're far ahead of our capacity to license technology," said Herb
Finkelstein, research liaison officer at the ASU College of Engineering and
Applied Sciences.
Erika Feinberg, president of Tempe-based research firm eStreetSearch, said
her frequent visits to high-tech hubs in the San Francisco area led her to
believe the high cost of living there could benefit the Phoenix area.
"I've never seen it worse," she said. "It's a perfect opportunity to start
this effort."