From the November 19, 1999 print edition

Tempe lures high-tech firms

J. Craig Anderson The Business Journal

Is Tempe turning into a "tech oasis?"

The phrase, first uttered in May by local tech-industry magnates, describes a concentrated cluster of technology companies that would attract quality businesses and personnel to the Valley.

And although that vision is far from becoming a reality, Tempe officials are citing recent expansions to the downtown area as evidence that their city will be the wellspring from which the oasis grows.

In the past three weeks, NeoPlanet Inc., Integrated Information Systems Inc. and GoRacing.com -- all local, start-up technology firms -- have announced plans to move their headquarters to downtown Tempe or its surrounding area.

In October, Tempe software company Vitrix moved from 20 E. University Drive to its new 6,000-square-foot space in Tempe's Hayden Square. IKOS Systems, based in Cupertino, Calif., also recently moved its Southwest branch to 350 S. Mill Ave.

In addition, companies already in downtown Tempe such as RMI.NET (formerly Internet Now!) and CX Design have been growing and expanding, according to Julia Rosen of the city of Tempe's economic development office.

"In the past six months, about 25 percent of our calls have come from technology companies," Rosen said.

Dick Engel, chairman of the Tech Oasis Committee, formed in cooperation with the Arizona Software and Internet Association, said Arizona's tech oasis is becoming a reality, although the concept has evolved since its creation.

Originally, Engel and others envisioned the tech oasis as a two-square-mile industrial development filled with high-tech buildings, super-fast data lines, scattered Internet cafés, around-the-clock services for workers on the go and technology companies of all sizes.

Over time, that vision has transformed into something more practical, albeit slightly less impressive.

"It has evolved to a point where a concentration of all the right attributes ... will attract established companies," Engel said.

He said those attributes include easy access to transportation, room to expand, leasing agreements that allow firms to get out if the venture fails, undeveloped land for new construction and nearby recreational facilities and educational centers.

Engel said Tempe offers all of the above, which could make it the center of a larger oasis that spans the Valley.

"Tempe is definitely the bull's-eye, with much opportunity to spread east and west," he said.

Tempe Mayor Neil Giuliano said the city's two-year economic-development effort aimed at technology companies is finally paying off.

"We've listened to leaders in the industry," Giuliano said. "We've asked them, `What would it take to bring these companies to downtown Tempe?'"

He said Tempe officials have been working to create a tech-friendly geographic and political environment since 1997, long before the phrase "tech oasis" was coined.

Still, he said cooperation from groups such as the Arizona Software and Internet Association have accelerated the process.

"They've given us more opportunities to deliver our message," Giuliano said.

Ed Denison, president of the software association, said he has been trying to influence government officials at all levels to make Arizona an attractive place for software and Internet companies.

"It's like Field of Dreams," he said. "If you build it, they will come."

© 1999 American City Business Journals Inc.