Published on Thursday, December 07, 200

Tech firms set up shop

By Andrew Barksdale
Staff writer

The Ramsey Street building, near downtown Fayetteville, rents space to up-and-coming firms that have defense or security technology they want to market to the federal government.

With the rent, the companies get assistance in writing grants, estimating costs and preparing bid proposals. Some of the companies are local; others are from Ohio and Maryland.

“These are small companies, all ranging from one to five employees,” said Scott Perry, general manager of the accelerator.

The rent is month to month, giving the tenant flexibility, he said, and includes a full array of services, such as janitorial, Internet, phone and furniture, not normally included in rent structures at other commercial buildings.

“We hope these companies are able to develop these technologies in a rapid timeline and fill these technologies with the military,” he said. “In doing so, we will create jobs and generate revenue for the state.”

The accelerator later will consider giving the new tenants grants that range from $15,000 to $50,000 each, but no applications have been filed yet.

The Cumberland County Business Council formed the Partnership for Defense Innovation last year to administer the accelerator and use a $2 million state grant to get it off the ground. The Business Council, a private, nonprofit organization, uses public and private money to recruit and retain businesses.

Perry said an accelerator differs from a business incubator in that these seven tenants have prototypes for technology. Startups in an incubator may have just an idea for a technology.

With the seven new tenants, the accelerator is 57 percent full. Officials screened them from among 15 applicants.

A news release Wednesday announced that the following companies have begun moving into the
accelerator:

Horizontal Fusion, which provides computer and Web-based training and services to the military and Department of Defense.

Immersion Media uses 3D motion capture video and animation technology to teach and train new skills in a variety of applications.

K-3 Enterprises specializes in helping companies prepare solutions to government representatives in the areas of geospatial data management, communications solutions, information technology implementations, security and logistical support.

Net Centric Services (NCS) designs and manufactures cryptographic data communications products to provide turn-key engineering and communications solutions in data, voice,
video, converged networks and wireless.

Olivia Tower is a rapid deployment platform that can be fully integrated with a variety of communication, optical and networking equipment.

Signet Technologies is a security integration company that designs, installs and services integrated security solutions.

Virtual Heroes is an advanced learning technology company that leverages simulation and digital gaming to accelerate learning, increase proficiency and reduce training cost.
 
Staff writer Andrew Barksdale can be reached at barksdalea@fayobserver.com or 486-3565.