TRANSFORMING THE TRIAD.

• Author: Davis, Kathy
• Position: Statistical Data Included

High-Tech Heats Up

You have designed a new computer-software product that your research shows will sell like gangbusters, but you need capital to get it off the ground. One day, on your way out to lunch, you realize you're sharing the elevator with one of the leading venture capitalists in town. Can you sell him on your idea before you reach the ground floor? Or can you at least intrigue him enough to invite you to his office later to make a more formal presentation?

That's the challenge MBA students from throughout the Southeast will face in a competition that Wake Forest University's Babcock Graduate School of Management is developing through its Angell Center for Entrepreneurship in Winston-Salem. The center was created to give students the entrepreneurial skills they need to be successful in today's fast-paced, technology-driven economy.

The Angell Center is just one of many programs supporting the Triad's goal to become a major player in the high-tech world. A work force that is prepared for the technology-related demands of the 21st century is a major asset when recruiting high-tech companies, says Fred Starr, president of the Piedmont Triad Partnership, a nonprofit organization formed to promote the 12 counties of the Piedmont Triad region to companies considering relocation or expansion.

"Technology is a new and exciting area that we want to participate in," says Bob Leak, president of Winston-Salem Business Inc., the business-recruiting arm of the Greater Winston-Salem Chamber of Commerce.

Winston-Salem has a rich history in manufacturing, health care and banking. It also has first-hand experience with the upheaval created by corporate mergers and acquisitions. In the late 1980s, Piedmont Aviation Inc. and RJR Nabisco Inc., two of the city's most successful homegrown companies, were acquired by outsiders and had jobs shifted to other parts of the country. Winston-Salem's economy has remained healthy despite these setbacks, with unemployment around 2.6%, but city leaders recognize the importance of diversifying the local economy to ensure long-term prosperity.

In 1997, the chamber's technology council began a national search for a consultant who could help determine the best way for Winston-Salem and Forsyth County to build a technology-based economy. The council hired a five-member consulting team that had a successful track record in helping Utah recruit and develop high-tech businesses. This team put together a technology-development plan that focuses on using the world-class research conducted at area colleges and universities, such as Wake Forest University School of Medicine and Winston-Salem State University, to attract and grow high-tech entrepreneurial business ventures.

In 1998, the council established a nonprofit organization called the North Carolina Emerging Technology Alliance to carry out the plan. The alliance's board includes representatives from all of the major businesses, industries, colleges and universities in Forsyth County and is chaired by Thomas Hearn, president of Wake Forest University.

Bill Dean was recruited to be president of the alliance. Formerly with Cummings Research Park in Huntsville, Ala., he was attracted to the opportunity to be part of such a visionary organization and the possible changes it could bring to...