Rhode Island Technology Council (RITech) President Jeff Deckman — who is also the president of SyNet — is excited about the possibilities the new year holds for high tech.
“Rhode Island is well on its way to becoming a smart state,” he said. “There’s good stuff going on.”
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Among the “good stuff” Deckman mentioned was the Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation’s Massexodus.com initiative, the declaration of Providence’s Jewelry District as a “smart building” district and recent infusions of venture capital to state technology companies.
“The overall health of the industry is good,” said Deckman.
One of the best things about the high tech climate in the Ocean State, Deckman said, is the way in which the state’s government, education and business communities have come together in the “complete and total acknowledgement of the IT industry to the state. They’re paying attention. It’s encouraging to me.”
Deckman said that RITech, with a new board of directors in place, plans to continue to focus on developing new IT talent.
Cox Communications has long enjoyed its 97 percent share of the 300,000 homes with cable television in the Ocean State.
When Burlington, Massachusetts-based cable and telecommunications company American Broadband Incorporated (ABI) comes to town in 2001, times could change.
ABI has said it intends to build a $170 million state-of-the-art network in 20 cities and towns across the state to provide broadband cable, Internet and local and long-distance phone services.
The company will headquarter its Rhode Island operations in the former trolley barn at the Narragansett Brewery property in Cranston.
Tony Peduto, vice president and general manager of ABI Rhode Island, said the company anticipates receiving its construction certificate 45 to 60 days after a public hearing on January 30. ABI expects to begin serving Rhode Islanders during the third quarter of 2001.
Tradesafe.com, last spring among the darlings of Rhode Island’s blossoming high tech community, seems to be the state’s latest dotcom casualty, its investors having taken control of the company, and with a legal battle now under way over who is entitled to the more than $4 million that remains in company assets.
Tradesafe’s main investor, IQ Capital, invested $10 million between March and May, according to Robert Corrente of Hinckley Allen & Snyder, who represents former Tradesafe president Kenneth J. Pereira. But soon after making that investment, IQ requested the return of $2 million “to invest in a European venture with Tradesafe,” and another $4 million soon after. When Tradesafe did not return that money to IQ, the German investors made a deal with the second round investors (Rakow Group), took over the board (of Tradesafe) and fired all but three of the employees and cut the operation down to a skeleton level, Corrente said .
Lighthouse Communications, in 1999 one of Rhode Island’s fastest growing companies, closed its doors during 2000.
In July, Lighthouse Computer Services, Inc., of Lincoln, announced that the core
team of engineers — including former Lighthouse Communications president Kevin
DeLange — from Lighthouse Communications would be added to the Lighthouse Computer
Services staff.
In another twist of fate, Lighthouse Computer Services is listed as the fastest-growing Rhode Island company in the recently completed 2001 Providence Business News Book of Lists — the post last year held by Lighthouse Communications.
Lighthouse Computer Services was founded in 1995 and in 1999 reported annual sales of $28 million.
Other high tech headlines of 2000
Venture capital funds seem to be flowing more readily for technology businesses in the Ocean State:
- $3.6 million in to BlueStreak.com, a Newport-based Internet marketing company,
from Zero Stage Capital - $11 million from Macromedia Ventures, New Enterprise Associates and Adams Capital
Management to Context Media, which specializes in bringing television images to
your computer screen - $8 million from M/C Venture Partners to DefendNet Solutions, Inc., an Internet
security firm.
