An organization that was formed to bring unity and direction to Rhode Island’s information technology businesses has decided it’s out of focus, has hired a new executive director, and hopes to reform itself as a greater voice for what it sees as a growing industry. The Rhode Island Technology Council’s (RITech) new director is Rick Kovar, who took over the position recently, replacing Thomas Mulhearn, who resigned last month.
“The feeling of the board of directors and the membership was that we were all over the place,” said Brad Waugh, president of RITech and senior vice president of CBSI in Providence. “There seemed to be a lack of focus, and many felt we were biting off more than we could chew.”
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RITech, formerly known as the Rhode Island Software Association, was created with a mission to “foster a healthy, prosperous, and competitive environment for the technical industry in Rhode Island.”
But some RITech board members felt the organization had taken on too much and spread itself too thin. As a result, many have said the goal of the new executive director will be to lead the organization on a more focused path. Kovar’s mission will be to create a larger information technology (IT) workforce and improve the dialogue between government and the industry.
Mulhearn said he left the job as executive director last month to run the Warwick-based Independent Broker Network, a real estate organization he founded.
While Mulhearn did not necessarily disagree that RITech was lacking focus, he said part of that could be attributed to the fact that the group was still in its infancy.
“When you have an organization that is less than one year old and you’re looking for an identity, what exactly is your focus?” he said.
RITech, which has an office East Providence, is funded with a three-year grant from the state Human Resource Investment Council, membership dues, and in-kind services.
Christopher “Kip” Bergstrom, executive director of the Economic Policy Council and ex officio member of RITech said for an organization to be valuable to its members it needs to develop a workforce agenda.
”The position of RITech from the very beginning has been to be the voice of the IT industry,” he said. “The organization has been juggling too many balls from the beginning, and it needed a change.”
Waugh said Mulhearn’s departure was a “mutual decision. Both Tom and the executive board felt that we were just doing too many things.”
Mulhearn said he will look back on his tenure with a sense of accomplishment.
”When I took the organization over it had 32 paid members, when I left there were 90,” Mulhearn said. “I think that’s tremendous growth.”
Waugh said the organization had approached Kovar more than a year ago, when the position first opened. But Kovar, who was then working with Sen. Majority Leader Paul Kelly, D-North Smithfield, declined the offer.
“He was gainfully employed at the time and was interested,” Waugh said. “But when we re-contacted him recently, he was very interested.”
Kovar said he initially resisted the offer because he didn’t feel he knew enough about information technology issues. But after spending a year with Kelly working on policy development in the areas of information technology and telecommunications, he said he now believes he has a better understanding of the issues.
“I saw this as the perfect blend between policy and politics,” he said.
Waugh said he hopes to see the council continue working with both the Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation and the Economic Policy Council to attract venture capital funding.
In addition, Waugh said, networking among all high-tech companies will be vital in the upcoming year.
”We need to increase the working capacity of the organization,” he said. “We need to bring small and large companies together, and create a strong voice in government.”
Kovar agreed. “Part of what this industry needs to do is to educate the legislature on why the industry is important and what it needs to succeed,” he said. “Part of that is having our membership work with government.”
Still new to his position, Kovar was reluctant to set any concrete goals for RITech, but said he doesn’t plan to sit back for long.
”There will be a short period of regrouping,” he said. “It’s important for a director to know his organization inside and out. And before I can jump in I need to know what my organization is doing.”
The entire board is expected to meet this week for the first time since Kovar’s hiring.
”All around, our membership and the state deserve an organization that is going to be the best,” Waugh said.
