The RITech roller coaster ride continues. Charles Nault, president and CEO of Atrion Networking, resigned as chairman of the RITech Board of Directors last Tuesday (July 11). He will be replaced by Jeff Deckman, president of SyNet Inc.
Nault’s departure from the board’s leadership post follows a series of changes at an organization that is barely three years old. Nault only became chairman in February, replacing Brad Waugh, then of CBSI, Inc.
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Current executive director Rick Kovar, who had been an aide to Senate Majority Leader Paul Kelly, replaced Thomas Mulhearn in January of this year. Mulhearn had served for about a year.
RITech, formerly known as the Rhode Island Software Council, was created with a mission to “foster a healthy, prosperous, and a competitive environment for the technical industry in Rhode Island.”
At times the organization has seemed to lack focus, one of the reasons that members suggest there has been such turnover. RITech’s focus, since its inception, has apparently drifted from that of a lobbying group, trade organization, IT workforce development group, a voice for the IT professionals, to acting as a conduit for government agencies to attract new businesses to Rhode Island.
Nault dismissed rumors that his departure was the result of any internal problems within the organization. Instead, he said business at Atrion is booming and he “can’t devote the time” to RITech.
“There were definitely differences of opinion along the way,” Nault said. “But I am a firm believer that if you aren’t disagreeing then you aren’t progressive enough.”
Those differences, according to some unnamed sources, were over the growing influence of government agencies such as the Economic Policy Council and Economic Development Corporation, which were putting increased emphasis on attracting new companies from outside the state, instead of focusing on the development of existing Rhode Island companies.
They point to venture capital successes such as Tradesafe.com, DefendNet, and Mesa Systems Guild, all of which have recently received considerable venture capital funding, as examples of the type of growth that can be expected from already existing Rhode Island firms.
Nault, who will remain on the board, saw his role as putting “structure in a very loose organization,” he said. “I feel like I have accomplished what I set out to accomplish. If my company wasn’t busting at the seams I would stay.”
He said he remains committed to the organization and as a board member will “try and make it to as many meetings as I can. There aren’t enough hours in the day for me, and my heart is in Atrion.”
Making strides
When Kovar took over at the Rhode Island Technology Council (RITech) in January, members of the organization felt it was out of focus, and lacked direction.
Six months later, many RItech members believe the organization may be back on track. A survey of all board members by the Providence Business News (some did not return phone calls), showed that all those contacted were positive about RITech’s potential for growth.
”I think it’s going really well,” said George Loftus, a RITech board member and head of the Information Technology Academy. “This organization allows the opportunity for all of these businesses to have one voice, which is good for bringing new businesses into the state. It also helps create an environment that fosters small business and technology.”
Kovar said there has been a surge of membership requests, both from companies looking to renew and new companies looking to join. Currently Kovar said, there are more than 170 members, but he said almost every day someone else expresses and interest.
”Bell Atlantic (Verizon Communications) just joined, and another company out of Boston is looking to become a member,” he said. “We have a lot of big players and smaller companies too.”
When Kovar replaced Mulhearn earlier this year, he was given one major objective from board members – to develop an Information Technology (IT) workforce.
”If RITech doesn’t have as its primary focus workforce development then that is a problem,” said Joe Hammang, director of science and technology at the Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation. “It is the number one goal of RItech and exactly what Rick Kovar is doing.”
Still, there is some concern that the organization, funded through a grant from the state Human Resource Investment Council (HRIC), and membership dues, is again losing its focus — but this time to the state.
”A major chunk of the money comes from HRIC,” Hammang said. “If you don’t have seed money than you don’t have an organization.”
Hammang said it wouldn’t surprise him if some companies didn’t like the government involvement, but said it’s important to the success of the organization.
“Some companies like things one way, and other companies like things another way – there will always be that push and pull,” he said. “But it’s naïve to think that you are going to please everyone.
Nault agreed.
“There was a time that I wouldn’t have believed that government should be involved with an organization like this, but through my discussions with other people involved I recognized that it is important,” he said. “It Rhode Island wants to be a leader, and I have heard from different people that we are ahead of other states in terms of strategy, we need to have government help.”
