Tapping Tech 3

VERMONT’S DIGITAL FUTURE

SOFTWARE CYBERSECURITY GAMING E D U C AT I O N H E A LT H C A R E A D VA N C E D M A N U FA C T U R I N G IT SOLUTIONS

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TECH VOLUME 3

BROUGHT TO YOU BY

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NAME A STATE THAT’S HOME TO TECHNOLOGY BUSINESS

ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND INVENTION — AND A GREAT QUALITY OF LIFE

ANSWER: VERMONT

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ermont is famous for its farms, maple syrup, scenic beauty and outdoor recreation – all of which make it a great place to live and visit. But the state is also gaining a reputation for its technology business sector, featuring dynamic, fast-growing and innovative companies.

Studies have pegged the Green Mountain State as the second most entrepreneurial in the country and also the most inventive, as measured by the number of tech business start-ups and volume of patent activity per capita. Techie.com recently named Burlington one of the nation’s 10 most promising tech hubs. In a National Public Radio interview on his American Futures Project, writer James Fallows of the Atlantic described the Burlington area as “a little tech empire.”

Vermont’s expanding technology business sector contains a diverse array of companies delivering cutting-edge products, software and services to customers worldwide. They provide high-paying jobs, bring money into the state and generate tax revenue — in a way that’s compatible with Vermont’s thriving downtowns and working landscape.

In short, technology is a critical and clean component of the Vermont economy and provides a crucial growth opportunity for the state.

In this edition of Tapping Tech, we introduce you to some of the companies — from large, established firms to small start-ups — that are leading the way.

— JEFF COUTURE, vtTA Executive Director

COMPANY PROFILES Introductions to some of Vermont’s fastest-growing and most innovative tech enterprises, organized by sector SOFTWARE Dealer.com and Global-Z International PAGE 4 CYBERSECURITY Leahy Center for Digital Investigation at Champlain College and Pwnie Express PAGE 8 GAMING Birnam Wood Games PAGE 12 EDUCATION Middlebury Interactive Languages PAGE 13 HEALTH CARE BioTek Instruments and OpenTempo PAGE 14 JORDAN SILVERMAN

Tapping Tech is brought to you by the Vermont Technology Alliance and the Vermont Technology Council, with support from the Vermont Agency of Commerce and Community Development and our advertiser sponsors.

The vtTA is a business association — formed by entrepreneurs for the benefit of entrepreneurs — with a mission to support, promote, celebrate and grow technology businesses and jobs in Vermont. The vtTA sponsors and promotes technology programs and events, creates opportunities for networking and collaboration, and advocates on behalf of Vermont’s technology business sector. The Vermont Technology Council was founded in 1994 to support technology-enabled economic development, and it serves as the statewide board for the National Science Foundationsponsored Vermont EPSCoR program. The VTC also creates the state science and technology plan, and has helped found organizations such as the Vermont Center for Emerging Technologies, Vermont Academy of Science and Engineering, and Vermont Manufacturing Extension Center.

The Vermont Technology Alliance and the Vermont Technology Council created this publication to showcase the state’s growing technology sector and its importance to Vermont’s economy. Connect with them at vermonttechnologyalliance.org and vttechcouncil.org.

ADVANCED MANUFACTURING Logic Supply and Eastman Benz PAGE 20 IT SOLUTIONS C2 and Network Performance, Inc. PAGE 24

INSIDE THE ECOSYSTEM Overviews of the ecosystem that fosters and supports Vermont innovation EVENTS PAGE 6 SPACES PAGE 10 EDUCATION PAGE 16 IT ALL ADDS UP PAGE 18 The Economic Impact of Technology CONNECTIVITY PAGE 22 COMPLETE THE CIRCUIT PAGE 26 Joining the vtTA INDEX OF VERMONT TECH COMPANIES PAGE 28

Tapping Tech: Vermont’s Digital Future was produced by Seven Days and published in April, 2014.

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The Dealer.com staff at the company’s headquarters

DriVing teCh DoLLars to Vermont COMPANY Dealer.com LOCATION Burlington WEBSITE dealer.com

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urlington, Vermont, is home to dozens of software and tech companies, but none has taken off as fast as Dealer.com. This turbo-charged start-up went from zero to 800 employees in just 15 years — and that has had a big impact on Dealer.com’s hometown.

It all started at Mark Bonfigli’s Earthcars dealership in Williston in the late 1990s. Mike Lane dropped by in search of a new ride, and their conversation soon turned from cars to computers; Bonfigli was testing and prototyping the business concept at Earthcars that would become the genesis for starting Dealer.com. That led to a meeting over burgers and beers with Lane’s friends, Rick Gibbs, Ryan Dunn and Jamie LaScolea. In 1998, the five of them went to work at the company that would become Dealer.com.

Their online inventory tracking and lead management system quickly gained traction. With help from Vermont HITEC, which provided assistance with training, Dealer.com scaled up its operations in Burlington’s South End. The company’s momentum was driven by demand from dealers eager to connect with customers online, but it was also fueled by Dealer.com’s evolving corporate culture. “Go big or go home” was one of the company’s core values. Today, Dealer.com provides digital marketing solutions and services to auto dealers around the world. Its sales were up 25 percent in 2013, a year in

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which it generated $230 million in revenue — almost all of it from clients outside of Vermont.

The company plays big, too. “We will embrace life, work hard and enjoy the ride,” goes the mission statement. “Having a great time is mandatory.”

To that end, Dealer.com invests heavily in its “earthlings,” as it calls its employees; the term is a throwback to Bonfigli’s earlier enterprise. When the company renovated the vacant Specialty Filaments plant on Pine Street in 2008 to house them, it included space for two organic cafés, a rooftop terrace complete with a mini golf course, and an on-site fitness facility, where employees can receive chair massages and take free tennis lessons.

Dealer.com also subsidizes employee lift tickets to local mountains and throws spectacular company parties geared toward showing appreciation for employees and customers. All of that earned it a 2009 Best Places to Work award from Outside magazine.

Its rapid sales growth has allowed Dealer.com to create hundreds of jobs and funnel money back into the local economy through taxes, wages and money spent on local vendors. But it also attracted industry attention: In March, 2014, New York-based Dealertrack Technologies finalized its acquisition of Dealer.com in a transaction valued at nearly $1 billion. Dealertrack will base its digital marketing management in Burlington at the Dealer.com headquarters.

The company is equally committed to its Corporate

SOFTWARE

Gov. Peter Shumlin with the Garders

“Everything we do is about

COURTESY OF DEALER.COM

JILL BADOLATO, CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY PROGRAM OWNER, DEALER.COM Social Responsibility Program, officially launched in 2013 but in practice since the beginning, and managed by its original marketing director, Jill Badolato — “employee number 35.”

“We are a big part of this city,” Badolato declares. “It’s important to make sure we’re giving back.”

And they are. Referencing her annual report, Badolato points out that 550 Dealer.com employees did volunteer work on company time in 2013 for a total of 4,400 hours of service. The company distributed 66 community grants and aided 38 different local organizations, including the South End Arts and Business Association and the Intervale Center. The company’s annual Woody Classic tennis tournament raised $58,000 for the King Street Center kids.

In addition to community service and fundraising for nonprofits, Dealer.com employees also collected two tons of electronics to be recycled and refurbished through the company’s first E-Waste Day. And the company displayed the work of 19 different local artists on the walls of its corporate HQ, which resulted in 42 art sales.

Why invest so heavily in the community?

Badolato says employees love it. “The number of employees who say ‘thank you for doing this’ is off the charts.”

But it’s also about making Burlington a desirable place to live, which helps the company attract and retain good employees. “Everything we do is about making Burlington a place where people want to live and work,” she says.

That’s good for the rest of us, too.

COURTESY OF GLOBAL-Z INTERNATIONAL

MAKING BURLINGTON A PLACE WHERE PEOPLE WANT TO LIVE AND WORK.”

DeLiVering the message

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ermont’s technology industry extends far beyond Burlington. When U.S. companies such as Orvis, Victoria’s Secret and Coldwater Creek want to reach their overseas customers, they turn to Bennington-based Global-Z International.

The 25-year-old, family-owned company specializes in international contact data hygiene. Its 17 employees ensure that clients’ global address data is accuCOMPANY rate to guarantee that overseas diGlobal-Z rect mail communications are sent International to the right people, on time and on LOCATION budget.

Bennington That’s more complicated than it WEBSITE sounds — postal codes, data capglobalz.com ture regulations and address formats are constantly changing.

Global-Z employs technical experts as well as a research and development staff familiar with the geographic, linguistic and cultural issues of each country to keep the company’s proprietary software updated. They enable clients to assemble an accurate demographic profile of their overseas customer base in real time. It’s a valuable service for companies with millions of international customers across several continents.

Other firms manage contact data for U.S. customers, but “our solutions serve the global market better than anybody else’s can,” says sales and marketing assistant Paul Harris.

International expertise is part of Global-Z’s DNA. The family-owned company was started by Russian-born Leonid Garder; his wife Sasha, who grew up in France and Switzerland; and their son, Dimitri. The family finally settled in southern Vermont after leaving New York City; they started Global-Z in their garage.

The company is poised to grow in 2014, Harris explains, as overseas markets become increasingly valuable to its clients. “It’s a super-busy year for us,” he says.

QUICKFACTS U.S. high-technology employment is projected to grow more than 16% between 2011 and 2020. Employment growth projected for software developers is 57%.

— Bay Area Council Economic Institute, Bureau of Labor Statistics

The greater Burlington area is ranked 4th among small U.S. cities for high-tech GDP concentration.

— Milken Institute

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EVENTS

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Looking for a tech job? Got a great idea for a start-up? Want to meet hackers, coders and digital media mavens? You’ll find them at these annual Vermont events.

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Vermont Tech Jam at Memorial Auditorium in Burlington

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INSIDE THE TECH ECOSYSTEM

Merchants Bank President Mike Tuttle presents the 2013 Vermont Tech Jam Innovator and Ambassador Awards to Pwnie Express and FreshTracks Capital

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CATHY RESMER

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Champlain Mini Maker Faire at Shelburne Farms

2012 Hack VT contestants

VERMONT TECH JAM: This job fair and tech expo, organized by Seven Days and the

Vermont Technology Alliance, draws dozens of growing companies, large and small, to exhibit alongside educational institutions that offer training in tech fields.

CHAMPLAIN MINI MAKER FAIRE: Artists, inventors and tinkerers — aka “makers” — gather to showcase their creations at this volunteer-run Shelburne Farms festival.

HACK VT: A 24-hour programming competition hosted by MyWebGrocer invites participants to use data provided by the state to create apps for Vermont.

INVENTION2VENTURE: Researchers and entrepreneurs collide at this annual conference hosted by the University of Vermont’s Office of Technology Commercialization, Vermont Center for Emerging Technologies and the Vermont Technology Council.

BURLINGTON RUBY CONFERENCE: A team of local volunteers hosts this languagespecific coding conference; in 2013, it drew 150 programmers from all over the Northeast.

LAUNCH VT: The Lake Champlain Regional Chamber of Commerce and its Burlington Young Professionals group organize this business-pitch competition, with help from FreshTracks Capital.

NATIONAL DAY OF CIVIC HACKING: Volunteer “civic hackers” from Code for BTV host this two-day hackathon to build digital tools for nonprofits and municipalities.

STORYHACK VT: Participants have 24 hours to create a narrative using multiple digital media platforms during this volunteer-run hackathon for creative types.

VERMONT CODE CAMP: Volunteers from the local computing community host this daylong, hands-on conference for freelancers and local programming professionals.

WOODSTOCK DIGITAL MEDIA FESTIVAL: Artists and digital media makers mingle with potential investors at this celebration of all things online.

PEAK PITCH: Entrepreneurs court venture capital investors while riding up the mountain on a ski lift as part of this Vermont-style start-up support session organized by FreshTracks Capital.

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CYBERSECURITY Jonathan Rajewski, LCDI Director, works with student Julie Desautels

QUICKFACTS

— Burning Glass, a Boston-based labor market analytics firm

U.S. companies and public sector organizations raised outlays on computer security to an estimated $89.1 billion in the fiscal year that ended in October 2013, more than double the 2006 level.

— Ponemon Institute

In 2014, security practitioners selected the cybersecurity courses and degree programs at Norwich University in Northfield as the second best in the country.

— Ponemon Institute

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Listings for cybersecurity positions rose 73% from 2007 through 2012, 3.5 times faster than postings for computer jobs as a whole.

training CoLLege stuDents to Fight CYBer Crime

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explains director Jonathan Rajewski, an asigital devices such as laptops sistant professor in Champlain’s Division of and smartphones store massive COMPANY Information Technology and Sciences. The amounts of data, from emails and Leahy Center trim 32-year-old with close-cropped hair texts to photos and GPS coordifor Digital looks more like an FBI agent than a profesnates. That information can be helpful to Investigation sor. In fact, he’s a member of the Vermont police when the owner is a crime victim, or at Champlain Internet Crimes Against Children Task a perpetrator. But understanding what to College Force; in 2011, Forensic 4cast named him look for and accessing it — not to mention Digital Forensic Investigator of the Year. keeping up with all the apps, operating sysLOCATION Rajewski explains that “some prettems and privacy issues — takes time.

Burlington ty big cases in Burlington and throughThat’s why many Vermont police deout Vermont” have made use of his stupartments and law firms seek help from WEBSITE dents‘ research, though that’s as much as the Leahy Center for Digital Investigation lcdi.champlain.edu he can reveal. Many of the recent high-proat Champlain College. This professionfile murder cases in Vermont have includal laboratory, established with a $500,000 ed evidence derived from digital forensics Department of Justice earmark secured by investigations.

Senator Patrick Leahy, specializes in mobile forensics, The students assist law enforcement in a variety of digital evidence management, data recovery and law-enways. The LCDI staff studies digital devices and experforcement training. It’s one of the reasons SC Magazine iments with ways to extract data — these studies can chose Champlain’s digital forensics program as the Best take “40 to 80 to 100 hours,” Rajewski notes. They also Cyber Security Higher Education Program in 2013.

The LCDI is run by Champlain faculty and staffed by monitor battery usage, because devices consume varying amounts of power depending on which apps are open.

50 undergraduate and graduate students. “The LCDI is If someone were driving while wearing Google Glass, for an educational center focused on helping students get real-world practical experience while they attend col- instance, their studies might be able to show whether the wearer was using apps while on the road. lege,” says Robin Abramson, provost and chief academic The students publish their research on Champlain’s officer. “The things we’re doing at the LCDI will help not Computer & Digital Forensics blog, which documents only students, but Vermonters throughout the state.” their efforts to pry inside iPhones and a Smart TV from LCDI clients include federal, state and local law-enSamsung, as well as their experiments in recovering forcement agencies, as well as private companies and data from cloud-based services such as Google Drive, nonprofits. “Right now, we’re their research wing,”

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DeFenDing Data

W “It’s cool to know that

I DIDN’T HAVE TO GO TO CALIFORNIA to be involved in something like this.”

GABE KOSS, SENIOR ENGINEER AT PWNIE EXPRESS Dropbox and SkyDrive. Rajewski says they get thousands of hits a month, mainly from other data security professionals.

The LCDI also helps clients develop cybersecurity plans. Data breaches can be costly; a 2012 study by NetDiligence reports “the average insurance cost per breach was $3.7 million, up sharply from last year’s study where the average insurance cost per breach was $2.4 million.”

And the LCDI hosts trainings for lawenforcement officials. A session on iPhones, for example, might explain something as basic as how to put the phone in Airplane Mode, to prevent anyone from accessing it wirelessly.

Rajewski notes that the LCDI is able to offer all of these services at a reduced cost, because it relies on student labor. Unlike the graysuited administrator, the kids show up for work wearing jeans, hoodies and piercings.

It’s a worthwhile trade-off for them, though — more than 90 percent of Champlain’s digital forensics grads get job offers within the first few months of graduation. The largest cybersecurity consulting companies come to Champlain College on an annual basis to compete for its students.

The lab has been so successful, it’s expanding. According to David Provost, senior vice president of finance, “the LCDI will add on to its existing 900-square-foot space in the next year, doubling the number of computer stations available.”

Rajewski is also collaborating with BTV Ignite, which seeks to develop apps that use Burlington Telecom’s gigabit internet connection. He hopes to leverage the lightning-fast network to create a “forensic cloud,” which will be piloted in Burlington and then rolled out to select US Ignite partner cities.

“We want to put Burlington on the map,” he says.

orried about hackers compromising your company’s servers? Cybersecurity start-up Pwnie Express, founded in 2010, proposes that the best defense is a good offense.

Pwnie derives its name from the hacker slang term “pwn,” which rhymes with “own” and refers to a humiliating defeat.

The company’s website uses the term in a sentence: “Don’t get pwned by network hackers.” Its Pwn Plug 2 looks like a harmless Wi-Fi router, but it’s actually a powerful “drop box” that, once installed, lets companies try to penetrate their own firewalls to discover their vulnerabilities.

COMPANY Hackers have been rigging drop Pwnie Express boxes to penetrate networks for years. But Pwnie commodified LOCATION this technology and put it in the Berlin hands of the good guys. The company built a standardized peneWEBSITE tration-testing tool that retails for pwnieexpress.com just $1,100. It gives corporate security professionals the ability to monitor network security remotely, which saves on costly and time-consuming site visits.

In other words, the Pwn Plug 2 makes penetration testing “much, much, much cheaper,” says Senior Engineer Gabe Koss. As a result, Pwnie has been lauded in the industry press, and received the 2013 Vermont Tech Jam Innovator Award. More than 1,000 customers worldwide now use Pwnie’s products, from Fortune 500 companies to government agencies and security service providers.

The company began when founder Dave Porcello started making early drop box prototypes in his Barre basement and offering them for sale on his blog. Strong demand encouraged him to expand his operations, so he, Koss and Robert Awk founded Pwnie. The Vermont Center for Emerging Technologies incubated the company and, in 2012, helped Pwnie secure $600,000 from the Vermont Seed Capital Fund and a Boston investor. In 2013, Pwnie raised over $5 million in Series A funding; the Vermont Seed Capital Fund is its only local investor.

Pwnie now has 15 employees, who are split between the company’s offices in Boston, Berlin, Vt., and the Karma Bird House in Burlington, where Koss is based. The 30-year-old Montpelier native and UVM grad notes that the company has kept its R&D operations in Vermont, as well as its shipping, manufacturing and customer service staff. All of the company’s products are still assembled in Berlin; South Burlington’s Logic Supply builds the shell for the Pwn Appliance, a unit that’s larger and more powerful than the Pwn Plug 2.

Koss is proud of the company’s Vermont roots and hopes Pwnie Express can help attract more cybersecurity talent to the state. “It’s cool to know that I didn’t have to go to California to be involved in something like this,” he says. “I want to see jobs like this be the norm in Vermont.”

The Pwn Plug 2

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STEPHEN MEASE

INSIDE THE TECH ECOSYSTEM 10

Local 64

The Karma Bird House

Coworking spaces, business incubators, makerspaces and hackerspaces are hubs of entrepreneurial activity — and they’re popping up in vacant downtown spaces all over Vermont. They give freelance professionals a place to work, offer start-ups access to low-cost office space and provide inventors with access to shared tools such as 3-D printers and laser cutters.

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COURTESY OF KARMA BIRD HOUSE

SPACES

Generator Board of Directors: Denise Shekerjian, Doug Webster, Chris Thompson, Ken Howell, Generator Director Christy Mitchell, John Cohn, Doreen Kraft, Pauline Law, Michael Metz and Dan Harvey

MATTHEW THORSEN

THE GENERATOR: The new Generator makerspace, located in the Annex of Burlington’s city-owned Memorial Auditorium, offers members studio space, classes and access to equipment.

LABORATORY B: Burlington’s volunteer-run hackerspace offers community classes in soldering and coding. It also hosts forums about topics such as “crypto-currencies” — think Bitcoin.

OFFICE SQUARED: Jen Mincar owns and runs Burlington’s oldest coworking space, on Main Street; it recently expanded to a College Street location.

LOCAL 64: Lars Torres, director of Vermont’s Office of the Creative Economy, founded Montpelier’s downtown coworking space. It attracts a cross-section of tenants, including video-game designers and online-marketing professionals.

VERMONT CENTER FOR EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES: VCET is currently incubating several agricultural, manufacturing and tech-based businesses at its Burlington and Middlebury offices.

THE KARMA BIRD HOUSE: This building, at 47 Maple Street, Burlington, once belonged exclusively to JDK Design but is now home to freelance programmers, small businesses and tech start-ups, including Pwnie Express and Birnam Wood Games.

Vermont Office of Creative Economy Director Lars Torres reports that coworking spaces are currently forming in Newport, White River Junction, Springfield, Brattleboro, Middlebury and Vergennes.

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GAMING COMPANY

Birnam Wood Games

LOCATION Burlington

WEBSITE

birnamwoodgames.com

OLIVER PARINI

Matt Brand, Mike Hopke and Marguerite Dibble of Birnam Wood Games at the Karma Bird House

starting up Vermont’s ViDeo game inDustrY

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QUICKFACTS The global wireless games market will reach $14.4 billion by 2017.

— PricewaterhouseCoopers

58% of Americans play video games; 36% of gamers play games on their smartphones; 25% play on their wireless devices.

— Entertainment Software Association

The first Green Mountain Games Festival at Champlain College in February, 2014, drew 31 exhibitors and more than 250 students and community members.

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irnam Wood Games employs the latest digital tools, but the Burlington-based video game studio takes its name from a 400-year-old source: Shakespeare’s Macbeth. In the play, the English army camouflages itself with branches from Birnam Wood during the final assault on the Scottish castle. BWG founder and CEO Marguerite Dibble likens that historic stealth attack to the way video games are battling novels, TV and movies to emerge as the 21st century’s dominant artistic medium.

The svelte and poised 24-yearold is an unlikely general to be leading the charge. A native of the tiny Bennington County town of Landgrove, Dibble wasn’t even allowed to play video games, or watch much TV, as a kid. After graduating from Burr and Burton Academy, she attended Champlain College to study video game art and animation. That’s where she met the other members of her team; BWG formed after graduation. The goal? To stay in Vermont and be part of an emerging gaming industry that counts just a few other developers in the state.

BWG has produced several titles so far. Its most recent release, funded by Boston-based publisher Gameblyr, is an infectious strategy game called Pathogen — available on tablets and mobile devices for $2.99. Industry reviewers have given it high marks: “Pathogen’s simpleyet-addictive gameplay is augmented by terrific presentation, with visuals that make it feel like you’re playing on a computer from a 1980s sci-fi movie,” wrote Andrew Webster for the Verge. Pathogen won Best Online Game in the Mass Digi Games Challenge and is one of several titles nominated by PocketGamer for Best Casual/Puzzle Game of 2013.

But as with many art forms, critical and commercial

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successes don’t always go hand in hand. BWG pays its bills primarily by taking on commercial work. The studio has applied its expertise in gamification to projects for companies such as Vermont Energy Investment Corporation and JDK Design.

Seven Days hired the studio to create Runoff, an educational game that demonstrates how rain barrels can reduce stormwater runoff into Lake Champlain.

ECHO Lake Aquarium and Science Center helped design Runoff; visitors to ECHO can play it in a vintage arcade cabinet outfitted by Logic Supply of South Burlington. According to BWG’s database, Runoff has been played more than 10,000 times since it launched in the summer of 2013.

A forthcoming commercial project has a similar, socially responsible goal. BWG collaborated with Burlington-based Superconductor on 8BitFit, a free, fitness-tracking app.

“It uses game mechanics to motivate you to exercise,” Dibble explains. The app helps users earn points for running and walking, for example. “Instead of interacting with the game through a joystick,” she says, “you’re interacting through your personal fitness.”

Dibble admits that juggling all of these projects while making intelligent, artistic games — and making payroll — is a constant challenge. “It’s absolutely insane,” she says.

That’s one reason she’s working with local advisors and angel investors; she’s hoping to raise a couple hundred thousand dollars to fund the creation of a commercially driven game that will generate steady revenue.

That, she says, will help pay for more creative projects and let BWG continue to employ Champlain College gaming grads.

“It’ll keep more good talent in the area,” she says.

EDUCATION

Breaking the Language Barrier

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MATTHEW THORSEN

arlez-vous Français? For nearly 100 years, university students, diplomats and business leaders have come to Middlebury College to learn to speak French and other foreign languages. The Middlebury Language Schools, established in 1915, have an international reputation for high-quality instruction.

Now K-12 students can benefit from Middlebury’s proven language learning methods, too — using digital tools developed by Middlebury Interactive Languages. The company, founded in 2010, is a joint venture between the college and K12 Inc., a Virginia technology firm that creates online learning solutions.

Middlebury Interactive receives guidance from the school — its chief learning officer is Middlebury Interactive Aline Germain-Rutherford, who is also direcemployees Reuben tor of the French Oswald, Ben Simmons, School and associCOMPANY Stacey Rainey, Rachel ate vice president Middlebury Interactive Connor, Erin McCormick of the language and Languages and Reinhold Lange graduate programs. work at the company LOCATION But it employs its headquarters Middlebury own linguistic and software experts, WEBSITE three of whom middleburyinteractive.com found the company through primarily with schools and school districts. Teachers the Vermont Tech Jam. use the company’s media-rich tools to supplement exMany of its 45 Vermont employees are Middlebury isting instruction, offer additional language levels such College grads. “A lot of folks want to come back,” ob- as advanced placement courses, or even to add programs serves chief strategy officer Stacey Rainey. Those who re- where none existed before. turn to the quintessential Vermont college town work That was the case at the K-8 Coventry Village School, in a spacious, brightly painted office just a few minutes’ one of 29 Vermont schools that participated in the comdrive from campus. pany’s Vermont World Language Initiative in 2013. This There they’ve developed French, Spanish, German, pilot program gave Vermont schools discounted access Chinese and Latin courses for K-12 students using the to Middlebury Interactive courses, as well as four days college’s immersive language pedagogy and teaching of teacher training that were subsidized by the college. methodology. Courses for the youngest learners involve The initiative helped Coventry establish a French proplaying games and listening to stories and songs; offer- gram, which enabled some students to learn to commuings at the high school level develop students’ reading, nicate for the first time with French-speaking relatives writing, speaking and listening skills through activities in Québec. and videos. Today more than 170,000 students at 1,200 And Middlebury Interactive isn’t just offering digischools across the country use Middlebury Interactive’s tal courses. The company also runs immersive summer digital courses. language academies for teens, similar to Middlebury The venture provides a way for the college to capitalCollege’s summer programs, at three liberal arts collegize on its rep and benefit from the online-ed boom — the es. The company added a Chinese academy in Beijing school owns a 40-percent stake in the company — but in 2013, and an academy in Spain starts in June, 2014. it’s also a response to a real need.

Demand for all of these services is strong, says Rainey.

Fluency in a language other than English is increasing- The company initially expected to double in size by ly valuable in a global economy. And studies show that 2015, but met that goal in a year — a sign that college the younger kids start learning, the better. Meanwhile, president Ronald Leibowitz was onto something when cash-strapped K-12 schools across the country are elimhe guided the school into this partnership. inating foreign language programs; just 58 percent of In a 2010 note to the community explaining the new middle schools offered language instruction in 2008, venture, he wrote: “To be an innovator and a leader, we down from 75 percent in 1997. must continue to take smart risks and adapt to changUnlike Rosetta Stone, which markets language soft- es — in this case, the opportunities technology has to ware to consumers, Middlebury Interactive works offer.”

QUICKFACTS 7.1 million postsecondary students take at least one class online.

— Grade Change: Tracking Online Education in the U.S. 2013

In 2012-2013, the Vermont Virtual Learning Cooperative partnered with 76% of the state’s high schools to offer online classes, many of which would otherwise be unavailable in small, rural schools. Recent course offerings include AP Calculus, Latin, Intro to Green Energy Design and 3-D Modeling to Print.

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HEALTH CARE

BuiLDing a Better LaBoratorY COMPANY BioTek Instruments LOCATION Winooski WEBSITE biotek.com

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espite the double whammy of government sequestration and a new excise tax on medical devices, Winooski’s BioTek Instruments had a good 2013.

The 45-year-old, family-owned firm designs and manufactures microplate spectrophotometers — high-tech diagnostic instruments that allow researchers to analyze blood and tissue samples and test for diseases such as hepatitis and HIV. Sales were up, and BioTek increased its BioTek Laboratory Manager market share. Why? President and CEO Briar Paul Held works on tissue Alpert cites two factors. First, the company cultures at the BioTek laboratory introduced a new product, the Cytation3, a combination microplate spectrophotometer and microscope.

“These kinds of machines were once only available to “It’s basically a microscope in a box,” says Alpert. “But multi-billion-dollar companies,” Alpert explains. “Now it’s a very sophisticated box.” they’re available to biotech start-ups. An army of reThe Cytation3 allows researchers to analyze their searchers is getting access to an affordable tool.” samples and then take images of them using a highIn the fall of 2013, SelectScience, an independent powered microscope, all in the same machine. This twoworldwide scientific review website, gave the Cytation3 in-one device saves lab space and simplifies the scientific its Scientists’ Choice Award for Best Drug Discovery process by enabling researchers to use one set of samples Product. The instrument also won the New Product rather than two.

Innovation Award at the MipTec conference and exhibiAnd it’s a lot cheaper than its competitors. Alpert says tion in Basel, Switzerland. And it’s a finalist for the 2014 that before the Cytation3, Edison Awards, which recognize “innovation, creativity companies would have to and ingenuity in the global economy.” pay between $250,000 BioTek’s second big revenue driver in 2013 was overand $1 million to get seas expansion, according to Alpert. All of the compaequivalent functionny’s design and manufacturing is done by its 241 emality. Cytation3 costs ployees in Winooski. But BioTek also employs 130 sales in the $40,000 to and service workers in 10 overseas subsidiaries, in plac$80,000 range. es such as China, France, Germany and India. In 2013,

The Cytation3, a cell imaging microscope, developed by BioTek COURTESY OF BIOTEK INSTRUMENTS

BioTek opened offices in Japan and Taiwan.

Alpert says it’s imperative that the company establish teams across the globe to sell these Vermont-made products. “Locally based BioTek personnel are able to offer the customer a superior level of technical expertise, service and support that simply can’t be accomplished remotely,” he explains. Overseas sales currently account for about half of BioTek’s approximately $100 million in annual revenue.

Alpert, who owns and runs BioTek with his brother,

COMPANY OpenTempo LOCATION Williston WEBSITE opentempo.com

YOU HAVE TO CONSTANTLY BE FILLING THE PIPELINE.” OLIVER PARINI

BRIAR ALPERT, PRESIDENT AND CEO OF BIOTEK Adam, attributes the company’s longevity to innovation. If BioTek hadn’t invested heavily in developing the Cytation3, he reasons, revenues would have been down in 2013.

“You have to constantly be investing in the future of the company,” Alpert insists. “You have to constantly be filling the pipeline.”

For BioTek, that means investing in products, but also in people. “We pay people well,” says Alpert, and the company also picks up the tab for their education. A number of employees have gone back to school on the company’s dime to earn bachelor’s and master’s degrees at UVM, St. Michael’s College and Champlain College.

Alpert’s father, Norman, was the firm’s founder and a University of Vermont physiologist.

BioTek’s global reach hasn’t loosened its local roots. “We’re hiring Vermont vendors,” says Alpert, citing Winooski neighbor Eastman Benz, whose employees produce circuit boards for the company. “We literally purchase millions of dollars of parts and service in Vermont.” BioTek has also sponsored the Vermont Tech Jam, as well as a local high school robotics team.

“The moment you stop making these forward-thinking investments,” he says, “you sign the company’s death warrant.”

Brooke Stahle, director of Peri-Op Services, and resident Lyle Gerety at Fletcher Allan Health Care.

MATTHEW THORSEN

“You have to constantly be investing in the future of the company.

sCheDuLing suCCess

H

ospitals are high-tech environments as far as patient care is concerned, but for many of them, managing doctor and nurse schedules is still a low-tech process.

The complexities of accounting for clinical requirements, staff specialities and certifications, as well as vacation requests and union rules, mean that hospitals still frequently build their schedules by hand. That inflates staffing costs, which typically make up more than 50 percent of a hospital’s operating budget.

Williston-based OpenTempo views this challenge as an opportunity. The rapidly growing company, founded in 2006 by CEO Rich Miller, has designed software that automates the health care staff scheduling process. “We make sure you have the right physician, the right nurse, the right tech in the right place, at the right time,” says John Jordan, vice president of sales and marketing.

Given soaring health care costs and falling reimbursements, this is an area where the right technology can have a big impact. It has in the operating room at Fletcher Allen Health Care in Burlington. Building a schedule for its 160 nurses used to take a health care professional about 80 hours a month.

OpenTempo’s software cut that to just eight hours a month, a tenfold reduction that equates to less time on paperwork and more time on patients.

The Fletcher Allen anesthesiology department also uses OpenTempo, as do a growing number of academic and clinical clients across the country, including Mass General, MD Anderson, Vanderbilt University and the University of Illinois.

As a result, since January 2013, the company has expanded from a handful of staffers to nearly 30 employees, including one recruit from the Vermont Tech Jam. Many of its new hires have come from recently downsized companies such as GE Healthcare, IBM and PKC/Sharecare, and are being retrained thanks to a Vermont Department of Labor grant.

OpenTempo’s software provides a tremendous ROI for large health care systems with hundreds of employees to manage.

And Jordan points out that many of them haven’t upgraded yet. “These organizations need a way to control their operating costs while maintaining excellent patient care,” he says.

“It’s almost shocking how much green space there is in this market.”

QUICKFACTS From 2001-2010, the U.S. bioscience industry grew by 6.4%, adding more than 96,000 jobs.

— Battelle/BIO State Bioscience Industry Development Report

Mobile health technology usage is growing rapidly in the U.S. Analysts predict that the size of the worldwide mobile health market will reach $23 billion by the end of 2017.

— Center for Technology Innovation at the Brookings Institution, in its Health in China and the United States report

H E A LT H C A R E

15

CATHY RESMER

EDUCATION

INSIDE THE TECH ECOSYSTEM

Lizzie Michael and Alexa Herrera at the Governor’s Institutes of Vermont

Vermont’s colleges and universities run a number of STEM-related programs, but they’re not the only places to find tech training. Here are some other organizations offering kids and adults an on-ramp to the information highway.

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SARAH WILLIAMSON

16

Girl Develop It Code and Coffee participants

SARAH WILLIAMSON

Setting up the Maker Bot at a meeting of the Burlington 3-D Printing and Modeling Group.

GOVERNOR’S INSTITUTES OF VERMONT: GIV runs weeklong summer programs for

high schoolers in engineering, information technology and digital media, as well as winter weekends devoted to astrophotography, IT, engineering and advanced mathematics.

GIRL DEVELOP IT BURLINGTON: The local chapter of this national nonprofit offers introductory programming classes for adults. They’re aimed at women, but open to all, regardless of skill level or gender.

FIRST ROBOTICS: Middle and high school students build robots and compete in tournaments through this national league; UVM hosts a competition every spring.

ARTDUINO MAKER CAMP: The organizers of the Champlain Mini Maker Faire put

together this weeklong summer day camp at Shelburne Farms for kids ages 10 to 18. It combines electronics, microcontrollers, writing, movement and music.

BLU-BIN 3-D PRINTING: Burlington’s 3-D print shop, located at 20 Church Street, holds weekly workshops for all ages on 3-D printing and computer-aided design.

YOUNG HACKS ACADEMY: This summer day camp for kids ages 9 to 14 teaches programming fundamentals at 10 Vermont sites, including Hyde Park, Newport and St. Albans.

TARRANT CODE CAMP: UVM hosts this weeklong summer session for K-12 students and educators, organized by the Tarrant Institute for Innovative Education. Offerings include computer art, game development, mobile app development, robotics and web development.

HOUR OF CODE: In 2013, this nationwide campaign promoting computer science

education inspired more than 110 Vermont schools to offer K-12 students an hour of computer programming instruction. Self-guided Hour of Code tutorials are available online at code.org.

USER GROUPS: Programmers who want to stay current can join one of dozens of local volunteer-run user groups, including the Burlington 3-D Printing and Modeling Group.

Find a list of them at techjamvt.com.

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IT ALL ADDS UP

THE ECONOMIC IMPACT OF TECHNOLOGY 18

Why should we care about the health of Vermont’s tech sector?

BECAUSE IT HELPS DRIVE ECONOMIC ACTIVITY ACROSS THE STATE.

25

Vermont Technology Alliance member companies report a 25% INCREASE in employment on average between 2012-2014.

— VTTA DATA

For every software developer hired, vtTA member companies add 6 NONTECHNICAL POSITIONS in fields such as sales, marketing, administration and accounting.

— VTTA DATA

2X

Vermont technology jobs pay up to 70% MORE than the average Vermont wage. Software developers earn twice as much as the Vermont average.

— VERMONT DEPARTMENT OF LABOR WAGE DATA

States actively investing in and utilizing broadband networks are seeing stronger economic growth, better connected communities and enhanced quality of life.

— TECHNET

“Our tech industry is a significant multiplier in our economy. It has spawned a culture of innovation that has resulted in many booming businesses, millions of dollars of development and other capital investment, and a cascading effect of jobs within our communities.”

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— GOV. PETER SHUMLIN, 2014 BUDGET ADDRESS

VERMONT’S TECHNOLOGY BUSINESS SECTOR HAS A SOLID FOUNDATION AND A PROMISING FUTURE. HOW CAN WE HELP THE STATE ADVANCE ITS TECHNOLOGY ECONOMY? Continue investment in Vermont’s broadband connectivity Tech companies require a strong broadband and mobile infrastructure. » With robust broadband connectivity, tech business can be done anywhere in Vermont, bringing jobs to the state. » Vermont has made progress, but more needs to be done to achieve competitive, statewide broadband, including: ą Setting targets for faster broadband speeds at lower prices ą Improving performance, access and choice in the state’s most rural areas

Market Vermont as a home for technology business and careers Vermont’s thriving technology business sector may be one of the state’s best-kept secrets. » Vermont’s rural image sometimes creates the impression that it is not a home for tech entrepreneurs and jobs. But you can be a tech entrepreneur or have a great tech career and experience Vermont’s great quality of life. » Promoting Vermont’s vibrant technology business sector can attract high-tech business and high-tech employment.

Expand opportunities for technology business financing and investment Vermont tech companies say they find it difficult to get business financing. » Many tech companies deal with intellectual, not physical, property, which can make it harder to secure collateral for a large loan. » Providing access to financing creates jobs and helps small technology companies succeed. » The creation of programs and incentives that enable and encourage loans and investment for technology enterprises will drive economic growth and jobs for Vermont.

Encourage educational programs and opportunities for a tech workforce Tech companies look for employees who have a strong foundation in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields, but who can also write, reason and work collaboratively to solve problems. » The vtTA and VTC believe it is important for Vermont to educate, attract and retain a workforce ready for tech careers. This requires: UÊ ÃiÀÊÌ iÃÊ> }ÊÌiV ÊV «> iÃÊ> `Ê6iÀ ̽ÃÊÃV ÃÊ> `Ê } iÀÊi`ÕV>Ì Ê ÃÌ ÌÕÌ Ã UÊ Õ ` }ÊÌiV V>ÀiiÀÊ>Ü>Ài iÃÃÊ> }ÊÃÌÕ`i ÌÃÊ> `Ê«À Û ` }Ê-/ L>Ãi`Êi`ÕV>Ì ]ÊÌÀ> }Ê> `ÊÊ internships for students and adults UÊ,i`ÕV }ÊÌ iÊ ÕÌ }À>Ì Ê vÊ6iÀ ̽ÃÊÞ Õ }ÊÌiV ÊÌ> i ÌÊÜ iÊi V ÕÀ>} }ÊÌ iÊ }À>Ì Ê vÊ new tech workers to the state TA P P I N G T E C H : V E R M O N T ’ S D I G I TA L F U T U R E 1 9

Vincent Flores works on a computer at Logic Supply’s office in Burlington

Designing Computers that Won’t Break DoWn COMPANY Logic Supply LOCATION South Burlington WEBSITE logicsupply.com

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T

he U.S. Coast Guard tracks ships entering American seaports using digital sensors that are positioned along both coasts. But the landlocked state of Vermont supplies the computers that relay this vital security information to a central command post. They’re designed and assembled at Logic Supply in South Burlington.

Founded in 2003 by Roland and Lisa Groeneveld, the growing 50-employee firm specializes in designing and building small, reliable computers that function in rugged environments. The Coast Guard units, for example, are exposed to high humidity and salty sea air.

Logic Supply makes computers that are dust-proof, shock-absorbent, water-resistant and able to function in extreme temperatures. Its products run everything from route management software in garbage trucks to baccarat tables in casinos, from hurricane-hunting Coast Guard helicopters to cranes that can hoist molten steel five stories above the ground.

Some clients install its computers on factory floors, where dust, dirt and debris threaten to overwhelm other models. “It can be as simple as a desktop computer,” says CEO and President Roland Groeneveld. “A computer that just doesn’t die.”

The company achieves that reliability by designing fanless computers with no moving parts. The resulting hardware simply has fewer opportunities to fail.

Logic Supply doesn’t sell these highly engineered computers directly to consumers — its clients are private companies such as Microsoft, Archer Daniels Midland and Caterpillar, and governmental agencies including

V E R M O N T ’ S D I G I TA L F U T U R E

NASA and the U.S. Navy. Logic Supply’s products are in use on every continent except Antartica, though that could soon change: A customer is currently testing a unit for use at the McMurdo Station near the South Pole.

Logic Supply also sells computers to companies that package its products for sale with other systems. A tour of the engineering shop on the first floor of the company’s two-story HQ turns up containers full of panels emblazoned with various brand names — employees affix different versions according to each client’s instructions.

Groeneveld notes that the company’s products are both “unique” and “versatile.”

Its market niche isn’t the only thing that distinguishes Logic Supply; the corporate culture is also somewhat unusual. The privately held company has a flat organizational structure that encourages interdepartmental collaboration. And its culture of transparency extends to salary information, which is shared with everyone on staff.

Most notably, Logic Supply embraces tinkerers. “Geeks are the lifeblood of our organization,” reads the career page on the company website. “If you have ‘Tinkerer’s DNA,’ we want your passion, your ideas and your ability to make things work.”

As a result, the company is a big supporter of Vermont’s maker community — it participates in the Champlain Mini Maker Faire and sponsors maker spaces at Champlain College and Memorial Auditorium, as well as the Vermont Tech Jam and two high school FIRST robotics teams. It also holds microcomputer workshops in which staffers teach participants to build their own small computers.

ADVANCED MANUFACTURING

ARE SORT OF LIMITLESS.” MATTHEW THORSEN

ROLAND GROENEVELD, CEO AND PRESIDENT OF LOGIC SUPPLY

“Ultimately, for us, it’s about local awareness, bringing in fresh blood,” says Groeneveld. It can be hard to find talented employees locally, he adds, though the company did recently hire an engineer who was laid off from IBM. In addition to its Vermont HQ, the company maintains a small office in Taipei, to manage its Asian supply chain, and an office in the Netherlands, Groeneveld’s home country.

Four employees work there and serve Logic Supply’s expanding European Union market.

Groeneveld says he sees a lot of growth potential there.

He also expects growth in the company’s development of networked systems — what futurists refer to as the coming “Internet of Things.” Logic Supply has already installed a wireless RFID system that tracks shipping containers full of produce from South America. If a Logic Supply computer in one of the ports along the way senses from a transmitter in one of the containers that the shipment has been en route for too long, it assumes the food inside has spoiled and reroutes it to a different destination.

Groeneveld predicts that these intelligent systems will help drive Logic Supply’s Vermont expansion — the company recently received a Vermont Employment Growth Incentive Award, based on meeting certain milestones in employee growth, and plans to double the size of its building over the next few years.

Says Groeneveld: “The potential applications are sort of limitless.”

MATTHEW THORSEN

Karl Benz works on a circuit board at Eastman Benz

“The potential applications

assemBLing the essentiaLs

N

early every electronic device contains a printed circuit board with various components soldered on.

Vermont technology companies can assemble their own circuit boards, but creating an in-house manufacturing department is complicated and expensive. And outsourcing COMPANY assembly out of state or overEastman Benz seas presents a variety of different problems.

LOCATION Enter Eastman Benz. The fiveWinooski year-old contract manufacturing company assembles circuit boards WEBSITE for clients who need a few pieces eastmanbenz.com quickly for building prototypes or a few hundred units a month to satisfy low-volume production needs.

Its customers include more than 30 local technology companies, engineers, and inventors.

The company’s two founders, Dan Eastman and Karl Benz, met while pursuing engineering degrees at Vermont Technical College. They later worked for IBM and various other companies. In 2008, Microprocessor Designs in Shelburne asked Eastman to produce some circuit-board prototypes; the East Hardwick native and his friend Benz started laboring away at Eastman’s kitchen table on nights and weekends. They soon realized they could turn this side job into a full-time gig, and went into business together.

Today the company’s five employees assemble hundreds of printed circuit boards, cables and electromechanical devices every month in their 5,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art manufacturing facility. All of the employees are engineers, a fact that separates Eastman-Benz from its competitors. Benz notes that it’s important to have engineers talking to engineers when assembling a new product for the first time or troubleshooting technical issues that inevitably surface when dealing with complex products.

Eastman Benz has grown steadily — Eastman predicts the company will double in size this year, and within five years will be generating $8 to $10 million in annual revenue. It might be filling a small-volume niche, but, as Eastman observes, “We have big plans.”

QUICKFACTS Manufacturing has a larger multiplier effect than any other major economic activity — $1 spent in manufacturing generates $1.35 in additional economic activity.

— Manufacturing.gov

On average, 1 new manufacturing job creates 1.6 additional jobs in local service businesses.

Jobs in high-tech manufacturing industries, which require workers with high skill levels and pay above-average wages, generate 5 local service jobs.

— Manufacturing.gov

A D VA N C E D M A N U FA CT U R I N G

21

CONNECTIVITY

INSIDE THE TECH ECOSYSTEM

the digital future using physical infrastructure — fiber and Wi-Fi — as well as community resources.

These companies and networks help them plug in.

COURTESY OF JIM LOCKERIDGE

22

Vermonters connect to

Members of Code for BTV and the Civic Cloud Collaborative at the Big Heavy World office in Burlington

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INFRASTRUCTURE FAIRPOINT COMMUNICATIONS, COMCAST, SOVERNET, EC FIBER, VTEL, GREEN MOUNTAIN ACCESS, BURLINGTON TELECOM: These are among the leading

companies providing broadband service to residential and business customers in Vermont.

FIRSTLIGHT FIBER: This Albany, N.Y.-based company acquired Vermont-based TelJet in 2012. It owns a fiber network that provides high-speed data, internet, colocation and voice services to many Vermont businesses and institutions.

WINDSTREAM COMMUNICATIONS: This Arkansas-based company is leading provider of advanced network communications to Vermont businesses, including broadband, cloud computing, data center and managed services.

COMMUNITY RESOURCES BROADBANDVT.ORG: This online resource is a cooperative effort of the Vermont Center

for Geographic Information, the Vermont Telecommunications Authority, the Vermont Department of Public Service and the Center for Rural Studies at UVM. It’s an online source for information on Vermont broadband services and initiatives.

BTV IGNITE: A national partnership between the city of Burlington and US Ignite promotes the creation of new apps that take advantage of Burlington Telecom’s unique gigabit-persecond capacity.

CODE FOR BTV: Affiliated with the National Code for America, this group of volunteer “civic hackers,” captained by Bradley Holt and Jason Pelletier, builds digital tools for municipalities and nonprofits. Its Civic Cloud Collaborative project recently won a grant from the Knight Foundation.

INVENTVERMONT: This inventor-led organization provides information and resources about everything from product development and patenting to marketing.

STARTUPVT: Part of the Startup America Partnership, this organization seeks to strengthen Vermont’s start-up ecosystem by bringing entrepreneurs together and helping them find the resources they need.

VERMONT DIGITAL ECONOMY PROJECT: This initiative, part of the Vermont Center for Rural Development, helps rural communities build their digital infrastructure by hosting digital training programs for employees of municipalities, small businesses and nonprofits.

VERMONT OFFICE OF THE CREATIVE ECONOMY: Software, gaming and design are

among the tech industries the OCE promotes through its regular email newsletters and video profiles.

VERMONT TECH JAM WEBSITE: Seven Days maintains techjamvt.com and compiles a weekly email newsletter featuring tech news, jobs and local events.

VERMONT TECHNOLOGY ALLIANCE: The vtTA connects its members through a

monthly email newsletter, as well as mixers and Lunch and Learns. Topics have included “Women in STEM” and “Vermont’s Economic Development Plan.”

VERMONT TECHNOLOGY COUNCIL: The Council serves as the statewide board for the National Science Foundation-sponsored Vermont EPSCoR program, and runs vermont.internships.com, which matches employers and student interns.

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C2 founding partners: President & CEO Carolyn Edwards, VP of Engineering Melissa Dever, VP of Managed Support Todd Kelley, VP of Enterprise Infrastructure Martin Thieret

keeping Vermont Companies CompetitiVe COMPANY C2 LOCATION Colchester WEBSITE competitive.com

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K

eeping up with technology is a challenge for every organization that employs it. Choosing the right software vendors, e-commerce platforms and cloud computing options requires a level of expertise that’s increasingly difficult to find.

That’s why many Vermont businesses and institutions turn to C2 for help. Founded in 1993 by four Vermonters who met while working for Digital Equipment Corporation, C2 uses top-of-the-line technologies to help its clients become more competitive.

Its 78 employees attain and renew their industry certifications to stay up to date with the latest tools. They work closely with leading vendors such as Microsoft, Dell, VMware and Sitecore to craft digital solutions for some of Vermont’s best-known multichannel retailers, including Orvis, Seventh Generation and Keurig Green Mountain.

But as cofounder and vice president of engineering Melissa Dever points out, the C2 team doesn’t just talk about tech. They start by

V E R M O N T ’ S D I G I TA L F U T U R E

discussing the clients’ business goals. “We want to know: What are you trying to achieve?” she says.

For example, she offers, Massachusetts-based stationary company Crane & Co. wanted to produce wedding invitation proofs more quickly so that couples and their parents wouldn’t have to wait six to eight weeks to see a sample invitation. A conversation with Crane’s leadership led C2 to develop the company’s Personalized Design Studio.

Its easy-to-use interface connects directly with the company’s back-end production management systems and allows salespeople at Tiffany & Co., Cartier and Macy’s to enter invitation information and produce proofs immediately.

The couple can test different fonts, colors, themes and styles right there in the store.

The system, first designed in 1997, saves Crane time and helps close sales more quickly.

“It’s more rocket science than you’d think,” quips Dever.

When Keurig Green Mountain was looking for a way to double web sales and

IT SOLUTIONS Standing: Chris Hill, Eric Hart and Matt Beckert of NPI; seated: Trish Scott and Chuck Stevens of Ascension Technology Corporation

MATTHEW THORSEN

OLIVER PARINI

increase membership in its coffee clubs, C2 built the company a new e-commerce site using Sitecore Content Management and Commerce Server from Microsoft. This platform supported multiple sites, resulting in a dramatic increase in web sales. It became a major cornerstone for the company’s digital marketing campaigns and new product introductions.

Once C2 builds these systems, it can continue to support and overhaul them when new tools become available, says cofounder and CEO Carolyn Edwards. “It’s our job to understand how to leverage new technology,” she explains. “We use it to help our clients keep their businesses current.”

In addition to architecting front-end solutions, C2 also helps clients streamline internal operations. For Saint Michael’s College, that meant updating the school’s email platform using a Microsoft Exchange Server. For Renewable NRG Systems, it meant a significant upgrade to internal infrastructure, a new SharePoint intranet for internal information sharing, as well as an external website supporting customers worldwide.

C2 also provides infrastructure and mission-critical support services. When a customer’s Vermont-based data center flooded during Tropical Storm Irene, Martin Thieret – C2 cofounder and vice president of enterprise infrastructure solutions – headed to Waterbury.

“I was handed a plastic bag with a muddy server in it,” he recalls. The replacement equipment was no longer available commercially, but Thieret was able to leverage C2’s client relationships to find the parts to get a crucial database back online. “You can’t build these relationships when you need them,” he says. “You have to have them already.”

C2 is also building relationships with the next generation of tech talent. The company runs a highly developed internship program and typically hires up to 10 college students each summer, some of whom become fulltime employees after graduation.

In 2013, C2 took on a pro bono gig — helping the Vermont Technology Council develop a new internship portal for the state.

The Tech Council’s new, free-to-use site, vermont.internships.com allows other Vermont companies to connect with students seeking internships.

C2 also supports a variety of other projects that foster the state’s burgeoning tech scene.

The company has been a sponsor of Hack VT and the Vermont Tech Jam, as well as Girl Develop It, which offers low-cost coding classes to professionals working in other fields.

C2 employees have spoken to students at the STEM Academy at Essex High School and are involved in launching the Coder Dojo BTV, a volunteer-led coding club for kids ages 7 to 17.

Those investments share the goal of developing C2’s — and Vermont’s — future workforce, ensuring that Vermont companies can keep competing.

making the net Work

S

helburne’s Ascension Technology Corporation makes 3-D tracking devices that guide medical instruments inside a patient’s body. But when the company needs IT guidance and support, it relies on Network Performance, Inc. The South Burlington company helped Ascension design its IT network, which NPI supports with remote monitoring and management.

The technology management firm has been working as an advisor to Vermont companies for 25 years. Cofounders John Burton and Eric Hart have built COMPANY information infrastructure in a Network variety of businesses around the Northeast. Burton says he and Performance, Inc. Hart quickly realized that there LOCATION was a business opportunity in South Burlington helping smaller companies navigate technological challenges.

WEBSITE “They really need somebody on npi.net their side,” he explains.

Today, the two manage a 14-person team that provides technical, administrative and consulting expertise to small companies with 10 to 100 employees. NPI’s diverse client list includes other tech companies, such as Ascension and Revision Military, as well as Darn Tough, Bond Auto Parts and Wake Robin.

NPI’s staff work inside the company’s secure facility, nestled on a road behind the GE Healthcare complex; its lobby is separated from the offices by a door with a computerized lock.

Visitors must sign in and don badges — Burton explains that NPI needs to abide by the same security protocols that govern its military and medical-industry clients.

To serve their needs, NPI offers what it calls its “Canopy” service, which provides: 24/7 emergency response; repairs guaranteed 365 days a year; license and warranty tracking; stocking of spare equipment; disaster recovery; and regular IT review and strategy check-ins. NPI’s staff also provides technology management guidance and advises clients on ways to increase returns on their technology investments.

“It’s not the fun stuff, really,” Burton observes. It’s just the stuff that keeps in-house IT people too busy to do proactive work on the company’s behalf. Eliminating that burden is what NPI does best — so that its clients can focus on what they do best.

QUICKFACTS The U.S. IT industry makes up 28% of the U.S. economy, and 88% of the nation’s IT industry is made up of businesses with between 1-19 workers.

— CompTIA, the IT industry association

The IT industry provides higher salaries than most other industries, with technical workers earning an average of $81,000 per year.

— CompTIA, the IT industry association

IT SOLUTIONS

25

COMPLETE THE CIRCUIT

NOW IT’S TIME TO…

Here are some of the ways to get involved with the Vermont Technology Council and the Vermont Technology Alliance.

FIND AND OFFER INTERNSHIPS THROUGH VERMONT.INTERNSHIPS.COM Students know that internships lead to jobs and Vermont companies realize the value of internships as a recruitment tool — about 70 percent of students who complete an internship receive a job offer following their internship placement.

That’s why the Vermont Technology Council helps connect in-state businesses with motivated, capable students for tech internships. Businesses provide the opportunities, students provide the talent, and the online Vermont Internships platform brings the two together.

VERMONT.INTERNSHIPS.COM is free for both students and employers. Students can search, view and apply for internships and find career resources. Employers can post internship positions, search for qualified students, and find information about starting and building an internship program.

Check it out at vermont.internships.com and visit the Vermont Technology Council’s website at VTTECHCOUNCIL.ORG.

JOIN THE vtTA The Vermont Technology Alliance is the voice for the state’s thriving tech sector, focused on: • Promoting the growth of technology businesses and technology jobs • Creating opportunities for collaboration and networking • Sponsoring technology programs, events and special projects • Sharing technology news, information and resources • Advocating on behalf of Vermont’s technology business sector • Providing outreach, information and support to government, business and education leaders • Encouraging STEM (science, technology, engineering and math)-based education and careers

and

vtTA members are crucial to helping accomplish the goals of the Vermont Technology Alliance, and benefit from its many networking opportunities. Become a member, or support the vtTA as a sponsor.

Find out how at VERMONTTECHNOLOGYALLIANCE.ORG.

PARTICIPATE IN OUR PROGRAMS The vtTA offers programs and initiatives in support of Vermont’s tech community, including: • Vermont Tech Jam: an annual job fair and tech expo that showcases Vermont technology companies, careers and opportunities • Tech Jam Awards: vtTA’s annual awards program recognizing innovative Vermont technology products and people • Lunch & Learn: monthly information and networking sessions featuring guest speakers addressing a range of tech-focused topics • Social Events: the vtTA hosts social and networking events, such as the summer dinner cruise and a year-end social gathering • Tech Community Outreach: the vtTA promotes and supports technology organizations and events

CONNECT WITH THE vtTA Visit us at vermonttechnologyalliance.org and SIGN UP FOR OUR MONTHLY NEWSLETTER Connect with us on social media: LinkedIn: linkedin/VermontTechAlliance Join us on Facebook: facebook.com/VermontTechAlliance Follow us on twitter: twitter.com/VermontTechAlliance Get Tech Jam updates at

TECHJAMVT.COM

TA P P I N G T E C H : V E R M O N T ’ S D I G I TA L F U T U R E 2 7

Vermont’s tech economy continues to grow, but the vtTA believes there are more opportunities for the state to truly tap the tech sector and maximize its potential.

By working together to make Vermont a home for tech companies and entrepreneurs, we can keep these high-paying jobs in the state, and attract even more in the years to come.

VERMONT COMPANIES THAT ARE “TAPPING TECH” • 1105 Media/MSDN Magazine

Colchester

Ask-int Tag

Essex Jct

3W Promotions

Hyde Park

Astute Computing, LLC

Waterbury Center

6 Degrees Software and Consulting, Inc.

Burlington

Audio-Video Corporation

Shelburne

7th Pixel

Montpelier

Aurora North Software

Burlington

AADCO Medical

Randolph

Availability Online

Rutland

Accelerated Outsourcing

Bristol

AvantLogic Corporation

Waitsfield

Accolade Group

Waterville

Avocado Design

Williamsville

Accutrace Design, LLC

Williston

Basic Eparts

Charlotte

Acute Technology

Morrisville

• Bear Code

Montpelier

Advanced Illumination

Rochester

Bear Pond Productions

Cambridge

Agilion

Burlington

Bia Diagnostics

Burlington

• Aerie Consulting

Winooski

BioMosaics, Inc.

Burlington

Ai Squared

Manchester Center

BioTek Instruments

Winooski

Aiki Creative

Woodstock

Birnam Wood Games

Burlington

• AJ Rossman

Burlington

BK’s Computing

Barre

Albany College of Pharmacy & Health Sciences

Colchester

Blu-Bin

Burlington Burlington,

• Alfred James Brignull

Essex Jct

Blue Morpho Technologies, LLC

All-Access Infotech, LLC

Fairlee

• Bluehouse Group

Richmond

All Earth Renewables

Williston

BLZ Services, Inc.

Essex Jct

Allscripts

South Burlington

• Brandthropology, Inc.

Burlington

Alpine Web Media

Shelburne

Breen Systems Management

Vergennes

American Healthcare Software

South Burlington

Brighter Planet

Shelburne

Anything Graphic

Pittsford

Brown Computer Solutions

Bennington

• Appleseed Solutions

Essex Jct

Burlington Bytes

Burlington

Art Services, Graphic Design & Advertising

Hartland

Button Systems

Castleton

Cadenza Systems

Middlebury

Art Seventy, Inc.

Newport

Burlington

Ascendant Data Technologies, Inc.

Hartland

Caleidoscope Communications Company Cambium Group

St. Johnsbury

Ascension Technology Corp.

Shelburne

Capacitor Design Network

Hinesburg

ASIC North, Inc.

Williston

• Care.com

Moretown

High-Tech Programs. High-Tech Pay.

CONNECTING BUSINESS WITH TECHNOLOGY FOR SUCCESS. APPLY TODAY!

ccv.edu Give your career a jump-start and enjoy the lowest tuition of any college in Vermont.

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TA P P I N G T E C H :

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For over 20 years, we’ve been helping businesses be more competitive with technology.

COMMERCE | HYBRID CLOUD | MANAGED SERVICES | COMPETITIVE.COM | COLCHESTER, VT

Vermont Technology Alliance Members Cartographic Technologies, Inc.

Putney

Direct Design, Inc.

• Casenet, LLC

Charlotte

Divergent Technology Group, Inc.

Burlington Perkinsville

Catamount Research and Development, Inc.

St. Albans

Diversified Technology

Springfield

• Champlain College

Burlington

• Chroma Technology Group

Bellows Falls

ClearBearing

Burlington

• Coldwell Banker Hickok & Boardman Realty

Burlington

• Coler and Colantonio

Burlington

Comcast Cable

South Burlington

Commerce Generation

Burlington

Community College of Vermont

Montpelier

• C2-Competitive Computing

Dog River Business Solutions, LLC

Springfield

Dominion Tech

Colchester

Dot Four

Shaftsbury

Draker

Burlington

Dreamlike Pictures

Burlington

Duelmark Aerospace Corp

Cambridge

• Dunkiel Saunders Elliott Raubvogel & Hand, PLLC

Burlington

DYMPOL, Inc.

Waitsfield

Colchester

Dynamic Business Solutions, Inc.

South Burlington

Comport Consulting Vermont

South Burlington

Eagle Network Solutions

Burlington

Computational Geology, Inc.

Weybridge

Earthlogic, Inc.

Colchester

Computer EZ

Mendon

East Street Information Ltd

Essex Jct

Concept Engineering

Middlesex

Eastern Systems Group

Waitsfield

Concepts NREC

White River Jct

• Eastman Benz

Winooski

Conix Systems

Manchester Center

EC Fiber

Royalton

Control Technologies

Williston

Ecopixel, LLC

Essex Jct

Cottage Industries Ltd

Jeffersonville

Edgeworks, Inc.

Williston

Creative Microsystems

Waitsfield

E-Enable, Inc.

Bennington

• CSL Software Solutions, Inc.

Burlington

Electronic Connection Services

Williston

• Cyprian Labs

West Hartford, CT

• Empower Mobility, LLC

Essex

Data Innovations, LLC

South Burlington

Enhanced Designs

Jericho

Data Systems, Inc.

Burlington

EQ2, Inc.

Burlington

Datamann, Inc.

Wilder

Exetechs

Cornwall

• David Jenkins

Waterbury Center

Exterus

Shelburne

• Davis & Hodgdon Associaties CPAs

Williston

• FairPoint Communications

South Burlington

• Dealer.com

Burlington

Fenner Consulting & Software Development, Inc.

North Clarendon

• Desai Management Consulting

Williston

• FirstLight

Williston

Digital Aurora, Inc.

Manchester

Found Line, Inc.

Burlington

Digital Frontier

Stowe

Four Nine Design

Burlington

Digital Media Creations

Burlington

• FreshTracks Capital

Shelburne

Digitumbra

St. Albans

• Dinse Knapp & McAndrew

Burlington

Dinwiddie Software

Brattleboro

GET YOURSELF CONNECTED! Whether you are a client looking to fill a technical position or a candidate looking to advance your career, look no further than the Technical Connection. In 2013, Technical Connection placed more than 100 technical candidates with Vermont’s top companies. With over 20 years serving Vermont’s high-tech sector, let us assist you today!

continued next page LEARNING HOW TECHNOLOGY WORKS IS IMPORTANT. PUTTING IT TO WORK IN THE WORLD OF BUSINESS IS THE KEY TO SUCCESS.

LEARN MORE AT CHAMPLAIN.EDU

XXX WUUFDIKPCT DPN t vermontjobs@vttechjobs.com

BURLINGTON, VERMONT

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VERMONT COMPANIES THAT ARE “TAPPING TECH” continued

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TA P P I N G T E C H :

Front Porch Forum

Burlington

Galaxyplace, Inc.

Fairlee

Henninge-Industrial Design and Product Development

Burlington

Galen Healthcare Solutions

Burlington

• Gallagher, Flynn & Company, LLP

Burlington

Hesfield Enterprises, Inc.

Colchester

High Design Creative Group

Proctor

High Design, Inc.

GBIC

Proctor

Burlington

Howard Printing, Inc.

Brattleboro

GE Healthcare

South Burlington

HP Enterprise Services

Williston

General Dynamics

Burlington

Husky Injection Molding

Milton

Gerard T LaVarnway

Northfield

IBM

Essex Jct

• Girl Develop It

Winooski

• Ido Lanuel

Hinesburg

• Girl Zone Corp.

South Burlington

IGG Software

Putney

GIS Consulting Services, LLC

Burlington

Image Softworks

Fairlee

Global Classroom

Essex Jct

• Infinity Software Design

Middlebury

Globalnet Internet Services

Essex Jct

Injenics Consulting

Colchester

• Global-Z International

Bennington

• Innovation Hub

Jericho

• Google

White River Jct

Inside Edge Software

Huntington

Gorilla Web Studio

LInc.oln

• InSpo, Inc.

Burlington

Green Mountain Access

Waitsfield

Instrumart

South Burlington

• Green Mountain Antibodies, Inc.

Burlington

Interlock Software

Burlington

Green Mountain Digital

Woodstock

Interrobang Design Collaborative, Inc.

Richmond

Green Mountain Innovations

Williston

Ion Design

Burlington

Green Mountain Network

Burlington

iSystems, LLC

Colchester

• Green Mountain Software Corp

Burlington

IT Services, LLC

Milton

Green Mountain Solutions, Inc.

Alburgh

iTech US, Inc.

South Burlington

Green River Software

Brattleboro

Ivy Computer, Inc.

Waterbury Center

Greensea Systems, Inc.

Richmond

IWD InnovationsYES

Winooski

• Greg Hendrix

Essex Jct

• J. Rosenblum

Calais

Grenon Consulting, Inc.

Colchester

JAG Software, LLC

Shelburne

Gruber Technologies, LLC

Burlington

Jamison Computer Services

St. Albans Bay

GS Precision

Brattleboro

• jbt production services

Burlington

Hark Digital

Burlington

J.E.G. design, Inc.

Rutland

Hawks Mountain Consulting

Chester

Jennifer Boyer Web Design

East Montpelier

HC Sharp Software, Inc.

Thetford Center

JG Communications

Barre

Haematologic Technologies, Inc.

Essex Jct

Jim Winter Consulting

Hinesburg

• John Fodero

Jericho

• Hen House Media, LLC

Williston

• John Pile

Burlington

John Valance, Consultant

South Burlington

V E R M O N T ’ S D I G I TA L F U T U R E

LogicSupply-TappingTect-Ad-2014.pdf 1 3/13/2014 11:43:29 AM

Vermont Technology Alliance Members • Judith Mueller

Burlington

Maven Peal Instruments

East Montpelier

Kaman Composites

Bennington

Max IT

Burlington

• Karen Abrahamovich

South Burlington

MBF Bioscience

Williston

Keep Kids Safe

Montpelier

McHughston, Inc.

Williston

• Ken Horseman

Montpelier

MED Associates, Inc.

St. Albans

Keurig Green Mountain, Inc.

Waterbury

• Melissa DeBlois

Winooski

Key Communications, Inc.

White River Jct

• Merritt & Merritt & Moulton

Burlington

Kilawatt Technologies

Shelburne

MicroBrightField, Inc.

Williston

KnowledgeWave

South Burlington

Micro-CAD Designs, Inc.

Waterbury

• KSE

Montpelier

MicroData GIS, Inc.

St. Johnsbury

Lab Partners Associates, Inc.

South Burlington

• Microdesign Consulting, Inc.

Colchester

Lake Champlain Productions, Inc.

South Burlington

Microprocessor Designs, Inc.

Shelburne

Laureate Learning Systems, Inc.

Winooski

• Michael Szumski

Montclair, NJ

Learning Objects Network, Inc.

Waitsfield

Middlebury

LED Dynamics

Randolph

• Middlebury Interactive Languages

Lee River Software, LLC

Jericho

MInc.ar Consulting

Richmond

Level 3 Communications

South Burlington

MISys Manufacturing

Woodstock

Level 9

Barre

MLF Computer Services

Stowe

Life Elephant

Colchester

Morgan Stanley

Burlington

• Logic Supply, Inc.

South Burlington

Stowe

LORD MicroStrain

Williston

Moscow Mills, Inc./Vibration Solutions North

LPA Design

South Burlington

Moss Computer Consulting

Burlington

Mach 7 Technologies

Burlington

• MSD Consulting

Montpelier

MacInsight

Wallingford

Mylan Technologies

St. Albans

Mack Moulding

Arlington

• MyWebGrocer

Winooski

MacWorks

Winooski

Natworks, Inc.orporated

Northfield

Mad River Web

Waitsfield

NEHP, Inc.

Williston

Manock Comprehensive Design, LLC

Burlington

Nemia Medical Technology, LLC

Newport

Mantissa Technologies Corp

Williston

Net Source of Vermont, Inc.

Grand Isle

Manufacturing Information Systems

Woodstock

Network Performance, Inc.

South Burlington

• NeuEon, Inc.

Burlington

Maponics

White River Jct

New Breed Marketing

Winooski

• Marian Lawlor

Essex Jct

• Mary Evslin

Stowe

• Mary Anne Sjoblom

Essex Jct

Materials Management Systems, Inc.

Thetford Center

• Newgrange IT Consulting, LLC

Shelburne

Newspeak Communications

Charlotte

N Hawley Business Solutions

Milton

continued next page

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VERMONT COMPANIES THAT ARE “TAPPING TECH” continued North Country Communications

Newport

Prompt, Inc.orporated

Alburgh

Northeast Computer Systems

Lyndonville

• Propeller Media Works, LLC

Burlington

Northeast Kingdom Information Associates

Glover

Prosoft Technologies, Inc.

South Burlington

Northern Lights Business Communications

Weathersfield

Publishers’ Assistant

Jericho

• Pwnie Express

Berlin

Northern Skies Observatory

Peacham

Quechee Software

Quechee

• Norwich University Applied Research Institutes

Northfield

QuorumSoft

Winooski

Qvault, Inc.

Essex Jct

Nowirz

Moretown

Radius Network, LLC

Monkton

• NPI

South Burlington

RainWorx Software

South Burlington

NSK Steering Systems-America

Bennington

Ram Design

Marshfield

• Nunki, LLC

New Haven

rb Technologies, LLC

East Montpelier

OCR Solutions

Burlington

RCx Rules

Burlington

One Communication

Williston

• Reading Plus

Winooski

OpenTempo

Williston

Realpage, Inc.

Williston

Original Gravity Media

Burlington

• Red Leaf Software, LLC

Colchester

Ormsby’s Computer Store

Barre

Renaissance Digital

Hartland

P&C Software Services, LLC

Jericho

Jericho

Panther Interactive

Burlington

• Renaissance Information Systems, Inc.

• Par Springer-Miller Systems

Stowe

Rent-a-Geek

Burlington

Paradigm Consulting Company

Bethel

• Renewable NRG Systems

Hinesburg

Patient Engagement Systems

Burlington

Research Proteins, Inc.

Essex Jct

PC Med

Newport

Results, Inc.

Essex Jct

• PerfectJob, LLC

Essex Jct

Revision

Essex Jct

Peter Wolf Photo-Graphics

Jericho

Burlington

Pfizer

Montpelier

• RingMaster Software Corporation

Phil Tenenbaum Computer Assistance, Inc.

Rutland

• Robert Snapp

Essex Jct

• Roger Tubby

Stowe

Phoenix Chemistry Services

North Ferrisburg

Williston

PhRMA

Washington, DC

Ronco Communications & Electronics, Inc.

• Physician’s Computer Company

Winooski

Rose Computer Technology Services, Inc.

South Burlington

• PIEmatrix

Burlington

• Route 802

Williston

Pine Computers

South Burlington

ROV Technology

Brattleboro

PKC Corp

Burlington

Sacco Company

Williston

Polhemus

Colchester

Saxe Communication

Burlington

Pragmatic Technologies, Inc.

Burlington

SBE, Inc.

Barre

• Precision Bioassay, Inc.

Burlington

Second Law

Burlington

Precision Contract Manufacturing

Springfield

• SecurShred

South Burlington

Segar Consulting

Marlboro

SemiProbe

Winooski

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VTTECHCOUNCIL.ORG

TT-VtTC.indd 1

VERMONT.INTERNSHIPS.COM

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Vermont Technology Alliance Members Senix Corporation

Hinesburg

TwinState Technologies

Colchester

Seven Days

Burlington

• Union Street Media

Burlington

Shad, Inc.

East Montpelier

Universal Micro Systems, Inc.

Waitsfield

ShareCare

Burlington

University of Vermont

Burlington

Small Dog Electronics

South Burlington

Upper Access

Hinesburg

Smallrock Software, Inc.

Colchester

Utility Risk Management

Stowe

Softstart Services, Inc.

Middlebury

UTC Aerospace

Vergennes

Solbakken Technology Partners

St. Johnsbury

• UX Design Edge

St. Albans Bay

• SoRo Systems, Inc.

South Royalton

ValleyNet, Inc.

Royalton

Sound Innovation

White River Jct

• Vantage Point Recruiting

Westbrook, ME

• Sound Toys

Burlington

vbGraphics

Burlington

Southern Vermont Computer Systems

Manchester Center

Vector New England, Inc.

South Burlington

Verizon Wireless

South Burlington

Sovernet Communications

Bellows Falls

Standards Technology Group

Williston

Spectrum Design

Bennington

Stanley Technical Services

Hinesburg

Sterling Hill Productions

Waterbury

• Sterling Valley Systems, Inc.

Stowe

• Stone Environmental

Montpelier

• Vermont Biosciences Alliance

South Burlington

Vermont Business Manufacturing

South Burlington

Vermont Center for Emerging Technologies

Burlington

Vermont Center for Geographic Information

Waterbury

Vermont Chamber of Commerce

Barre

Vermont Circuits

Brattleboro

Vermont Database Corp

Stowe

• Vermont Design Works

Winooski

Vermont EPSCoR

Burlington

Vermont Films

Brattleboro

• Vermont HITEC, Inc.

Williston Montpelier

Straight Forward Software, Inc.

Burlington

• Stromatec, Inc.

Burlington

Summit Technologies

Williston

Surplus Traders

Alburgh

• Susan Skalka

Burlington

• SymQuest Group, Inc.

South Burlington

Synecology

Randolph

Synergy Now Harmony Information Systems

Essex Jct

Vermont Information Consortium, LLC

Systems & Software, Inc.

Williston

Vermont Information Processing, Inc.

Colchester

Systems Ideas, Inc.

Montgomery Center Shelburne

Vermont Internet Marketing Consultants

South Newfane

• Teamswork, LLC Tech Group

South Burlington

Randolph Center

• Tech Marketing

Hinesburg

Vermont Manufacturing Extension Center

Tech Vault, Inc.

South Burlington

Vermont Panurgy, Inc.

South Burlington

• Technical Connection, Inc.

Burlington

Vermont PC Solutions

Jericho

Technology Consultants, Inc.

South Burlington

• Vermont Small Business Development Center

White River Jct

Teconic Computer Services, Inc.

Rutland

Vermont Systems, Inc.

Essex Jct

TeleMedTest, LLC

Stowe

• Vermont Tech Guy

Colchester

Teligence Partners

Shelburne

Vermont Telephone Co, Inc.

Springfield

• Tertl Studos, LLC

Montpelier

Vermont Transformer, Inc.

St. Albans

Tesi Innovations

Colchester

Vertek Corp

Colchester

The Data Farm

Huntington

Viewboost

Townshend

The Kingdom Connection

St. Johnsbury

Vishay Tansitor, Inc.

Bennington

The Mac Doctor, Inc.

New Haven

Vivid Technologies

Burlington

The MIS Group

Essex

Vtel Internet

Springfield

• The Silverbeard Corp.

East Fairfield

VTweb Internet Services

Rutland

The Top Floor

Middlebury

WH Group

Richmond

Third Branch Technologies

Montpelier

St. Johnsbury

Tippson, LLC

Burlington

Weidman Electrical Technology, Inc.

• Tom Cook

Essex Jct

• Windstream

Burlington

Monkton

Wolpin & Associates

Bristol

Burlington

Woodward Design

Brattleboro

Milton

Yizri, LLC

Burlington

Triad Design Service, Inc.

Williston

Zandar Corp

Essex Jct

Triangulus

Burlington

• Tom Larsen Toonuva Games TransParent Computers

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S P O NSOR S PROUDLY SUPPORTING THIS EDITION OF TAPPING TECH

Agilion

C2

Bear Code

Champlain College

Brandthropology

Coldwell Banker Hickok & Boardman

DINSE/ KNAPP/ McANDREW

Community College of Vermont

First Light

Davis & Hodgdon Associates CPAs

Dinse Knapp & McAndrew

Gallagher, Flynn & Company LLP

Keep Kids Safe

Merchants Bank

MyWebGrocer

INDUSTRIAL & EMBEDDED COMPUTING

Logic Supply

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TA P P I N G T E C H : V E R M O N T ’ S D I G I TA L F U T U R E

• NeuEon Inc.

Physician’s Computer Company

Par Springer-Miller Systems

Stone Environmental SymQuest Group, Inc. Pwnie Express

Vermont Biosciences Alliance

Windstream Communications

Technical Connection, Inc.

Vermont Technology Council

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