Large or small, business decisions shaped by all manner of technology

Brent Byers remembers the old days, when hardware store management counted nuts and bolts and sometimes had to judge visually whether items needed to be re-ordered.

It was the late 1980s, and Byers was managing a hardware store.

Some big companies were beginning to embrace technology, starting to use computers for a variety of purposes. Small businesses couldn't event dream of that at the time.

"It's a whole new world now," says Byers, owner of Town Center Hardware in Harrisburg. "Everything has changed."

Technological advances have swept into the world of small and medium-sized businesses-and at least some of the change is being fueled by local colleges and universities that are serving as strong supporters and incubators of new and innovative ways of doing business.

The Charlotte Research Institute at UNC Charlotte has funneled grant money and sponsored competitions for start-up businesses and small companies to incorporate new technologies into their operations.

The Small Business Center at Rowan-Cabarrus Community College is working closely with a number of businesses in the Golden Triangle, helping them find ways of using technology to cut costs and ease the process of doing business.

And Central Piedmont Community College in Charlotte, in conjunction with the BioNetwork of the North Carolina Community College System, is providing classes and programs to help businesses use technology in the biotech and life sciences industries.

Of course, all this is happening in the shadows of the massive North Carolina Research Campus, at the site of the old Cannon Mills in Kannapolis. The NCRC is a billion-dollar-plus project that hopes to bring major tenants into the region, to develop a center of technology research.

Since about 90 percent of private businesses are classified by the federal government as "small," with 50 or fewer employees, many local research organizations are focusing their interest in that direction.

UNCC'S INSTITUTE

The Charlotte Research Institute, based at UNCC, is a collection of eight research centers and the Ben Craig Center, a business incubator.

Founders say the Charlotte Research Institute is designed to conduct research to help small start-up companies and to help small businesses grow.

It is focused in eight areas - Precision Metrology; eBusiness Technology; Optoelectronics and Optical Communications; Visualization; Motorsports Engineering; Bioinformatics; Life Sciences; and Biomedical Engineering Systems.

The institute has sponsored a number of programs for entrepreneurs and already-existing businesses to make more use of technological advances.

It also is providing help for companies already making heavy use of computers, GPS devices and other forms of technology.

For example, it will sponsor the DICyder Symposium, on May 15-16.

The two-day event is designed to help small businesses that rely heavily on computers and the Internet to avoid the growing threats of cybercrime.

Additional programs are scheduled later this year. For more information on the Institute, check www.charlotteresearchinstitute.org.

One recent highlight was Five Ventures, an annual competition among entrepreneurs across the Southeast to make use of technology. Up for grabs in the event-$100,000 in cash and a host of additional professional business services.

The competition spurred winners like Filigree Nanotechnology Inc., a Wake Forest University-based organization that is using nanowires-microscopic-sized wires-to improve electronics. The winning Five Ventures project involved creating silver nanowires to improve the operation of batteries.

But it wasn't all so scientific.

Other winners included North Carolina-based Aretae Inc., also known as 411Fit.com. That firm uses technology to help students set up fitness and health programs, incorporating advice from personal trainers and nutritionists.

Company officials say they have found students much more willing to embrace technology-based strategies to get fit-rather than getting personal advice from a doctor or nutritionist.

Central Piedmont Community College also is a player in research.

Last year, CPCC launched the Center for Sustainability, designed to provide a think tank and research center for "green" industries. Much of its work has been focused on smaller companies.

"This is clearly a growth industry for this region," said Rod Townley, Dean of Information Technology/Engineer and CPCC's Futures Institute. "CPCC's vision is to be the national leader in workforce development, and we know that we must play a vital role in offering training."

Later this month, on May 14, CPCC will sponsor a program at its Levine campus in Matthews, titled "How to Benefit from the Growth of the BioTech and Life Sciences Sectors in the Charlotte Region."

School officials hope the event will call attention to its biotech center on the Levine campus-and introduce some small businesses and entrepreneurs to North Carolina's community college biotech program.

And in the Golden Triangle, Rowan-Cabarrus Community College operates the Cabarrus Business and Technology Center, at 660 Concord Parkway North, in Concord.

This center sponsors a variety of workshops and seminars each month. It not only offers programs for new businesses, but its monthly class schedule also is tailored to help established businesses embrace new technologies into their daily operations.

And a new push for technology is coming soon to some high schools in the area.

Earlier this year, the National Academy Foundation announced that four Charlotte-Mecklenburg high schools, including three in northern Mecklenburg (Vance, Hopewell and Mallard Creek high schools), will become Academy of Engineering sites in 2009.

That will mean beefed-up technology programs in the schools-much of it built around the motorsports industry, a key part of the small business scene in the Golden Triangle.

"It is much greater than just a driver and a mechanic," says Shawn Stewart, of the Mooresville-based N.C. Motorsports Association.

"Behind all of those big-name drivers are dozens, or hundreds of employees. Hendrick Motorsports has about 590 employees, but only 30 or 35 of those go to the races on weekends.

"It used to be that you could get a job with a motorsports company by sweeping the floors, then moving up. Not any more. You need training, and a lot of it is based on technology."

More than 400 motorsports and automotive companies are based in the Charlotte area, and nearly all of them make heavy use of technology, experts say.

"Some of those are smaller companies, but they need students who have technological training, the same as the bigger outfits," Stewart says.

Few businesses in the area have not been touched by the new technology. Here is a look at how it has affected three organizations:

NUTS AND BOLTS

Technology "is huge for us," says Brent Byers, Town Center Hardware's owner.

Byers says the Harrisburg company's entire inventory system is computerized.

"Inventory and control-it's all on the computer," he said.

Byers left the hardware business for several years in the 1990s, then returned to find technology everywhere.

"It's totally different now," he says. "But it has been pretty easy to embrace the changes."

Instead of poring through lists of price changes, that information comes automatically via computers.

And the days of counting nuts and bolts in bins is long gone.

"We order on hand-held devices, then load everything into laptops," he says. "It's so much easier this way."

NEW DAY FOR FLORISTS

Before computers and the Internet, florists did their business by telephone-taking orders from customers, ordering supplies.

"Not any more," says Candice Norwood, manager of the Flower Cart in Cornelius. "Actually, we operate two computer systems for our orders."

The two major systems for florists-FTD and Tele-Flora-provide instant ordering information for Norwood's company. She said orders can come from anywhere in the world.

"People can go online, find us, and place an order," she says. "Often, we never even talk to the people we do business with."

But the technological changes go beyond that.

"It affects our bookkeeping, too," she says. "It's nice, because at the end of the day, all the taxes and other things are taken care of."

Norwood says that saves a tremendous amount of time for the company-an important consideration for a small business, with a limited number of employees.

Technology now is spreading into another part of the business-delivery.

"Some of the delivery people are using GPS (Global Positioning Systems) to help them get the flowers to where they're supposed to go," Norwood says.

BATTER UP!

To the average fan, a night at Fieldcrest Cannon Stadium might seem like old-time fun-watching the Kannapolis Intimidators, a Class A affiliate of the Chicago White Sox, playing baseball.

It's the same old fun, with a mix of baseball, hot dogs, popcorn.

"Behind the scene, there's a lot of technology at work," says Tim Mueller, general manager of the Intimidators.

"In the last five years, our organization has gone from 0 to 60 in technology," Mueller says.

He says technology affects many aspects of the team's operation, everything from tickets, to deciding if Intimidators' manager Omer Munoz should get a relief pitcher warming up in the bullpen.

"Last season, we introduced completely Web-based ticketing," Mueller says. "People can purchase tickets from home. They can see the promotions, decide where they want to sit."

But technology affects the team in way you might not think.

"Our understanding about the weather has increased tremendously," he says. "With the Internet and new technology, we are able to track storms. We will know within minutes if we will be affected by the weather."

Mueller says that allows management to warn fans if severe weather is coming. But it has an impact on the game itself.

"There's no sense in warming up a pitcher if rain will be starting in a few minutes," he says. "If we have a pitcher warm up, and then it rains, that player can't pitch for a few days."

Mueller says technology also enables the Intimidators to communicate more rapidly with the parent organization, the Chicago White Sox, and also with fans by using an e-mail newsletter.

"It's still baseball," he says, "but there's a lot more technology involved these days."

SIDEBAR

Green electronics gain clout in broad spectrum of marketplace

With Thanks in part to pressure from non-profits like Greenpeace International-which has published quarterly versions of its landmark "Guide to Greener Electronics" since 2006-computer makers now understand that consumers care about the environmental footprints of the products they use.

The latest version of Greenpeace's guide gives high marks to Toshiba, Lenovo, Sony and Dell for increasing the recyclability of their computers and reducing toxic components and so-called "e-waste" (refuse from discarded electronic devices and components). The group also credits Apple, HP and Fujitsu for making strides toward greener products and manufacturing processes, but emphasizes that even such top ranked companies have lots of room for improvement when it comes to the environment.

PC Magazine, the leading computer publication for consumer and business users, recently assessed dozens of personal computers according to environmental standards it developed in-house based on energy efficiency, recyclability and the toxicity of components. The publication also factored in various "green" certification schemes such as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's EnergyStar program, the European Union's Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) directive, Taiwan's Greenmark and the computer industry's own Electronic Products Environmental Assessment Tool (EPEAT).

The top choices for green desktop computers, according to PC, are Apple's Mac Mini, Zonbu's Desktop Mini, HP Compaq's 2710p and dc7800, Lenovo's ThinkCentre a61e, and Dell's OptiPlex 755. As for laptops, the greenest current models include Dell's Latitude D630, the Everex Zonbu, Fujitsu's LifeBook S6510, and Toshiba's Tecra A9-S9013.

Perhaps more important than the green-ness of a new computer is what you do with the old one. Stuffing it into the trash or setting it out for curbside pick-up may be the worst thing you can do with an outdated computer, as heavy metals and other toxins inevitably get free and get into surrounding soils and water. If the machine still works, donate it to a local school that can put it to use, or to Goodwill or the Salvation Army, either of which can re-sell it to help fund their programs. Another option is to donate it to the National Cristina Foundation, which places outdated technology with needy non-profits.

Once you've gotten rid of an old computer and outfitted yourself with a spiffy new green one, you might just want to score a few green accessories. Brooklyn, New York's Verdant Computing, which bills itself as a purveyor of "the greenest computer products on the web," sells remanufactured ink and toner cartridges, laptop cases made from recycled plastic, GreenDisk CDs packaged in recycled plastic jewel cases, solar-powered MP3 accessories, energy-saving printers and even a software program, GreenPrint, which modifies the print programs on your computer to economize on paper and ink/toner use. Verdant also has most products shipped to consumers directly from the manufacturers to save re-shipping.

- EarthTalk, The Environmental Magazine