Made in lower-cost America

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residents has gotten a face-lift of sorts in its public venues, with a new minor-league baseball stadium and a canal through the downtown area.

What makes Oklahoma special to Randall Carter, though, is the friendly culture. The 52-year-old software developer is among the first hires at the Oklahoma City Cibersite. It hasn't always been easy to get computer-related work in Oklahoma for Carter, who has also earned a living as a nurse anesthetist.

Some time ago, Carter was tempted to leave the state to pursue work. But he and his wife couldn't bring themselves to move. "She wants to stay in Oklahoma for the same reason I do," he said. "It's the people."

Molly Marshall
Programmer,
Rural Sourcing

One state over, in Arkansas, Molly Marshall is glad to be staying put in Jonesboro while working in her chosen field of computers. Marshall graduated with a degree in management information systems from Arkansas State University in May, but was unable to find an entry-level programming job in the area for months.

The 23-year-old started waiting tables. And as the summer rolled by, she reluctantly considered leaving her friends, family and community to pursue a career in technology. To her relief, Marshall found a job about five months ago at Rural Sourcing. "I was starting to get aggravated," she recalled. "I was starting to think about moving somewhere I really didn't want to go."

Carter, Marshall and others in smaller-town America may be benefiting from newfound opportunities in technology, but clients might wonder if their tech tasks can safely go there. Rural Sourcing, for example, is drawing on talent from little-known regional universities rather than working closely with prestigious universities like Harvard, Stanford or Carnegie Mellon.

White says many American business leaders themselves hail from non-elite schools and are therefore willing to give her company a chance. Since beginning to pitch its services last summer, her company has done work for about six clients. Rural Sourcing is in advanced discussions for about 20 potential projects, White said.

The local work force is also getting a boost, as techies who flew the nest return, White said. "We are drawing people back to a region that they had to leave to find work," she said.

Dell is not having trouble hiring workers for its Oklahoma City operations, spokeswoman Blood said. She added that "soft skills," which include communication abilities, are important for customer support work.

Ciber is also confident that smaller cities can get the job done. Midsize U.S. cities with lower-cost attributes "often have large populations of military, retirees and students, many of whom have not only similar technical education as overseas IT workers but often have more experience," Ciber Chief Executive Mac Slingerlend said in a January statement.

The next Silicon Valley?
How big can the small-city tech trend get? Stephen Levy, director of the Center for Continuing Study of the California Economy, suggests that although tech services work may be flowing to those regions, Silicon Valley's prized possession--a leading role in inventing new technologies--is staying put. "They are not doing the innovation," he said. "The next new thing has not yet gone to Arkansas."

Stephen Levy
Director, Center for
Continuing Study of
the California Economy

Levy said he's more concerned that California--and the United States overall--could lose its edge in innovation to countries abroad.

Although folks in the better-known technology centers may not view midsize America as a serious challenger, some involved in the homeshoring phenomenon are aiming high. Oklahoma City's Cornett concedes that his city is "at least a decade behind," but he has his sights set on rivaling Silicon Valley or Boston. "That would be our goal," he said.

Rural Sourcing's White, who grew up in the tiny town of Oxford, Ark., and eventually became chief information officer at health care giant Cardinal Health, also suggests that smaller cities could sneak up on the tech hubs. "Innovation has come from strange places, and it's come from garages," she said. "I would say you never know."

[brothe]

They forgot one...

We have been tracking the markets for over a year now and the hottest market these days is Ohio. Yep. Ohio. Tax incentives are driving major corporations to open up technology centers there. JP Morgan is opening up shop among others. Expect to hear about the shortage of IT workers in Ohio soon if not already.

Glad to see the upswing...finally

I was in Ohio last month, and the media there is advertising heavily for Tech support personnel, with lots of benefits that the traditional centers are going to find hard to compete with.

[kieranmullen]

Oregon?

Why isnt Oregon mentioned at the top or the bottom? HP, Intel, Nike, Freighliner, Boeing Silicon Forest Area?

Kieran Mullen

Chris Rock - "I don't care where you live in America, if you're on Martin Luther King Boulevard, there's some violence going on."

Sad but true.

[qmuser]

Good experience in Huntsville AL

I would agree with this tactic of utilizing medium sized cities, which have a lower cost of living and a social atmosphere that many people prefer.

I recently moved to Huntsville Alabama, and it has worked out well. I bought a larger house 40k cheaper than I paid in St. Louis. We always live in the best school district available. In terms of college entrance scores, Hunstville's Grissom High School is dead even with the top districts our children attended in St. Louis and Dallas.

Socially, we were happy to find a very educated and diverse environment, probably due to Marshal Space Flight Center, and Huntsville having the second largest research park in the country. Many of our new friends and neighbors are literally rocket scientists.

Someone told me that Huntsville has been rated as the sixth best place in the country to raise a family, due to low cost of living, low crime rate, and good educational system. After living here, I would say that is a pretty accurate rating.

The abundance of high tech workers with low mortgages gives Huntsville a big restaurant scene, and many recreation opportunities such as adult leagues for baseball and soccer. I highly recommend the Huntsville Fencing Club.

Everyone has to make their own decisions for career and family. This time my wife and I have decided that we wont move unless I'm physically thrown out of my present job.

Dr. David Young
Alabama Supercomputer Center