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Events & News
By Tim Tresslar e-mail address: tim_tresslar@coxohio.com Dayton Daily News DAYTON |
Entrepreneurs Joanne Allswede and Randall Heide say they see opportunity for their fledgling business, Quantrum, despite the economy's current malaise. Allswede and Heide, both former software engineers who worked for LexisNexis and its precursor, Mead Data Central, built. Quantrum on evenings and weekends over several years before devoting themselves to it full-time. Allswede and Heide are managing directors of the business; a second woman is a minority partner in the company. Quantrum specializes in writing new software or customizing existing software used to manage critical information such as financial data, market information and news. Like other technology executives, Allswede and Heide see a potential upside for the company as cost-conscious businesses focus on efficiency. While many U.S. companies have outsourced their data management processes overseas, some now are looking to bring that business back to domestic suppliers because of cost and security concerns, Allswede said. In addition, when the economy sputters, companies want to streamline operations and become more productive without adding people, she said. Having good data-management systems in place can help companies accomplish that, she said. "It's less expensive for them to get their company running efficiently than to get more people to man inefficient processes," Allswede said. The company's business plan calls for it to split its customer base evenly between private industry and government customers. Allswede said the company likely will have six employees by the end of the year. In October, Quantrum was certified under a U.S. Small Business Administration program that makes businesses operating in economically challenged areas eligible for federal contracts. Allswede said Quantrum's certification under SBA's Historically Underutilized Business Zones Empowerment contracting program will make the company more competitive in landing government work. The company dates back to 1997, when Heide, Allswede and another partner who later left began working evenings and weekends to learn the mechanics of running a business. During this time, they created a logo, Web site, business cards and other business tools. Working in home offices and communicating through email or by telephone, the partners met in coffee shops and libraries until they got their first office — a converted room above Heide's garage. Heide left LexisNexis in 2000 and immersed himself in Quantrum. In February, Allswede left to her job to do likewise. Allswede's decision to leave behind a steady paycheck underscores her faith in her new venture, she said. "I'm not a risk taker," she said. "So I wouldn't have made that big jump if I didn't believe in it." During the summer, as they prepared to add employees, they set up shop in the Entrepreneurs Center, 714 E. Monument Ave. The project investment was $260,000, including bank financing and a $75,000 loan from CityWide Development. Companies that set up shop in an incubator, Heide said, have a greater chance of succeeding. "The incubator tries to keep you going before you end up in a ditch," Heide said. • Contact Tim Tresslar at 225-7404 or e-mail tim_tresslar@coxohio.com [From the Dayton Daily News: 11.09.2001 Copyright 2001]