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Winter
2001 Volume 3, Number 2
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Paul Keeler’s Uticom Systems in Coatesville, Pa., did quite well for itself for 13 years, producing labels for fiber optic cables and other utility-owned equipment. The firm produces, among other things, plastic markers that are rolled around fiber optic cables so phone and cable companies can identify their lines. It is a time-consuming process because the heating procedure that "teases" the markers into scrolls is done by hand. As the possibility of providing products and services for companies such as AT&T and Bell Atlantic surfaced, Keeler was in a quandary. These communications giants would expect a fast turnaround, and the slower manual process at Uticom Systems was likely to cost the firm new business. Keeler knew the process needed to be fully automated, but the cost to his firm to have it improved commercially was likely to be at least $25,000, for starters. For a company with 15 employees and sales under $5 million annually, that was a considerable expense. “We didn’t have the manpower or time to come up with this thing (ourselves), and yet to continue to do it manually when you know that there’s obviously a way to automate it is like making a cardboard box by hand,” he said. So Keeler contacted PENNTAP — the Pennsylvania Technical Assistance Program, an outreach program provided by Penn State. PENNTAP provides assistance to Pennsylvania businesses through a network of technical specialists. Doug Tharp, a PENNTAP technical specialist based at Penn State Great Valley, put Keeler in touch with the Penn State Learning Factory, a program to help engineering undergraduates gain hands-on business experience.
Uticom Systems is one of hundreds of businesses that PENNTAP helped in 1999, and they are a diverse group. Eastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wynnewood, Pa., called on PENNTAP to help the school integrate technology into its curriculum. Entrepreneur R. Daryl Gross received PENNTAP’s help in launching a videography business through his involvement with Assets Montco in Norristown, Pa., an organization that helps small start-up companies to devise business plans. James Chan of Asia Marketing and Management, a one-man consulting business in Philadelphia, turned to PENNTAP to find other successful small business owners whom he could interview for a new book. Spare Room Tycoon: Succeeding Independently, the 70 Lessons of Sane Self-Employment was published in July. From 1998 to 1999 alone, the economic benefits reported by PENNTAP clients from such things as cost savings and sales increases went from $6.7 million to $9.9 million — an increase of 48 percent. At the same time, clients served increased from 525 to 620 — or 18 percent. While serving more customers, PENNTAP still managed to garner a 98 percent client satisfaction rating, up 1 percent during 1999. Tharp notes that fewer and fewer companies are in manufacturing, and there has been steady growth in service, technology and other fields. “In the Philadelphia area, we give a lot of assistance to startups and entrepreneurs at computer/software companies,” he said. Tharp predicts that PENNTAP's next challenge will be to help companies thrive in the world of electronic commerce, without losing too much focus on providing quality customer service. He said that it won’t be easy. “I think that people who embraced the technology changes in the ’90s will still be in business in the new millennium,” Tharp said. “While the Internet is making serious inroads, you still need to integrate technology with the needs of customers.” PENNTAP is supported by state and federal government agencies and serves its clients through the assistance of Bell Atlantic-Pennsylvania and NASA’s Mid-Atlantic Technology Applications Center, among many organizations. 
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U.Ed.OCE 01-8002/mkm/GSM