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 Charting AniminationReturn to index of stories... |
Job hunting, healthcare, retirement planning. New Hampshire Outlook wants to help with charting your course. All week we've been focusing on key economic issues in the Granite State. We begin with a special report on on doing business in New Hampshire. |
| Hello Return to index of stories... |
Hello. I'm Allison McNair. Welcome to NH Outlook. |
| Intro Pragmatech Return to index of stories... |
New Hampshire has a reputation for being a good place to start a business and make it grow. Take for example, Pragmatech, a software company in Amherst that is growing at a time when many high-tech firms are in trouble. Producer Richard Ager visted the company recently to find out its secret for success. |
| Pragmatech Return to index of stories... |
Soundup: Pragmatech tape 1 01;28:19 ** New customer order - who is it - who's the new customer?" "It's Omnium worldwide." "Oh good" Track: For Pragmatech co-founder Brooke Savage, success has grown from recognizing a need. Bite: Pragmatech tape 3 03:04:10 I was always involved in selling software, selling and marketing large software systems. In that process of selling to big companies, they always tended to issue a request for proposal, or an RFP, which would have hundreds of hundreds of questions in it. Track: But there was no software to help salespeople create those proposals for potential clients. And so Brooke looked for help from his wife, Melissa Mabon, a doctoral student in philosophy. Bite: Pragmatech tape 3 03:02:55 Well Brooke had an idea, sort of challenge for me, which was the original RFP Machine. Which was - he thought I was working also with linguistics and philosophy language, and thought the whole question of how do you automate the process of responding to questions - that was very fascinating. I looked at it originally as artificial intelligence, expert system type of enterprise. Track: Their first attempt to automate the proposal process didn't sell - but six years later, in 1994, Melissa set out to rewrite the program. The RFP Machine would become their flagship product. Bite: Pragmatech tape 3 03:10:40 AT WHAT POINT DID YOU KNOW YOU HAD SOMETHING THAT WAS WORKING? Well as far as the commercial success, we knew that at the very first trade show in Boston. It was the first time we had shown the product in public, we didn't know if it was going to be successful or not, and we were inundated with people four or five deep around the demo booth and we knew then that is was worth pursuing. Track: At first, that pursuit involved running the business out of their home. Bite: Pragmatech tape 3 03:31:42 HOW LONG DID YOU SPEND WITH THE BUSINESS ACTUALLY IN THE HOME? Two and a half years. WOW. Track: The home was packed with computers, wiring and people - until one day… Bite: Pragmatech tape 3 03:30:33 Oh I can tell you that day - that was my day. I was programming in the living room - the dining room is next to me - that is where we had shipping and receiving which was my brother in law. He had an intercom system that was connected upstairs to the guest room - which was - that was the corporate suite - that was sales and tech support - and Brooke would get an order and get on the intercom: "John, John" - and they would do this all day long. And I'm right next to John trying to program -and there was one day - I guess we had a lot of orders that day - and I finally just tipped over the edge, went for a walk, went up two blocks from the house, saw the space available sign on the building, came back and said "time to move." Soundup: Pragmatech tape 1 01;17:19 call comes in - "Pragmatech support - this is Sonny" Track: These days, Pragmatech employees work at the company's development and training centers in Amherst, where a corporate poster displays a list of prestigious offices elsewhere. Bite: Pragmatech tape 1 01;25:55 SAN FRANCISCO, CHICAGO, DALLAS, NEW YORK, ATLANTA, BOSTON LONDON - WHERE IS AMHERST? Good question. If you're here - you know about it. IS AMHERST JUST NOT GLAMOROUS ENOUGH? No - the sign is only here. So you see it here so you know - you're in the center of the universe when you're in Amherst. Track: Both company founders like Amherst so much, they've just bought a new home there. They stay here, they say, because New Hampshire has low business taxes, a positive business climate and a capable work force, but they also say the first priority for state government is clear: Bite: Pragmatech tape 3 03:16:35 Fix the education system in this state, make it equitable across the entire state, so that every town is able to give their children the best possible education, and that will help us. We hire a lot of people who are just coming out of high school and college and we can't afford to let the state slip in their educational programs, so I would encourage the governor to take a look at doing that. And I think that the governor is obligated. Wasn't there a decision in court that says we need to fix that problem? I think we need to do that. Bite: Pragmatech tape 3 03:14:55 My personal preference is for an income tax, and I think that would be the way I would like to see things go, just for the support of education, but I don't think it is going to injure the business to go to an income tax because the property tax is so high right now, that ya know, you're not going to avoid the tax. Why not just stop whining about it and pay? It's a more complicated issue than that, I think certainly if we had an income tax, it would to some degree not make it as appealing for us to attract high tech talent into the state. One of the reasons people move here, out of Mass. Specifically, is because of the rate of high taxation. Bite: Pragmatech tape 4 04:00:37 HOW BIG AN ISSUE RIGHT NOW IS THE COST OF HEALTH CARE FOR YOUR EMPLOYEES? It's a big issue for the company. We pay for all of the health care that we provide the employees and we always try to upgrade that plan - so we always try to stay with the best possible plan at the lowest cost for the company and at no cost to the employee to the fullest extent that we can. And it's become very difficult to do that. Soundup: Pragmatech tape 1 01;13:16 **"You can choose copy and just paste them in." Bite: Pragmatech tape 3 03:19:15 WHO BUYS FROM YOU? Large companies who have big sales forces will have a tendency to buy from us, I think I mentioned IBM, HP Compact, Fidelity investments in Boston is a large client, many blue Cross Plans around the country buy us, any type of large company where a proposal process is mandatory before they can win business, before they can win a sale, will be a logical customer. Soundup: Pragmatech tape 1 01:05:21 "Okay, same thing with Motorola." Track: Last year, Pragmatech $10 million in software and services - and it's aiming to grow to $50 million. Bite: Pragmatech tape 3 03;24:25 Right now ,we're in a good position. We've got little competition, a good solid base of software that is already developed. It's out there - thousands and thousands of people use it everyday. We can grow the company exponentially if we do it properly. And that'll make us the largest software company in NH. Not the world, quite. Bite: Pragmatech tape 4 04:04:00 WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU HAVE BASED ON THE EXPERIENCE THAT YOU'VE HAD? The advice is, you need stamina. You just can't give up. And you can't be afraid of failing. And you just keep at it. And if you fail at one thing, you try another thing. You make a decision to be an entrepreneur. You don't decide to have a particular company or make a particular product. So if you make that decision, you will find a way to accomplish it. I think there's a financial element to it. I think you need at least two years of savings in your savings account in order to do it. And it took us two years - which is about what we had available to us and if you have to wake up every morning thinking - ugh - I don't have enough money to make it next week - that really curtails your ability to start your own business. SO DOES IT HELP TO BE MARRIED TO YOUR BUSINESS PARTNER? "Yes." "Good answer, good answer." "Cause you can always talk about your business - and you're both motivated by the same goal." "That's right." Track: For NH Outlook, I'm Richard Ager. Soundup: Pragmatech tape 1 01;26:30 "This is shipping." "Jonathon - how's the shipping volume look today?" "all right." |
| Intro discussion Return to index of stories... |
Joining me to talk about doing business in New Hampshire, Bruce Mast of Bruce Mast and Associates, Jeff Bart owner of Granite State Candy, and Jameson French owner of Northland Forest products. |
| Discussion Return to index of stories... |
Bruce Mast of Bruce Mast & Associates in Exeter Jameson French owner of Northland Wood Products in Kingston Jeff Bart, owner of Granite State Candy in Concord Jamie and Jeff you're both the third generation of your families to run your businesses - how have you kept them going? What are the most significant changes that you've seen when it ccomes to doing business in NH? Biggest challenges face doing business in NH, Jeff Jameson and Bruce? How would you rate the business climate here? Jameson I know you are chair of workforce housing task force what are you doing to try and address problem of housing? Bruce - when it comes to students entering the workforce - how well prepared are they? What about health insurance are you all offering it? Concerns that you'll be able to continue to offer health insurance? Jeff you're in retail, how has mall impacted business or taken it away from downtown? How is Concord making its downtown more attractive to potential customers and community? Jameson you refer to wood, third largest industry in nh as a 19th century industry - explain. How do you bring that industry into the 21st century? Jameson - You have operations in China is that due to more access to labor and cheaper labor? Bruce , you've worked with organzations all sizes - small or large are they facing same problems What about space for business - Jeff you own your building , taxes? BPT and BET? |
| Intro Turkeys Return to index of stories... |
From talking business we move to talking turkey. Thanksgiving is just around the corner and turkey is in the air, well the turkeys are actually on the ground. At least that's where Steve Taylor found them. Our Commissioner of Agriculture shares another one of his slices of New Hampshire life with a visit to Battles Farms in Bradford. |
| Turkeys Return to index of stories... |
Taylor Turkeys - NH Commissioner of Agriculture visits Nita Battles at Battles Farms in Bradford. Nita raises 250 white holland turkeys every year and sells them to customers all around Bradford. She dresses the birds out a few days before Thanksgiving and keeps them chilled but not frozen to be picked up. We learn that the males are called toms and they are the ones with a roll of skin that hangs off their beaks. Steve talks about how the birds are genetically engineered to have large breasts but that also required the birds to have strong legs to hold them up. These birds weigh in anywhere from 20 to 35 lbs. And Nita protects them from coyotes and fox by keeping her hound dogs near the turkey pen. You can find a list of the turkey farmers near you by looking in the NH Dept. of Ag. "Market Bulletin" or you can call the Department at 271-3551 |
| Turkeys tag Return to index of stories... |
If your looking to find a turkey farmer near you, try looking through the listings on the back of the Agriculture Department's "Market Bulletin" or call the Dept. of Agriculture at 271-3551. |
| Tomorrow Return to index of stories... |
On the next New Hampshire Outlook - It's our Friday Edition with business reporters from around the granite state. We'll hear what's making news in business. |
| Goodnight Return to index of stories... |
That's it for this edition of our program. For all of us here at New Hampshire Public Television, I'm Ally McNair. Thanks for joining us. We'll see you next time on New Hampshire Outlook. |
| founders Return to index of stories... |
Thanks to our founding sponsors who have provided major funding for the production of New Hampshire Outlook: New Hampshire Charitable Foundation Public Service of New Hampshire Alice J. Reen Charitable Trust Putnam Foundation Stratford Foundation |
| WEB PROMO Return to index of stories... |
Tonight on New Hampshire Outlook. It's our Friday Edition with business reporters from around the granite state. We'll hear what's making news in business. Tonight at 10pm on New Hampshire Public Television. |
| key: Business / Economy Return to index of stories... |
NEW HAMPSHIRE OUTLOOK Air Date/Time: 11/21/02 22:00 HOST: Allison McNair Length: 26:46 minutes In this edition of New Hampshire Outlook, NHPTV's nightly news magazine, we continue our week long series "Charting Your Course" a series of reports focused on key economic issues in the Granite State. This programs focus is "Doing Business in New Hampshire". The show began with a package on Pragmatech, a software company in Amherst that is growing at a time when many high-tech firms are in trouble. PRODUCER/REPORTER: Richard Ager NAME OF PARTICIPANTS: Brooke Savage\Pragmatech Software Melissa Mabon\Pragmatech Software |
| key: Business/ Economy Return to index of stories... |
NEW HAMPSHIRE OUTLOOK Air Date/Time: 11/21/02 22:00 HOST: Allison McNair Length: 26:46 minutes In this edition of New Hampshire Outlook, NHPTV's nightly news magazine, we continue our week long series "Charting Your Course" a series of reports focused on key economic issues in the Granite State. This programs focus is "Doing Business in New Hampshire". Joining Ally in studio to talk about doing business in New Hampshire, Bruce Mast of Bruce Mast and Associates, Jeff Bart owner of Granite State Candy, and Jameson French owner of Northland Forest products. PRODUCER/REPORTER: Richard Ager NAME OF PARTICIPANTS: Bruce Mast\Bruce Mast & Associates Jameson French\Northland Forest Products Jeff Bart\Granite State Candy |
| Tonight 10:00 Return to index of stories... |
Tonight on New Hampshire Outlook. Join us tonight at 10:00 only on New Hampshire Outlook. |
| website Return to index of stories... |
For information on our program, and links to our guests and interviews, visit our web site at nhptv.org. You can see and hear streaming video of our broadcasts. We want to know what's on your mind. Join our discussion forum and tell us what you're thinking. If you have a story idea or comment on our program, click the feedback button. Or, call us at 800-639-2721. |