Cultivating Rural Missouri |
|
|
The Lebanon Daily Record
|
|
Onshore announces opening of new technology services in Lebanon, Missouri
|  | By Ken York -November 2007
The Lebanon Rotary Club Thursday welcomed the president and vice president of a company that intends to bring at least 25 high-tech jobs to the area by late next year.
Onshore Technology Services Inc. is planning to move into the Allen Building at 200 E. Commercial St. and begin training computer programmers in January, according to a media release from the company.
If all goes well, the local people who are trained will be offering programming services to Onshore’s customers as early as April.
“I’m really happy to announce that we are opening an office here in Lebanon. We’re looking forward to creating a lot of jobs and having an economic impact here,” said Shane Mayes, president and CEO of Onshore.
Mayes said eventually he would like the Lebanon branch to employ 100 or more certified programmers drawn from the area’s work force. Onshore Vice President Dick Hobbs will be in charge of the local facility.
“We’re a rural outsourcing company,” Mayes told the Rotarians. “You’re all familiar with offshore outsourcing, sending technology jobs to India and China ... Onshore Technology Services is about bringing those jobs back.”
The company employs 35 at its Macon facility, where it originated. Onshore predicts at least 25 will be working in its Lebanon facility by next November.
Onshore will train local people in computer programming in conjunction with the Lebanon Technology and Career Center and the Missouri Career Center. Students will pay for their training, but most of the cost will be borne by loans and grants, Mayes said.
One of the factors involved in Onshore’s decision to locate in Lebanon was the progressive economic development efforts of the America’s Heartland Economic Partnership, Mayes said. Other draws were Lebanon’s accessible position on Interstate 44 and Missouri 5, as well as its fiber-optic communications network and the cooperation and enthusiasm of the Lebanon Technology and Career Center.
Initially the company will occupy about 2,000 square feet of the Allen Building. “Then we’ll just expand from that as we develop the work force,” said Hobbs.
“That building was very important in our decision to come here,” Mayes said after the luncheon meeting. “In Macon, we’re getting ready to move into our third building to keep up with the growth. That facility (the Allen Building) gives us instant scalability in terms of our space requirements.
“I think this office can grow more quickly than our office in Macon, and a lot of it has to do with that building,” he said.
Mayes said there are few limits to the number of programmers that might be eventually trained and employed here. “If we could produce a hundred people right now, we could put them to work right away,” he said. “The key is going to be recruiting senior engineers here in the community” to act as a training cadre, he said.
All that will be needed for the trainees are an aptitude for programming and an attitude that enables the trainee to work in a collaborative environment, the media release said.
The training will be a three-month boot-camp-style regimen that will end with trainees able to pass the tests required to be Microsoft-certified software developers, Mayes said.
“We can do that better than any other company in America,” Mayes said. “We’ve got that figured out.”
After training, the successful trainees will begin working for Onshore on programming jobs for other companies, Mayes said.
“Our service is application development and integration, primarily. We also do some data mining and exploratory data analysis for some major companies. Our core business is high-end software development. We’re not talking about just creating small Web sites. We’re talking about an average deal size of over a quarter million dollars, and they’re longer term projects.”
Onshore offers programming services to some of the largest companies in the world, according to the media release.
Lebanon City Council requested a $140,000 loan for Onshore from the Missouri Department of Economic Development in October.
© Copyright 2007 by www.lebanondailyrecord.com |
|
|
|
Press Release August, 2007
|
|
ONSHORE TECHNOLOGY SERVICES
is Developing Skilled IT Jobs in Rural Missouri
|
| |
By Jim Baer
There’s a revolution brewing in Macon, Mo. of all places. Bucking the trend of sending information technology jobs overseas, Shane Mayes, 34, president and CEO of Onshore Technology Services is turning a rural setting in North Central Missouri into a place where work can be produced strictly at home. So where exactly is Macon, Mo. anyway?
Head west to Columbia 100 miles, then go north on US-63 (four lanes) for 57 miles into the county seat of Macon with a population of 6,000. Along the way you pass farm fields prepared for soy bean and corn crops. Macon was the first city in Missouri to develop an ethanol fuel plant.
Mayes and his wife Lisa were shopping for an osteopathic school to accomplish her dream of completing a medical education. They picked up stakes in St. Peters, Mo. for school and for Mayes to start an IT business in Kirksville. They considered Michigan and West Virginia before settling on Kirksville’s College of Osteopathic Medicine. However, Kirksville was more bent on having manufacturing plants and less interested in things like IT development.
Flat broke, Mayes turned to Macon, Mo. and its progressive attitude towards rebuilding its infrastructure. Kirksville’s loss was Macon’s net gain.
Mayes, once labeled the “prince of darkness” while working for Elsevier in St. Louis brought a beam of new sunlight into Macon and North Central Missouri.
Mayes started up his company, Onshore Technology Services, in January 2006 with investments from the Macon Economic Development Council, the State of Missouri, a little federal assistance, and a hope and a prayer.
Two and a half years later, Onshore is a thriving company doing global business, while creating highly-skilled, technically-based jobs back in rural Missouri. A brain drain was killing Macon, just like nearly all the smaller rural towns statewide.
“I believe in entrepreneurship and American values. I got this idea of rural outsourcing and patterned it after what’s been done in the automobile industry in America,” says Mayes. “I’m surprised that (rural automobile manufacturing) wasn’t done sooner,” he indicated.
He was referring to Toyota, Saturn, BMW and Honda building manufacturing plants in small town America.
Yearly, according Macon Mayor Dale Bagley, the city will fund the County Economic Development Commission with about $100,000 seed money to bring in projects just like Onshore Technology.
Everyone points to the same sad story. Toastmaster (they produce the George Foreman Grills) closed everything but distribution activities in town and moved 500 jobs offshore to China.
Nearly everyone you talk to in Macon loves the rural, laid-back lifestyle that comes with living there. Macon boasts miles of lake recreation and property, a park system that is supported with grants of $1 million a year, $14 million dollars worth of fiber optics connections for every home and business in the community and a YMCA supported by most the locals. The city of just 6,000 residents is staging a miraculous economic recovery.
What started out as three positions at Onshore has grown to 22. Presently, Onshore has a variety of clients ranging from two companies in St. Louis in the financial services and transportation, oil and gas industry. (Non-disclosure policies preclude the naming of names.)
At the same time, Onshore does software development for the University of Missouri-Rolla, National Diagnostics in North Carolina, Maverick Technology, Columbia, Illinois and many others. “Our people work on really cool projects,” boasts Mayes. Each new project tends to be in the $200,000 range. Company billings are in the $1 million range annually.
“We didn’t just create jobs; we create careers for our new employees. We have freed them from their routines and gotten them off their dependency of punching a time clock,” says Mayes. “Our workers are doing a lot of out of the box thinking. They will stay and work until 11 at night. We are beginning to meet the needs for future workers in rural Missouri,” he states. While India alone is developing upwards of 400,000 IT programmers annually, the U.S. will produce just 75,000 to 100,000 and few in small towns.
Onshore uses a ‘boot camp’ style six- week training regimen at the nearby Macon Vocational Technology School in order to train programmers. Eighty percent of the graduates work for Onshore. The training program is run by Jason Bush, principal consultant to Onshore, and a Macon native who returned from Kansas City to rejoin the local workforce.
Frank Withrow, Economic Development Director for Macon helped set up Onshore with a revolving loan from the city. Withrow pointed to Onshore being recognized by Microsoft as Gold Certified and a company singled out for excellence in technology in the market.
“Legislators from all over the State have taken notice of this company,” says Withrow. U.S. Rep. Kenny Hulshof has visited the company, along with staffers from Sen. Kit Bond’s office; Greg Steinhoff, Missouri Department Director of Economic Development and Roderick Nunn, Director, Division of Work Force Development for the State of Missouri.
Mayes says the challenge remains much the same. “It’s still in vogue to send IT work offshore. India and China have a taste of capitalism and they are hungry for more. We cannot lay back and be fat and sassy,” says Mayes.
Mayes claims that his workers are 10 times more productive than the average workers and happy with their advancement opportunities. They may start out in the $20,000 annual range as a trainee, but salaries $60,000 and higher are obtainable in short order.
Mayes will spend time in St. Louis at least one week each month. A year ago, his company hosted a “World Outsourcing Consortium” at the Ritz Carlton in Clayton.
Mayes is a big believer in the concepts of journalist Thomas Friedman, author of the World is Flat. Onshore’s response to the belief the best companies are the best collaborators was by establishing a World IT Consortium. By that, he is busy creating a network of strategic partners who have agreed to adopt common business practices to establish a seamless, multi-country global sourcing solution network.
Furthermore, Mayes is working towards creating 16 rural technology zones throughout Missouri (away from the big cities), while moving his company forward rapidly. Mayes thinks big. “Con Agra has 300 employees and they are the biggest employer in town.” Someday, he’d like to top that mark. He continues pumping trainees through his boot camp-styled training program with the aid of Community Block Grant money for displaced rural workers. The company is in its second physical location already (an office park on the edge of town) and wants to build a free standing headquarters office and training center next.
The economic winds of change have come to Macon. Smiles are all around for those who know what Shane Mayes is trying to accomplish these days in this progressive, yet small, community located in North Central Missouri.
|
|
|
|
Press Release July, 2007
|
|
Rural Missourian keeps Tech Jobs Onshore
|
| |
Co-workers at his former job referred to Shane Mayes as the “prince of darkness.”
Employed by Elsevier, a world-renowned scientific publisher, Mayes responsibilities
included offshore software development. The company instructed him to reduce overall technology
costs by exporting workload to India.
“But each time I executed an offshore work project that meant more Americans were being
displaced from their jobs,” Mayes said. “So I decided to do something to reverse the trend.”
What Mayes did is unprecedented in the business world. He started a high-tech firm in
small-town Macon, Missouri. Onshore Technology, Inc. has a goal of training and employing
residents of rural America.
By 2015, 3.3 million U.S. jobs will have moved offshore, according to Forrester Research. At
the same time, rural America suffers from economic turmoil and job loss on a large scale.
Mayes has high hopes in expanding his business to employ thousands of rural Missourians
with a model that could be replicated across the U.S. countryside.
What they do at Onshore
A diversified tech company, Onshore provides a variety of services and solutions for small and large
businesses.
In addition to consulting on global sourcing and IT portfolio management, Onshore also
provides support, testing and development.
For example, Mayes describes one of their technologies in a press release on his website:
We’re particularly excited about the upcoming launch of a new portable medical records application named
MedRecsToGo. The system empowers the individual consumer by giving them easy access to their patient health record
(PHR). It runs entirely on a portable USB device that attaches to your key chain. By providing individual access to
medical information such as demographics, medication history, allergies, medical conditions, doctors, insurance carriers,
etc., physicians and emergency first-responders can reduce medical errors and save lives.
And Onshore provides data warehousing, special help for small businesses, e-commerce
solutions, customer relationship management and education for clients.
What makes Onshore unique in its field is Mayes’ choice to hire from his local area – what
he calls Rural Outsourcing.
According to the Onshore website, “Rural Outsourcing is America's answer to globalization
and the preferred method of containing software development costs, improving technology
throughput and creating American jobs.”
Mayes has estimated a number of advantages in rural outsourcing, including cost
containment, speed of delivery, risk mitigation and security.
Mayes asserts that cost of labor, recruitment costs, overhead expense, and training costs are
substantially lower than competitors. Onshore also claims to beat competitors’ time-to-market for
products with a local workforce. They are a local presence unencumbered from the risk factors
affecting offshore competitors. And offshore outsourced jobs adhere to offshore laws, whereas
Onshore can offer the security of Copyright Protection, Privacy Laws and other measures of safety.
How Onshore Landed in Rural Missouri
According to Mayes, workers in Eastern countries are hungry for jobs and willing to work long
hours for little compensation in order to better their lives.
“There are billions of people in India and China and other places around the world willing to
work for little pay,” Mayes said. “And with technology, they might as well be right next door to us.”
Specializing in web development, application integration and IT support and education,
Onshore needed high-tech employees. His decision to buck the trend of finding low-cost offshore
labor was social – and personal.
Mayes said he always wanted to live in a rural area. His wife was starting medical school
when she decided she wanted to move to Kirksville, Mo. Mayes looked into starting his business in
that small town, “but they were looking for highly capitalized businesses,” he said. “I had a great
idea but no money.”
So he looked a little south to Macon.
“I visited with officials in the city and they simply looked at me and said, ‘We’ll get it done,’”
Mayes said. He immediately got a loan from the city’s revolving loan fund.
“The people in Macon had a great attitude and welcomed us with open arms,” Mayes said.
“Frank Withrow, the Macon County economic development director, and the whole community
decided to take a chance on us and everything came together.”
Mayes found that fiber optic lines in the town to be another advantage in setting up his hightech
firm.
Withrow also helped Mayes coordinate community and state resources, including working
with Macon County Economic Development, the Missouri Department of Economic Development,
the Division of Workforce development, the Northeast Missouri Workforce Investment Board, the
Mark Twain Regional Council of Governments and Gamm, Inc. These partners helped Mayes
secure more than $300,000 in grant funding for a new software development education program at
the Macon Area Vocational-Technical School.
Educating rural residents for employment at his firm was Mayes’ biggest challenge.
“My thinking was, there are bright people here and they can learn,” he said.
So Mayes originated a training “boot camp” to offer a rigorous orientation. Attendees were
prescreened for suitability to the IT work environment. Those who passed initial evaluation then
attended an aggressive training session, working up to 16 hours each day.
“We looked at it as a life-changing event,” Mayes said.
When the training program moved to the Technical School, the boot camp stretched to 12
weeks and daily hours were cut a bit.
With 20 current employees, having added 16 in 2006, Mayes business continues to have a
positive impact on Macon’s economy and is contributing to the economic revitalization of the
northeast Missouri region. Onshore has also provided technology applications to several local startup
businesses and to some well-established firms.
Macon County Economic Development Director Frank Withrow said, “Since each dollar
invested by Onshore turns over at least 7 times, Onshore’s total economic impact to Northeast
Missouri is over $7 million. Onshore’s employees are spending their money in Macon and the
surrounding areas. But the most important thing is that we’ve given our young professionals a
reason to stay in their hometown. This is what has me optimistic about a bright future for our
region.”
Overcoming Obstacles to a Bright Future for Rural Missouri
At first, Onshore was only procuring small projects and Mayes saw quite a bit of employee
turnover. Times were tough and Mayes said there was a point when he couldn’t sleep at night,
worrying about how he would improve cash flow and retain the ability the compensate his
employees well.
“At one point when we were starved for cash, I gave up a majority of stake in the company.
We almost closed,” Mayes said. “The whole process was very difficult.”
Mayes describes one day when he wasn’t sure he’d open his doors for business the next day.
He was scheduled to speak to a group of high school students that same day.
“I realized that succeeding in this business wasn’t just about me,” he said. “All of the kids
and spouses and dreams of employees depended on this business. It’s not just about the
entrepreneur but also the community. If it were just me, I would have caved in to failure.”
But with long hours, hard work and a lot of faith, Mayes didn’t cave.
He picked up more and larger clients and was able to re-acquire the stake he gave up.
“Now we’re running a million-dollar company and working on long-term projects of
$250,000 or more,” Mayes said, adding that the company moved from a leaky-roofed place
downtown Macon to a new building, and they expect to double in size in the next 6 to 8 months.
All businesses face obstacles, and Mayes still has his share.
While Macon has a strong fiber optic system, Mayes said in his industry, telecommunication
infrastructure needs continual upgrades. He is actively working with the city to get what he needs to
host data on a massive scale.
Recruiting rural residents can still pose problems, although there are an increasing number of
people willing to re-locate to a rural setting, Mayes said.
But Mayes continues to plow ahead with big plans.
He added, “We aim to employ thousands of rural Missourians.”
-By Lisa Bauer, 07/07
|
|
|
|
Press Release - January 2, 2007
|
|
Onshore Technology Services adds 9 new
employees, attains Gold Certified Partner Status in Microsoft Partner Program
|
| |
Macon, Missouri – January 2, 2007 – Onshore Technology Services (www.onshoretechnology.com) today announced it is hiring 9 new employees to its staff of information technology professionals. Onshore, who recently achieved Gold Certified Partner status in the Microsoft Partner Program, has seen increasing demand for outsourced application development and integration services from around the nation.
“I’m pleased with our progress in 2006 and look forward to continued growth in 2007, “ said Shane Mayes, President/CEO of Onshore Technology Services. “We have some very exciting projects underway. We’re particularly excited about the upcoming launch of a new portable medical records application named MedRecsToGo. The system empowers the individual consumer by giving them easy access to their patient health record (PHR). It runs entirely on a portable USB device that attaches to your key chain. By providing individual access to medical information such as demographics, medication history, allergies, medical conditions, doctors, insurance carriers, etc., physicians and emergency first-responders can reduce medical errors and save lives. I expect this system to have a profound impact on the quality and cost of healthcare in our community. MedRecsToGo is just one example of how our workforce development efforts are beginning to pay off. This exciting new product, which will be distributed through retail outlets and through a network of healthcare institutions and insurance groups, can also be purchased online at www.MedRecsToGo.com. This has been an exciting year for Onshore. Despite the challenges that come along with most new business ventures, Onshore has managed to overcome obstacles and still add 15 new employees in 2006. The direct cost of labor for our workforce in Macon will approach the $1 Million mark in 2007. And this latest expansion reinforces our commitment to revitalizing our rural economy in Northeast Missouri.”
Macon County Economic Development Director, Frank Withrow says, “Onshore’s presence in Macon is being felt in other areas of our local economy. We’ve seen a substantial investment ($350,000) in our Vocational Technical School. We’ve seen some new upstart businesses take off using technology provided by Onshore and we’ve even seen some of our mainstay businesses such as Macon-Atlanta State Bank, Economy Products, and Macon Municipal Utilities benefit from Onshore’s presence in Macon. And since each dollar invested by Onshore turns over at least 7 times, Onshore’s total economic impact to Northeast Missouri is over $7 million. This is because Onshore’s employees are spending their money (buying homes and cars and such) in Macon and the surrounding areas. This is all exciting, but the most important thing is that we’ve given our young professionals a reason to stay in their hometown. This is what has me optimistic about a bright future for our region.”
About Onshore Technology Services, Inc.
Onshore Technology Services is a counter-revolutionary measure aimed squarely at the trend to send information technology services and jobs to foreign nations. Founded in March, 2005, the Company provides web development, application integration, IT support and IT education services as a cost-effective, yet risk-adverse alternative to offshore outsourcing. For more information about Onshore, visit www.onshoretechnology.com.
|
|
|
|
Press Release - December 22, 2006
|
|
| Onshore Technology Services Attains Gold Certified Partner Status in Microsoft Partner Program |
| |
Macon, Missouri – December 22, 2006 – Onshore Technology Services (www.onshoretechnology.com) today announced it has attained Gold Certified Partner status in the Microsoft Partner Program in three competencies – Custom Development Solutions, Business Process & Integration and Mobility Solutions—recognizing Onshore’s expertise and impact in the technology marketplace. As a Gold Certified Partner, Onshore Technology Services has demonstrated expertise with Microsoft technologies and proven ability to meet customers’ needs. Microsoft Gold Certified Partners receive a rich set of benefits, including access, training and support, giving them a competitive advantage in the channel.
Founded in March, 2005, Onshore Technology Services provides web development, application integration, IT support services and IT education services as a cost-effective, yet risk-adverse alternative to offshore outsourcing. In 2006, the Company nearly doubled the size of its technology workforce (Onshore now employs almost 20 Microsoft-Certified Application Developers).
“We are extremely pleased to have attained Gold Certified Partner status in the Microsoft Partner Program. This allows us to clearly promote our expertise and relationship with Microsoft to our customers, “ said Shane Mayes, President/CEO of Onshore Technology Services. “The benefits provided through our Gold Certified Partner status will allow us to continue to enhance the offerings we provide our customers.”
“Customers are looking for partner companies that can bridge the gap between their business demands and technology capabilities,” said Allison Watson, vice president of the Worldwide Partner Sales and Marketing Group at Microsoft Corp. “They need to trust in a company that can act as an expert adviser for their long-term strategic technology plans. Microsoft Gold Certified Partners, which have certified expertise and direct training and support from Microsoft, can build a positive customer experience with our technologies. Today, Microsoft recognizes Onshore Technology Services as a new Gold Certified Partner for demonstrating its expertise providing customer satisfaction using Microsoft products and technology.”
About Onshore Technology Services, Inc.
Onshore Technology Services is a counter-revolutionary measure aimed squarely at the trend to send information technology services and jobs to foreign nations. The company provides web development, application integration, and network support services using a rural delivery model as an alternative to offshore outsourcing. For more information about Onshore, visit www.onshoretechnology.com.
|
|
|
|
KTVO - VoTech
|
|
| Heartland vo-tech school receives sizeable grants |
 |
February 23, 2006
(MACON, Mo.) A Macon, Mo. business that once eyed Kirksville as its potential home is partly responsible for a sizeable grant that has been awarded to the Macon Area Vocational-Technical School. The business isn't taking all the credit. Officials at the school say it was a community effort. The vo-tech school will be receiving more than $300,000 in grant money for a new software development program. Employers at Onshore Technology Services identified the need for more workers trained in that field. "The workforce here is sparse, and we have new projects coming in, and it's hard to find people," said Onshore spokesman Shane Mayes. So Mayes and the government worked together to secure grants for the new program and renovation of classroom space. "Private businesses had the need, economic development saw that need, [and they] came to the school and the school district rose to the occasion," said Patricia Knowles, the adult and community education coordinator at the school. People who go through the training classes will eventually be able to design websites and software that can be used for things like accounting and keeping inventory. Those close to the grant process say those types of jobs are typically outsourced to countries like China and India. Now they believe some of those valuable jobs--and wages--will be able to stay in rural Missouri. "It's going to keep young people here who are graduating from school. They're the ones who have the ideas of a brighter future and what we can do to make the whole area change," said Macon's economic development director Frank Withrow. Eventually, vo-tech school officials expect to train more than 100 workers per year, but for the first two sessions, the program will only be open to dislocated workers. If you would like more information about the new software development program, you can call the Macon Area Vocational Technical School at (660) 385-2158. The company that was instrumental in bring the grant money to the vo-tech school is celebrating one year in business in Macon. Onshore Technology Services opened its doors last February. Since then the company has expanded its clientele to include more htan 30 small businesses, including the State of Missouri. Onshore currently employs 10 workers at the Macon office, but they are looking for more people to add to the payroll. "We welcome people to get in touch with us at Onshore and talk to us about some of the positions we have open now," Mayes said. Onshore will accept workers that have minimal professional experience but are willing to learn about the computer and softball field. You can contact Onshore Technology Services at (660) 395-9565. --Dana Jay, Reporting
|
|
|
|
St. Louis Business Journal
|
|
| Moshiri venture keeps technology jobs Onshore, in state |
| |
July 29, 2005
By Rick Desloge Ebrahim Moshiri has seen firsthand how work by information technology specialists in St. Louis is being shipped to countries such as India, China and the Philippines, where labor costs are lower. The practice, known as offshoring, has cost thousands of jobs across the country. Now Moshiri, founder and chief executive of the specialized software company Object Computing Inc. in Creve Coeur, is backing a Missouri business he said will provide local companies a low-cost alternative for outsourcing information technology work in their own backyard. Moshiri took a majority stake in Onshore Technologies this spring, forming a partnership with Shane Mayes, Onshore's president. Mayes launched the company last March in Macon, Mo., about 180 miles from St. Louis in north central Missouri. Mayes is a former technology worker in St. Louis County with Elsevier, an international health-care technology company. Elsevier was among the businesses sending technology work overseas, and Mayes said he knew he could save the company money by keeping the business in the state. Onshore is starting small, about a dozen employees, but the business has the ear of the Missouri Department of Economic Development. The department is in discussions with Mayes and Moshiri to potentially establish as many as five rural technology centers, each employing between 500 and 1,000 within five years. So far, Onshore's setup costs have run roughly $250,000, including a $36,800 training grant from the state of Missouri. All small technology companies face pressure from their big customers to develop a low-cost alternative for much of the basic IT coding. That usually means shipping the work to an offshore business, said Moshiri, whose Object Computing has 80 software developers. So far that push has not hit Object Computing, which provides higher-level software engineering services to Boeing and other aerospace, defense and financial firms. Moshiri said he plans for Onshore to target Anheuser-Busch, Monsanto, Express Scripts and other major corporations that have shifted some IT work out of the country. "Our clients need to lower IT costs, while at the same time minimize the risk and uncertainty of going offshore," he said. "I didn't have a strategy, and I wanted to stay in the neighborhood. OCI's (Object Computing Inc.'s) low-cost strategy is in Macon." Onshore is able to keep prices low because of its rural location. The company is cost effective for smaller projects, for which it charges $40 to $50 an hour, Mayes said. "For larger, fixed contract projects, we can go from $35 to $40 an hour," and for bigger IT projects with multi-year contracts, Onshore can go even lower, he said. Those rates are still higher than the under-$30-an-hour figure charged for technology workers in countries such as India and China, but lower than the roughly $120 an hour information technology workers receive in major metropolitan areas in the United States. Moshiri said low-priced information technology work from overseas doesn't take into account factors that push the true cost higher, such as cultural and language differences, higher staff turnover, lower government regulation on software infrastructure and political risks in some countries. Mayes has been meeting with businesses in St. Louis that need the service. Onshore's first St. Louis-area client is CEM Lending, a small Internet mortgage company in Jefferson County. Onshore graduated its first class of eight software workers in May and plans two more training classes this fall. A key for the business is to train workers as Microsoft Certified Application Developers in six weeks. That process usually takes a year. "Everyone was telling me it wasn't possible to train people so quickly, but we did it," Mayes said. Onshore's method was an intense boot camp that ran from 8 a.m. to 1 a.m, including weekends. The company applied with the state for two more training grants, said Kristi Jameson, a spokeswoman for the Missouri Department of Economic Development. She said the state is interested in working with the business, because Onshore's plan keeps IT jobs from leaving the state and creates jobs in rural Missouri.
|
|
|
|
Macon Chronicle-Herald
|
|
| Ribbon Cutting Ceremony |
| |
June 8, 2005
An open house and ribbon cutting ceremony was held Tuesday at Onshore Technology Services, located at 109 Vine Street in downtown Macon. Pictured above cutting the ribbon during the ceremony is President F. Shane Mayes and Dr. Ebrahim Moshiri, chairman. The business hours are Monday through Friday, 8a.m. to 5p.m. Onshore Technology Services is a counter-revolutionary measure aimed squarely at the North American trend to send IT services offshore. For more information about the new business, you may call (660) 395-9565 or toll-free 1-877-US-Onshore.
|
|
|
|
Chariton Valley “Keeping in Touch” Customer Newsletter
|
|
| Onshore Technology Services |
| |
Spring 2005
You may have already noticed that downtown Macon has a new business on Vine Street. Onshore Technology Services is a counter-revolutionary measure aimed squarely at the North American trend to send information technology services, and jobs, offshore. The Company offers its customers a cost-effective, yet risk- sensitive alternative to offshore outsourcing. CEO Shane Mayes says “Macon is an ideal location for Onshore because of its central location at the crossroad of Hwys 63 and 36. Assuming that an affirmative vote is reached for expanding the highway to four lanes, Onshore will be able to draw upon resources from Hannibal to Chillicothe and from Columbia to Kirksville. This is crucial for Onshore as it plans to employ as many as 100 software developers in the next few years. Onshore currently employes 10 people and has an aggressive plan to employ 25 by July 1, 2005.” Another key leverage point for Onshore Technology Services is the availability of high-speed communications. Macon is the first and only city in the State of Missouri to run fiber-optics into every building in the city, both commercial and residential. This makes it possible for Onshore to host bandwidth-intenstive applications for its customers. On March 28th, the Company will start preparing its employees for its aggressive training program called "Onshore Bootcamp", which will commence on April 2nd. Onshore will begin providing limited services to customers on April 13th.
|
|
|
|
KTVO TV3
|
|
| Kirksville's loss may be Macon's gain |
| |
February 1, 2005
(Macon, Mo.) A new computer company, Onshore Technologies, wants to come to northeast Missouri, but two local cities have two completley different ideas of what's good business. While Kirksville officials declared it too risky an endeavor, Macon is excited about the economic opportunity. Kirksville's Director of Job Creation Phil Tate says, "Let's face it, Onshore Technologies is a risky proposition. It is a new company start-up, and there is an amount of risk involved. This community decided they did not want to take that risk, and another community decided they did want to take that risk." Macon's Economic Development Director Frank Withrow says, "Onshore Technologies has decided to come to Macon, Missouri and we're really tickled about that." Both men say it's not a competition between Macon and Kirksville; rather an opportunity for the entire northeast Missouri region. Macon had a revolving loan fund and therefore was able to finance the project. The board members of K-REDI, Kirksville Regional Economic Development Incorporated, say they couldn't justify loaning the $200,000 to get the business up and running. "We're looking at 60 to 70, maybe more, good-paying jobs and not only for Macon, but for the whole region. Some of these folks will come out of Kirksville and the Clarences and the Marcelines, and I think we need to quit looking at economic development as what's good for our town, and look at what's good for the whole region," says Withrow. Tate actually aided Macon in bringing the new company to town. "When our board decided that it was a risk they were not willing to take. I'm the one who contacted Frank Withrow in the Macon Department, quite frankly, with the principle of Onshore here in Kirksville I thought it was close, I thought it was doable and I wanted to keep it as close to here as possible. Furthermore from the fact, they will provide employment for the people of Kirksville," says Tate. Onshore Technologies is already looking for employees and will move into its building in downtown Macon on February 15th. Only time will tell which city made the right decision. --Courtney Cooper , Reporting
|
|
|
|
Macon Chronicle-Herald
|
|
| Two New Businesses Starting In Macon |
| |
January 26, 2005
BY TERRI HACKETT-C-H EDITOR MACON - The council approved an ordinance for the operation of a new business at 610 North Rutherford; approved a loan application for a new business that will be located at 109 Vine Street; and heard a staff presentation by Macon Fire Chief Leroy Noble. A special use permit was requested by Sharon and Jim Scott for the operation of an interior design studio at 610 North Rutherford Street. The home is now owned by Jeff and Debbie Bisch. "The sale of the home is contingent to the ordinance being passed," Sharon Scott said. Jeff Bisch said their main concern was they would like to see the house maintained due to it being a historic house although its not on the register. "We have a buyer who can maintain the house and keep it up as other properties with historic value in the town have gone down," he said. The house will be used for the design studio only not residential. The council approved the permit. The council also approved a loan application by a business wishing to be located in Macon. Onshore Technology Services have rented a building located at 109 Vine Street, according to Bill Franke, owner of the building. Allan Muncy told the C-H, that Onshore Technology will be involved with information technology. Their plans are to develop software for different cooperations. Macon Mayor Dale Bagley told the council that Kirksville didn't have the resources for the gentlemen, so they approached Macon. Shane Mayes of Kirksville is the president/CEO of Onshore Technology and Cory DeArriba is the vice president/CEO. They hope to employ up to 10 people at first and later expand to 75 employees. Macon City Fire Chief Leroy Noble gave a staff presentation during Tuesday night's council meeting. Chief Noble said his department responded to 115 calls for assistance in 2004. Thirty-four of the responses were fire calls, 12 false alarms, six good intent calls, 16 hazardous condition calls, 2 public relation events, 21 rescue calls, and 24 service calls. Chief Noble said the department conducted 50 programs in Macon about fire prevention in 2004 with approximately 1,331 people attending. "One thing I am very proud of, is we have accumulated 2,742.5 man hours in training. We try to provide the time off and majority of the training was volunteer time. I'm proud of that." Chief Noble said. "On a sad note," he said. "Mike Lenzini will retire from the department on Jan 30. Mike has expressed to me he would like to remain a reserve. He has been a full-time firemen for five years with the city. Josh Boveri, who has been a reserve firemen for the city since June 2003, and begins full-time employment on Jan. 30. The council approved unanimously the authorization of the amended and restated Missouri Public Energy Pool # agreement. Vern Kincheloe, Macon Utilities General Manager, said the purpose of the power pool is to provide an adequate power supply to pool members as efficiently and economicly as possible. "If the city were to withdraw from the pool, buying power or generating power are not options," Kincheloe said. The council approved Kincheloe's recommendation to sign the agreement. The council tabled an amendment to the community assistance program agreement for Macon Lake and Blees Lake. The amendments were based on docks must meet the proper specifications, swimming being allowed and out board motor size used on the lakes. The council approved a resolution stating intent to seek funding through Community Development Block Grant Program. The mayor appointed Jim Stevenson to the Planning and Zoning Commission, and Charles Roberts to the Board of Adjustments. The council approved a bid by Thompson Ready-Mix for concrete, and a bid for rock by O'Laughlin's. The council approved a request to close an alley between Sutton Motors and Garvin Auto Sales. The next regular meeting will be held at 6:30 p.m. on Feb. 15.
|
|
|