Software companies carve Front Range niche

A blossoming regional economy, well-regarded research universities and an abundance of intellectual talent have combined to make the Northern Front Range an important center for creation and marketing of computer software.
More than 40 software firms presently have offices locally, employing more than 500, generating millions of dollars in revenues and producing innovative software products whose functions range from relatively simple business applications to sophisticated computer-aided design programs.
Among the latter is Genasys II, the Fort Collins-based branch of Genasys II Pty. Ltd., based in Sydney, Australia. The company markets geographical information systems software. Locally, it employs 45 and has an anticipated revenue in excess of $5 million.
"GIS software such as ours allows you to manage spatial data," said Steve Watson, Genasys II˜s manager of customer service. "The maps you see. in telephone books are an example."
GIS has a host of other uses. Some are simple: displaying an area map and indicating the bus route to the local school, for example. Others are simple ideas that have complex applications. One example is GenaMap, which is used by Federal Express Corp. route planners. The program displays routes in great detail, even color coding each stop made by Federal Express couriers. This allows managers to run routes efficiently and rework them when necessary.
it might surprise some to know that Genasys II, a company with 16 locations worldwide serving 58 countries, has recently chosen to relocate its world headquarters from cosmopolitan Sydney, home of the world-famous gull-winged Sydney Opera House and of the next Summer Olympics, to quiet Fort Collins, a relatively small college town tucked along the Rocky Mountain Front Range.
Referring to the headquarters shift, Watson explained that "We chose the U.S. for our headquarters office because of its central location to our worldwide operations and because of a common language."
The shift is taking place now, complete with a new marketing and corporate-image campaign being crafted for Genasys II Invision Marketing Inc. of Fort Collins.
A seemingly unlikely choice, Fort Collins was chosen for a number of reasons.
"There are a number of GIS-related companies here," Watson said, "but the university [Colorado State] was the main reason."
Genasys chose the United States over its Manchester, England, office. The company foresees an explosion of demand for GIS and related products in this country.
"We wanted to establish a foothold in the U.S. for what we believe will be a good business opportunity," Watson said.
In the meantime, there are lucrative GIS Contracts to be bid from federal, state and local government as well as the promise of a host of industrial applications for its GIS products, including the possibility of computer-mapping for personal vehicles.
While Genasys is relocating its headquarters to Fort Collins from halfway around the world, other companies with more local roots are sinking those roots deeper into Front Range soil.
One such company is Fiscal Information of Loveland, which was recently acquired by Reynolds & Reynolds of Dayton, Ohio. The company markets patient-billing software for medical radiology practitioners in private practice and in hospital groups. The company has about 100 clients throughout the Western states, concentrated in the large states of California and Texas.
Fiscal Information was started 21 years ago by local native Charles Smith. Though privately held and declining to publish its revenue figures, it is known that, together with its sister company, Fiscal Information of Daytona Beach, Florida, the company˜s revenues last year topped $10 million.
The company˜s success has not compelled it to consider leaving the region.
"It˜s the quality of life in Colorado," said director of operations Noreen Prindiville, "that has kept us here."
Fiscal Information employs 48 people.
At the very northern end of the Front Range, Aspen Tree Software Inc. is housed in two converted Victorian homes across the street from the Albany County Public Library in Laramie.
The company manufactures a computerized human resources decision-making tool for screening and evaluating both front-line and professional employees. The company also serves approximately 100 clients nationwide, primarily in retail and manufacturing.
"The company has changed dramatically with the changes in technology and widespread access to the Internet," said Meg Wood, who has worked as a technical writer for the company for almost five years.
The primary change has been in the sophistication of its product. What started as multiple-choice, forced-response, computer-aided interview product has evolved in complexity.
"The computer-aided interview has become part of a more sophisticated interview that can be administered in person, Intranet or Internet," Wood said. "The program also can respond to open-ended questions and now contains a skills-assessment feature that compares and ranks prospective employees in the same skill area."
Though successful and more sophisticated, Aspen Tree, too, has chosen to remain in its hometown
"It˜s a lifestyle issue," Wood said. "Company president Brooks Mitchell is enamored with Wyoming and wanted to live and raise his family here."
Wood believes being located in Laramie has even been a competitive advantage for Aspen Tree.
"ÔWe bring in and expose corporate presidents and officers from Chicago and New York," Wood said. "Most have never been to Wyoming, and they respond positively to its lifestyle and values."
Also, software is one industry where it can be advantageous to be located outside major population centers.The company˜s decision to remain in Laramie, though rooted in lifestyle, has very practical reasons as well.
"We have been able to find very talented employees here in Wyoming," Wood said. "We˜re very wedded to Laramie."