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3 of 3 Premium Clicks used this month SUBSCRIBE Print + Online Subscriber Activation | Register x Forgot Password | Need an Account? e-edition | subscribe | newsletter | deals Classifieds Jobs Autos Real Estate FEATURED » NEWS NOW Our View: Governor should not try to tilt LNG process ... From the Council: Have a safe, fun Halloween ... Guest Opinion: The other side of the fire station story ... Our View: Governor should not try to tilt LNG process ... From the Council: Have a safe, fun Halloween ... Guest Opinion: The other side of the fire station story ... SUNDAY FOCUS: HIGH TECH Could Medford be IT? Small technology firms hope to turn downtown into an IT hub By Greg Stiles Mail Tribune MailTribune.com By Greg Stiles Mail Tribune Posted Oct. 25, 2015 @ 12:01 am By Greg Stiles Mail Tribune Posted Oct. 25, 2015 @ 12:01 am » Social News p bs:newslist StartDate="20121121" EndDate="p bs:datecalc Months="3"" DateSort="1" UseObjects="1" ObjectClass="81" Taxonomywords="2325,665" ExactTaxonomyMatch="1" Image="1" Count="4" --> There is a growing tech sector in the heart of Medford. In the past month, two established firms have expanded and a third company has opened a satellite office all within a block of the Main Street and Central Avenue intersection. While it's too soon to characterize it as a boom or trend, the groundwork has been laid to attract new tech activity to the downtown core. Application developer Coding Zeal, formed in 2013, has moved into the street level of the Woolworth Building, allowing CBT Nuggets to occupy its former office off of Middleford Alley. Lifeline Computer Solutions, founded in 2004 by Micah Shanks, now occupies much of the second floor above the old fire station on Front and Sixth streets. All of them are within a 30-second walk. "Southern Oregon has not been a prevalent place for tech start-ups," says Adam Cuppy, a founding partner of Coding Zeal and its chief operations officer. "We felt this is a great opportunity to form the hub for companies our size with around 10 employees and set a new standard for the downtown area." Across the back alley, Lifeline Computer Solutions has quietly carved out an IT support business with a far-flung clientele. Micah Shanks launched the business out of his east Medford home 11 years ago, made the leap to an office building, and now its 15 employees occupy most of the second floor in the rekindled historic Medford fire hall on Front Street. Earlier this month, Lifeline Computer Solutions stepped up its presence when it bought ABMS II, a spinoff of ABMS, a medical technology company acquired by WebMD a dozen years ago. To a certain extent, Cuppy and Shanks live in parallel worlds, carving out niches in the ever-changing, ever-expanding digital universe. They don't compete for customers nor necessarily for the same talent. Yet, the synergistic elements are in place. Coding Zeal wasn't even out the door when Cuppy steered a couple of fellow travelers into his old space next door to Limestone Coffee Co. He first met code writers from Eugene-based CBT Nuggets, an online IT video training and certification firm, in 2014. A couple of months ago he got word the Willamette Valley firm was scouting for a satellite location in Medford. "I had a move-in-ready office," Cuppy says. Cuppy sees Southern Oregon, and Medford in particular, as an economically viable alternative to the runaway cost of operating space. "San Francisco has always been a major location for innovation and start-ups," Cuppy says. "Portland is emerging very much so in those areas." Office space in the Bay Area is five to six times as expensive as Medford, he says, and downtown Portland three to four times higher. "We have a client in San Francisco's Market District who was negotiating a lease at $6.60 per square foot," Cuppy says. "The deposit alone was $1 million. For them, that wasn't sustainable." A quick survey of office space advertised for the Woolworth Building showed rents ranged from 64 cents to $1.44 a square foot, depending on the size. The setup in the Woolworth building may be roomy for Coding Zeal for now, but by the end of the decade, Cuppy anticipates 4,600 square feet to be insufficient. "We view our space as a beacon," Cuppy says. "We want to set a new standard for what the tech sector looks like in Southern Oregon. For us, being in a really public location, right downtown, with a long street front and big open windows, it provides a huge opportunity for the region to adopt and embrace." With an abundance of room, Coding Zeal can offer space to other firms within its walls. Cuppy is developing relationships with colleges to prepare graduates for what's coming down the pike. "It literally takes calendar and school years for new engineers to come out of schools and takes time for institutions to pivot," he says. "But technology moves really fast. We're developing an apprenticeship that would combine our efforts without diminishing the value of their education. We would be amplifying what they are learning." That would create organic growth opportunities within the region, augmented by industry veterans who are disenchanted by the cost of living in major metropolitan areas. Less likely, he says, would be executives fleeing established tech hubs. "You won't see C-level executives, chief executive officers or chief operations officers, because they need to know there are more options before they will go somewhere," Cuppy says. Shanks has built his business working with small-to-medium-sized customers who often don't realize the extent of their firm's technology dependence, and redefining what IT management looks like. Over the years, Lifeline Computer Solutions built a substantial medical client base between Portland and San Francisco. But it wasn't until recently that Shanks was ready to pull the trigger on a deal that likely will lead to more. "When we bought ABMS II, it made sense for us because doctors understand our model and it can be extremely costly for medical practices to be down," he says. "I don't know what the end game looks like, but I do think as long as we can grow in a controlled fashion, be very methodical with strategic growth, we're willing to do that." The tech industry has an army of workers, who not only work in different time zones, but might even work on other continents. In the past couple of years, CBT Nuggets, founded in 1999, has grown to 107 employees with offices in Bend and Buffalo, N.Y., to go with its Medford foray. The company had remote staff in the Rogue Valley and hopes to capitalize with a brick-and-mortar presence. Chief Operating Officer Ryan Lee, a Southern Oregon University graduate, says there is a growing cadre of tech industry workers in the Rogue Valley who work remotely for far-flung companies. He is also aware the recent relocation of online firms such as Musician's Friend and Motorcycle Superstore has created a talent pool. "A lot of people love Medford and Ashland and chose to stay," Lee says. "The key pieces you need to be successful are customer support, marketing and development from a technical side. Obviously, there is a great pool to pull from here." With Coding Zeal and Lifeline Computer Solutions nearby, Lee envisions the possibilities. "We love being where there are other tech companies," he says. "They're not viewed as competitors, but collaborators. When there are like-minded people, great things can happen." A block or so away from the developing corridor, just across the railroad tracks, Procare Software continues to grow and expand. The integrated payment processing services and child care management software firm has grown to 56 employees from 48 a year ago when it moved into One West Main, a building embodying the city's vision for redevelopment in the core district. It's been a busy year in more ways than one for Procare Software, which saw Boston equity investment firm TA Associates take a majority stake in the company. "I see us continuing to grow," says Procare founder and president Jeff Blum, who started the firm in Houston in the 1980s, moved it to Ashland in 1989 and to Medford in 2000. "We're hiring three new developers. This is an area with an opportunity for people. We've hired a recent graduate from OIT (Oregon Institute of Technology), and another from Crescent City." Procare, one of three primary One West Main tenants, is adding another 6,000 square feet to its present 15,000 square feet. "When we put out the word we have engineering jobs, we get response," Blum says. "I don't think it's hard to attract people to this area, it's got a lot to offer." Reach reporter Greg Stiles at 541-776-4463 or [email protected] . Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/GregMTBusiness , on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/greg.stiles.31 , and read his blog at www.mailtribune.com/EconomicEdge . By Greg Stiles Mail Tribune MailTribune.com By Greg Stiles Mail Tribune Posted Oct. 25, 2015 @ 12:01 am » Comment or view comments Terms of Service /* $( document ).ready(function() { // Jquery mobile is trying to style the button and leaving a blank gry button on top of a white button $("#viafouracoms .vf-comment-controls li.vf-right").html(' Submit '); });*/ » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. calendar Connect with MailTribune.com Facebook Twitter RSS Back to top Reader Services Reader Services Home Subscriptions Subscriber controls Contact us Submissions Photos Events Letters to the editor Corrections Announcements Obituaries Story ideas Since you asked Alerts Email Alerts RSS Feeds Text Alerts Advertise Media Kit Home Products and services Ad rates Advertising contacts Propel Marketing Mail Tribune Daily Tidings The Nickel Shop Our Valley Blogs Mobile Site Stay Informed Email newsletter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. 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