Tech Expo Highlights Possibilities for Local Economy
By Lauren Poster
The Grand Strand Technology Council presented the Grand Strand Tech Expo February 11th at the Crown Reef Conference Center. And while one would have expected (maybe hoped) to see a multitude of robots, hovercrafts, antigravity suits and liquid metal lining the walls of the conference room, this day was not only about cutting edge, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century-like technology. It was about the role that technology plays in moving our town forward.
Dave Slusher of Create South encapsulated the purpose of the event, somewhat rare in a town like Myrtle Beach. Slusher said that the goal of the Tech Expo is much like that of Create South, a media creativity/educational conference to be held in April at the HGTC Grand Strand campus. “We’re trying to get the word out,” Slusher said. “We’re telling everybody ‘we’re here, we’re doing this kind of work, too.’”
Another representative for Create South, Andre Pope, agreed. “We’re a bunch of local geeks who wanted to help promote technology within the Grand Strand,” said Pope. “There are a lot of similar minded people around here, but we just don’t all know each other.” Pope, a partner at 803 Productions, and Slusher of SecureWorks, are both industry professionals. Slusher jokes, “I’m under dual citizenship today,” courageously manning two booths at once.
Putting people in touch with technology, and with the potential it has for our economy during this historically lean time, is of increasing urgency for many of the companies represented in the council. Myrtle Beach Regional Economic Development (MBRED) is the marketing representative for the Myrtle Beach International Technology and Aerospace Park (MBITAP). This is a county owned and developed piece of land situated between Market Commons and the Myrtle Beach International Airport.
According to Bill Britton, business development director for the company, MBRED works as the ambassadors for “anyone who wants to see the economy grow. Our goal is to attract industry to a tourism based economy.” The company is half government funded and half privately funded, which hopefully ensures that they are keeping Myrtle Beach’s best interests at heart. “We are the ‘Chamber of Commerce’ for Industry” in Myrtle Beach, Britton explained. Focusing on information technology, healthcare and aviation professionals, Britton believes that diversifying Myrtle Beach away from only tourism is our best hope of growing as a community. He notes that the fact that we’re not a union state makes us even more attractive to industries looking to spread out or relocate (And once I get over mistaking his comment for a Yankee versus Dixieland joke, I understand.).
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Emphasizing what we have to offer, such as low cost of living and, let’s face it, beautiful weather, are among the best ways to pull in new professionals. But more impressive is the respectable amount of existing tech workers already in Myrtle Beach. I finally get to see some of the fantasy, the stuff of sci-fi dreams I have been yearning for all day when I drop by IET, Inc.’s booth. IET engineers and manufactures equipment which produces sanitation solutions. Stuart Emmons, executive engineer for the company, reminds one of a guest on Mr. Wizard, with his general issue scientist glasses, endearingly unkempt hair and white lab coat. He nutshells IET’s goal for me: “Unlocking the potential of water as a disinfecting solution.”
IET’s products use nothing more than water and salt as basic elements, and are used in places like school cafeterias. He unscrews the cap of a solution he describes as being as effective as bleach, and merrily takes a swig out of it. “And it’s safe, too,” he explains. Larry Jones, IET senior vice president, adds that “the exciting part is that we build equipment that goes all over the world. We’re proud to be in Horry County and we want everybody to know about it.”
Marion Sofield, IET vice president of operations, jokingly adds, “We all do toilets, too.” Marion echoes the feel you get from many of the participants on this day, that they are all willing to chip in and do whatever it takes to make their companies a success.
Also well represented at the Tech Expo was the educational element. Horry County boasts two science and technology academies, the Academy for Arts, Science, and Technology (AAST), and the Academy for Technology and Academics (ATA). The schools accept students in their last two years of high school and offer “majors” in which they may specialize. ATA has a focus in rigorous vocational training, while AAST has a broad range of study topics including arts and theater. Graduates from this school have gone on to work for places like Lucasfilm, contributing Horry County’s outstanding reputation for education both in and out of South Carolina.
Cathy DeSimone heads the AAST’s digital communications department, which focuses on graphics and web design. Admittance to the school is based on availability. Her program only has 21 computers in the lab, while pre-med has 100. But she is quick to note that “I have the only Mac lab in all the Horry County Schools.” She uses exclusively Macintosh computers, noted for their superiority with graphic/creative design. “I fought a long time for that,” she says proudly. Despite limited availability, she says “we’re always recruiting.”
Some notable products of the school are also in tow on this day: students Greg D’Alesandro and Aaron Smith, seniors at AAST. They are participating in a robotics project for the FIRST Robotics competition (Finally, some robots!). Despite their youth, the young men are among the most self-possessed and well spoken people here. Extremely informed about their topic and eager to talk it up, they did demos for anyone who would watch of their creation, a robot “designed essentially for playing soccer.”
Smith described the challenge, which changes from year to year. “The regional competition is held in Clemson, and from there you have a chance to go to the international competition in Atlanta,” he said. Last year’s project was entitled Lunacy, and challenged students to simulate driving on the moon. D’Alesandro noted that they are only four weeks into the six weeks allotted them to complete their robot (I recall a similar project I attempted at their age, making something called “Boyardee-Tron” out of rolling pizza cutters mounted to Micro Machines. This is somewhat more high-tech.).
Of course “the use of certain materials and technology puts everyone on a level playing field,” notes D’Alesandro. For instance, they have a choice of controllers they can use, and, settling on the Logitech Attack 3 meant that they would have no swivel function. So, of course, they just decided to use two to get the same effect (Like, no duh, I would have done the same thing.).
Visit gstechcouncil.org for more information on the Technology Council and its continuing efforts.
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