THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, March 27, 1996 TAG: 9603270457
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY MASON PETERS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: HERTFORD LENGTH: Medium: 76 lines
By mid-April the first of 13 computers will go on line in the Albemarle to create a mini-Internet where a single keystroke will produce economic information that would normally take weeks to acquire.
The linked computers represent a $164,000 investment by the Northeast North Carolina Economic Development Commission.
``We had to figure out a way to quickly provide financial indicators, aerial maps and community statistics that a relocating business executive would want before deciding to come here,'' said Jimmy Dixon, chairman of the economic commission.
``The inter-connected computer system was the answer.
``We believe our network will be as sophisticated as any in the country and it came in under the $175,000 we budgeted for it.''
Blanchard Business Systems, an Ahoskie office supply and computer firm in Hertford County, won the hardware contract with a bid of $69,492.66 for 13 computers that will be installed in counties servedby the pump-priming commission.
``We're unloading part of the system right now,'' said William E. Blanchard, president of the family-owned Ahoskie office supply company.
``We've been in the computer business since the early 1980s and we're glad this contract stayed in our part of the state,'' Blanchard said.
Like many modern systems, the economic commission computers will be assembled to order in Charlotte so specialized components may be incorporated in the hardware.
The equipment will be designed so it can store maps, photographs and graphic information that can be quickly put together into up-to-the-minute video presentations for prospective customers.
David Stuart, president of Market Analysis Presentations in Raleigh, designed the system for the commission and will work with Blanchard in the multiple installations. Stuart, who has a doctorate in business administration from North Carolina State, will be paid about $75,000 for his work.
``Each of the 13 installations will be designed around a Pentium 120 megahertz processor and will have large memory capability and fast CD-ROM drives,'' said Stuart. All of the equipment, including color printers and video equipment, will be linked by telephone modems. Operators in Albemarle communities will be able to talk with each other while using the equipment, he said.
Stuart said the data bases that can be called up in the northeastern regional system will include several covering nearby Virginia.
U.S. Census and North Carolina demographic information will also be on line for communities using the new computer network.
``We'll hold classes to show new users how to operate the system,'' Stuart said. ``And we'll function as consultants to the northeastern economic commissioners during the initial period of operation.''
Stuart designed and supervised an earlier installation of a computer system for the Southeast Regional Development Commission but the Albemarle system will include newer technology, he said.
Dixon said that as fast as the computers become available they will be installed in the northeastern counties served by the Economic Development Commission.
A controlling computer, equipped with additional memory and other bells and whistles, will be installed at the new headquarters for the commission in Edenton. The panel is based in Perquimans County at Hertford but will soon move to new quarters in Edenton.
Other sites and counties where the computers will be installed are: Washington-Beaufort Chamber of Commerce, Washington; Bertie County Economic Development Commission, Windsor; Edenton-Chowan Chamber of Commerce, Edenton; Currituck Economic Development Office, Currituck; Wanchese Seafood Industrial Park, Dare County; Halifax Development Commission, Weldon; Northampton EDC, Jackson; Martin County EDC, Williamston; Perquimans County EDC, Hertford; Washington County EDC, Plymouth; Elizabeth City-Pasquotank County IDC, Elizabeth City; and Hertford County EDC, Winton. by CNB