Network: February 1993

Network question and answers: Reader-to-reader advice on a variety of topics.

By Michael P. Cronin | 
 

Foreign Intrigue
My agency contracts professional health-care services to hospitals. Competing agencies employ physical therapists from foreign countries. How can we get involved in such overseas recruiting?

Mary Hill

President

O'Hill Quality Health Care

Chicago

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Rick Surpin, CEO of Cooperative Home Care Associates, in the Bronx, N.Y., says, "A few large hospitals and well-connected agencies may pluck certified nurses and physical therapists from overseas but not without a lot of aggravation and expensive lawyers. You'd have to find suitable candidates, screen them, deal with extensive government red tape, and have them recertified Stateside, anyway."

Surpin suggests you recruit foreign-born workers already living in the States. "Our immigrant populations are underserved as it is. Recent immigrants are ready, willing, and able -- meaning they're already certified and have the necessary work visas," says Peggy Powell, Cooperative Home Care's director of training.

Start at the local immigration office. Databases there list workers with the necessary documentation who may already be enrolled in English courses or job-training programs. Also try the Illinois Department of Employment and Training (312-744-4078).

Social-services agencies also can provide names, funding, training help, and referrals. Call the national headquarters of Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Services (212-532-6350), National Migration and Relief Services (202-541-3220), and the U.S. Catholic Conference (212-614-1250). Locally, try Travelers' and Immigration Aid of Chicago (312-435-4500). Most provide screening, on-the-job training, orientation, and follow-up. Contact community social centers, too.

You'll have to recertify newly immigrated workers, and that costs money. Private-industry councils in major cities fund special training, but Surpin doesn't know how well your business plan will be received if you maintain a bias for overseas workers. Consult with the National Association of Private Industry Councils (202-289-2950).

The National Association for Health Care Recruitment, in Akron (216-867-3088), offers seminars on health-care-recruitment issues. Become a member for $60 and receive the monthly newsletter, recruiting handbooks, and annual.

* * *

Mentor Match
My boss is brilliant at systems integration, but he's not as brilliant at marketing. He needs a mentor but believes technical associations are filled with inept peers out to steal his ideas. Where else can we find a mentor in Washington, D.C.?

Name Withheld

"Technical entrepreneurs are detail oriented; marketers are people oriented," says Denise Hudson, CEO of Transference, a Reston, Va., specialist in positioning high-tech products. "To get beyond a certain level of success, you must bridge that gap."

Several services match mentors with companies like yours. The Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship's mentor program (301-405-2144) pairs tech-based companies (in Maryland, Virginia, and D.C.) with mentors, each of whom has had at least 15 years' experience as a CEO, marketing maven, lawyer, or accountant. At a free initial meeting, parties size one another up. "It all boils down to personality," Hudson says. Once a match is made, the fee to the center is $35 an hour.

George Mason University's small-business-development center (703-993-2130) offers CEOs free one-on-one advice from marketing professionals from local high-tech companies. Or you can buy more extensive help from the same professionals or from staff consultants; $2,500 buys 50 hours over six months. The school's incubator program (703-478-7250) links high-tech CEOs with volunteer higher-ups from its Century Club, a pool of 100 multinationals (including AT&T and IBM). SBDCs at Howard University (202-806-1550) and Montgomery College also offer free advice and networking for techies.

Dave Blohm, the CEO of MathSoft, a Cambridge, Mass., software company, and also the cofounder of SoftEN, a Boston networking group, urges you not to dismiss professional associations. You need advice from people who understand the special challenges of marketing innovative technology. Look for a good mix of CEOs, marketers, and lawyers. (Also see Josh Hyatt's "Words from the Wise," June 1991, [Article link].) If your boss can't escape his paranoia, look for groups with members from noncompeting high-tech industries.

Consider joining the Washington, D.C., chapter of the Technology Executive Roundtable, sponsored nationally by Digital Equipment. It meets monthly. Annual membership is $400. To learn more, call your local sponsor, Beers & Cutler, at 202-331-0300.

* * *

Greener Acres
I'd like to start a business that requires 10 to 15 acres of land. To help fund the business, I'd like to sell my house and buy a cheaper one. Normally that would result in a capital gain and the associated tax. Can I avoid that tax if I roll the capital gain into the purchase of land?

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