To be sure, Montreal has deterrents to economic growth. October 1995's close referendum vote on Quebec's independence rattled the business community. And the language requirements--businesses may be expected to produce certain documents in both French and English--automatically eliminate the city from some American companies' lists.
When asked whether he believes the separatist movement has created economic instability, Crawford laughs: "It is a bigger deal in the press than it is in the streets." Fluent in French and English, the entrepreneur believes bilingualism will give him a competitive advantage should he attempt to distribute abroad or form partnerships in Europe. "Europeans feel very comfortable in Montreal," says Crawford.
Szalwinski is harsher. "I wish people would just stop arguing and get on with business," he says. He plans to do that himself, the Zone Corp. having contracted with Ernst & Young to market the benefits of the Old Port for new-media companies.
And to speed things along, the company has also contacted someone who's done this sort of thing before: William Rudin.
Of course Rudin himself has not enjoyed unalloyed success with his efforts. Two years after its birth, Silicon Alley still remains more hype than reality. No financial-district company has emerged as a major technology powerhouse, and growth in the number of new-media and Internet businesses doesn't compare with the growth of similar companies in cities like Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Dallas. A glance at the marquee in the lobby of 55 Broad Street reveals the diminishing presence of smaller companies as more and more giants like Ernst & Young and IBM infiltrate the building.
Still, the number of new-media companies and jobs in the city has grown considerably. Hoping to extend the effort farther afield than 55 Broad Street, Weisbrod and some others have launched a campaign called Plug 'n' Go to give small companies in other parts of the district the same bandwidth Rudin's building offers--for similar low rates. Together these factors may make New York City the entrepreneurial breeding ground Weisbrod and Rudin envisioned.
Rudin, meanwhile, has turned his attention outside Manhattan. He is currently trying to replicate the Silicon Alley model in more than a dozen cities worldwide, doing everything from searching for local partners to building buildings. But wiring a neighborhood isn't enough. Rudin also wants to create a global network of buildings so that companies in Cambridge, Mass., for instance, can share massive amounts of data in real time with their counterparts in Los Angeles and London.
Silicon Alley has taught us that a single building does not a new-media mecca make. If Rudin situates his structures in areas that have Pittsburgh's university-nourished talent, Boulder's quality of life, and Montreal's financial appeal, maybe they'll succeed. But the cyberdistricts that boom may not be the ones you'd put your money on. After all, who would have imagined that Redmond, Wash., would turn out to be such a wonderful place for a software start-up?
Joshua Macht is an associate editor at Inc. magazine.
The Keystone To Success
The name Regis McKenna is synonymous with Silicon Valley. But the high-tech marketing genius who helped make Apple Computer what it is today--or, at any rate, what it was yesterday--is actually a Pittsburgher born and bred. Who better, then, to suggest ways for the former steel capital to attract and keep technology start-ups?
"I was born in Pittsburgh in 1939 and lived there until 1963. I have seen it as a booming steel town; and today, when I go back to visit friends and family, I see it struggling to reinvent itself for the post-industrial age.
"Pittsburgh wants to be more like the Silicons--Valley and Alley--a region of fervid technology-based entrepreneurialism. As someone who has lived and worked in Silicon Valley for more than 30 years, I know that won't be easy. Silicon Valley's success is not a factor of its geographic location nor of the presence of Stanford University. Rather it is due to something more intangible: a kind of unfettered innovation and rebelliousness of spirit that is almost impossible to emulate.
"My hometown may lack that spirit, but it has many other assets: excellent universities, enthusiastic hard-working people, and a desire to constantly renew itself. Yet most high-tech executives I have encountered know very little about the city. The problem, I believe, is that Pittsburgh has not made sufficient effort to become part of the expanding network of people, places, and organizations that is fueling the technology industry's growth.
"Rather than looking inward for ways to stimulate entrepreneurial activity, it should become a node on the network that includes such high-tech meccas as Silicon Valley, Austin, Phoenix, Portland, and Seattle. These communities make deals and forge alliances, invest in and recruit from one another. As this elite circle learns more about Pittsburgh, it will become more receptive to its message. After all, it is much easier to tell your story to friends than to strangers.
"There are many agents that can carry Pittsburgh's message to the relevant masses. Silicon Valley and other high-tech centers have recently seen an influx of Carnegie Mellon graduates, who should be acting as evangelists for their alma mater's hometown. Pittsburgh should be inviting industry leaders from around the world to discover the richness of the area through workshops and seminars; its universities should form joint ventures with such peer institutions as MIT and Stanford. And community, business, and educational leaders should have a presence at industry conferences and events, and be seen as making significant contributions to technology.
"In short, Pittsburgh offers much to attract those entrepreneurial technology companies that will create so many jobs in the future. But it must reach out before it can expect others to reach in."
