WorkXpress in Strawberry Square.
Photo by Anela Selkowitz.
With his computer sciences background and leadership experience as a U.S. Army infantry officer in Afghanistan, Kristian Stennett could have worked almost anywhere. But, after interviewing with an international technology firm, he realized he wanted something different—and better.
“I walked in there and saw the cubicles with a couple heads poking up over top, like they were starving for some kind of distraction, so I wasn’t too inclined to go that route,” says Stennett.
The Colonial Park native rejected prairie-dog employment. Instead, he returned home in 2013, becoming a senior developer for WorkXpress, the growing custom software solutions provider located in Strawberry Square.
It’s a scenario that Harrisburg economic development and business officials hope to institutionalize as they cultivate a downtown technology corridor. Promise quality of life and opportunities in technology. Attract talent. Repeat.
The Bug Light
Downtown Harrisburg has the beginnings of that tech corridor, with 16 companies in analytics, IT, life sciences and other fields, says Harristown Enterprises President and CEO Bradley R. Jones.
The credit, he believes, goes to some combination of emerging city stability, “positive new leadership,” the appearance of an urban scene, low business start-up costs, Harrisburg University tech students and spin-off startups—synergies born when technology businesses settle within shouting distance of each other.
Jeffrey M. Briel is a senior sales director for Sigma Resources, one of the corridor’s 16 firms. The Pittsburgh-based IT consulting firm decided on Harrisburg as its “most likely next stop” when expanding, he says. When he set up shop, he immediately engaged in partnerships that support tech businesses and spread the word to millennials and businesses about Harrisburg-based opportunities in technology.
“It’s telling them that we may have a better way of keeping people in Harrisburg, to show the talents that we have here, to show the jobs that we have here,” Briel says. “We’re even showing high school kids that HU might be an avenue for them and merge the whole thing into a giant talent pool to say, ‘You grew up here. You should stay here.’”
Treff LaPlante, Stennett’s boss, is the founder and CEO of WorkXpress. Strawberry Square visitors can see WorkXpress staffers in their glass-walled office, working collaboratively without a cubicle in sight. Like Stennett, about one-third of them walk to work. Customers can easily access the business by train.
Harrisburg’s technology community bonds over shared economic development interest—in contrast to Silicon Valley’s profit-oriented incubation environment, says LaPlante.
“For early-stage startup companies, the resources available and the people available are quite remarkable,” he says.
Tech businesses go where they can find qualified workers, and HU is “the bug light” that’s attracting and developing talent, says Jones. The school that opened its doors to students in 2005 now educates 3,000 enrollees from Harrisburg and around the world, including international graduate students.
Every HU major requires an internship, plus other experiential learning cultivated through business partnerships, so graduates build academic smarts and work-ready skills, says Kelly Powell Logan, vice president for strategic workforce development and university centers.
“All of our majors have the biggest demand and significant shortages,” she says.
Plus, HU’s “solution incubators” known as centers—the Government Technology Institute, Security Center of Excellence and Analytics Institute—attract “many very smart global thinkers” to offer technology seminars and professional development for locals.
“Keep talent here,” says Briel. “That’s one of the things we’re looking at.”
Plenty of Draw
The talent game includes spotlighting Harrisburg’s quality of life advantages, says Jones.
Marketing materials tout new and planned downtown apartments. Harrisburg University GIS students are creating online maps—experiential learning in action—with layers showing the downtown workforce, attractions, restaurants and parking.
“After you’re done spending eight hours building new software products, you throw your kayak over your shoulder and drop it in the river,” says Jones. “All these amenities are right here. You can bike on the Greenbelt. You can go see a professional soccer game or professional baseball game, all within walking distance of your office.”
Stennett, of WorkXpress, embodies Harrisburg livability. There are Harrisburg Senators games, hunting and kayaking with his wife to a debarkation point outside their home. A couple of wineries have even popped up recently.
“Coming back to Harrisburg felt like the best fit,” says Stennett. “It has everything I’m looking for. It’s not built up. It’s not like a huge city. So, it’s not crazy with traveling, but it still has enough that it’s got plenty of draw.”
LaPlante would like to publicize those draws. He says he’d like to see an economic development ad campaign, like the type that Michigan, Ohio and New York “have the gall to come down in our area and advertise.”
“If we had a counteroffensive, people would be surprised to know the things available for early-stage startups,” he says. “We don’t need to win people back from Silicon Valley. There are a whole lot of people who would prefer to raise a family and have a good quality of life.”
Plus, says LaPlante, “companies need to grow here, and they need to stay here.” Attracting the stereotypical startup with dreams of buyout by Apple won’t grow a vibrant technology corridor. After all, jokes the Strawberry Square tenant, Jones “has a lot more square footage he needs us to rent from him.”
“We want to help him out in that regard, but what’s holding us back is people,” LaPlante says. “There is a lot of investment money, but one of the most important things is development of talent.”
The initiative is “on a firm glide path,” says Jones, aligning such partners as Dauphin County, Hershey Harrisburg Regional Visitors Bureau, Temple University, Messiah College, Capital Area School for the Arts Charter School and SciTech High.
“We’ve got a lot to sell here,” he says. “We’re just getting warmed up in trying to put this all together in an updated, more cohesive package.”
Stennett, for one, intends to stick around.
“The company’s done pretty well for me so far,” he says. “We have plans on growing in different areas, so I don’t see any reason to move.”
For more information on these companies, visit www.workxpress.com, www.sigma-resources.com and www.strawberrysquare.com.
