Above: David Steward, chairman and chief executive officer of WWT
Black Enterprise magazine names World Wide Technology Company of the Year
In the June issue of Black Enterprise magazine, World Wide Technology was named National Company of the Year, with a write up entitled “On Top Of The World.” WWT, headquartered in St. Louis, is an integrated technology solutions marketing company. It moved up to the No. 6 position on the magazine’s list of the 100 largest African-American-owned businesses, with revenues of $201 million. It was No. 11 last year with revenues of $135 million.
David Steward, chairman and chief executive officer of WWT, cites specific strengths of the St. Louis region as keys to his business success. He believes a combination of people and geography are key: “The strong Midwestern work ethic, blended with our willingness to tackle new technological challenges and St. Louis’ convenient central location, are making this area a technology powerhouse, putting us right up there with the Research Triangle and Silicon Valley.”
Steward founded the privately held company in 1990 with $250,000 from his first two business ventures.
The article explains that even though Steward launched his company a stone’s throw away from his Clinton, Mo., hometown, his vision is expansive. “In a one-week span, he traveled from St. Louis to California and then cross country to Florida, all the while wooing business partners.”
Steward says in the article that he envisions his company as being a billion-dollar business.
“And like the billion-dollar companies he aspires to, WWT spends millions on research and development of new technologies,” the article says.
“It’s been a conscious strategy to build products internally on our nickel with the intent to make them robust enough to sell to the commercial marketplace,” states James Kavanaugh, company president and COO.
According to the article, the formula has increased revenues 250 percent over the past three years and provided their customers with state-of-the-art electronic business solutions.
National publication highlights St. Louis’ entrepreneurial emergence
Wondering where the latest hotbed of savvy upstarts is? Try St. Louis,” prods the May 31 issue of Upstart a supplement of Telephony magazine. The eight-page article begins by calling attention to Robert Brooks, the St. Louis-based entrepreneur and all-around communications hotshot. “Sure, Brooks had already retired twice before, only to start new ventures…Ultimately, it would be another retirement that wouldn’t stick.”
Brooks’ new company is called Gabriel Communications Inc., an Integrated Communications Provider (ICP) offering a full line of telecommunications products designed to help businesses more effectively communicate and compete in tomorrow’s business environment. Robert Brooks will serve as its chairman and chief executive officer. He has more than 40 years of entrepreneurial experience with successful start-up telecommunications ventures, including Cencom Cable and most recently Brooks Fiber Properties.
The author of the article remarks that St. Louis “has fueled the creation of a surprisingly large crop of splashy new carriers with a wide range of services. Wireless Internet. Internet backbone provisioning. High-speed access. Any service that can’t be described as plain and old.”
It goes on to cite several reasons for the attraction to St. Louis, such as:
- Location
- Brooks himself –“Having innovative people here like Bob Brooks gets a lot of attention,” says Digital Broadcast Network’s Mark Ivie, senior vice president for business development. Mike Gaddis, executive vice president and CTO for ISP Savvis Communications, puts it another way, “It really comes down to individuals. Look at Brooks. When you get to his level, you can just snap your fingers and start a company. People will flock to people who are successful.”
- The spread of telecommunications success –“companies have not only spurred the creation of other carriers, but also of companies that provide related services such as software and billing, companies like AmDocs and Intertech,” notes Gerard Howe, president and chief operating officer of Gabriel Communications.
- The fact that St. Louis was once a hub for Southwestern Bell– “leaving behind a wealth of talented technologically savvy telecom folks who liked the city too much to leave.”
- The region’s universities–“Washington University is to St. Louis what Stanford University is to Silicon Valley,” Gaddis says. “And the educational institutions in general have “added a large number of people to the industry base.”
- St. Louis itself–“the city is tree-lined and hilly, clean and expansive. It boasts many ethnicities for such a heartland town–leading to a plethora of foods, music, architecture and art. And don’t underestimate the power of baseball and beer.”
Brooks is quoted in the article’s conclusion, “St. Louis is gorgeous. The cost of living is lower. There are excellent schools and the weather isn’t too bad–you adjust. It’s an all-around out-standing place to be.”
Talx Corp. highlighted in Investor’s Business Daily
St. Louis-based Talx Corp. was highlighted earlier this year in an article in Investor’s Business Daily, a national daily business newspaper. The company has created a software program called Work Number, which automates salary and employment verification.
According to the article, “with virtually no competition, the company is rapidly cornering the market” and has already “enlisted 400 major corporations” as clients, including Microsoft Corp., Hewlett-Packard Co. and Boeing Co. Several federal agencies, including the Internal Revenue Service and the Department of Defense, also use Talx’ services, reports Investor’s Business Daily. The company claims to hold data on 23 million workers, roughly one-fifth of the nation’s work force.
The article notes that Work Number is expected to help Talx pull out of a recent slump in stock prices; the firm reported record revenue of $8.3 million and operating profits of five cents a share in the third quarter ending December 31st, thanks in part to Work Number.
St. Louis ranks in top U.S. art destinations
In the Summer 1999 issue of AmericanStyle magazine, results of the publication’s annual poll for the top Arts Destinations revealed that St. Louis ranked among the nation’s best in the country, and was included on the list for the first time ever.
The report, which highlighted metropolitan areas almost exclusively, reveals a surprising departure from last year’s results, where traditional small town communities like Sedona, Ariz. and Taos, N.M. reigned. The shift was expected, according to publisher Wendy Rosen.
“Over the last few years, artists have been capitalizing on the pricing and availability of old warehouse space in urban areas. The artists’ return to the big cities has helped dramatically invigorate the arts scene in those markets,” Rosen says. In return, according to Rosen, big cities have embraced the trend through aggressive marketing and tourist programs.
