High-tech CEO is bullish on region's economic future
Last month, IntelliCorp, a software company with offices in the United Kingdom and Silicon Valley, celebrated the opening of its new East Coast office in Westborough. The expansion was welcomed by officials in the administration of Governor Romney, who have trumpeted state government's role in attracting high-tech companies.Massachusetts seems like a logical base for IntelliCorp's East Coast operations -- it's close to a lot of clients, it has a longstanding business tradition, and it boasts a pool of fresh talent.IntelliCorp's CEO, George D'Auteuil Jr., a native of Millbury, has been with the company, which provides software to support the business application SAP, for three years. D'Auteuil, who lives in Worcester with his wife and two sons, spoke with Globe reporter Emily Shartin about IntelliCorp, the economy, and what the suburbs west of Boston have to offer a small, growing business.The following is an edited transcript.
In Massachusetts, there's a lot of talk about the state's role in fostering a pro-business environment. . . . Is that the kind of thing that's helpful to businesses, or are there other reasons a company would move here?
If you have an educational and talent pool to pull people from, and if you have an environment or a culture where people want to be, and . . . you've got the governor and the state committed to fostering and bringing folks in. . . . Why wouldn't you want to be a small business in this state?
This particular region, the I-495 region, has been hit pretty hard by the economic downturn. Are these [laid-off] people going to be able to find work? Is the high-tech sector coming back here?
As you start seeing consumer confidence come in, the rest of this will come back. My gut tells me -- I'm not out there living it every day -- but there seems to be a lot more activity than there was previously. I think a lot of it also is the fact that we went through this big boom from the Internet, so we had a lot of folks doing a lot of things. . . . I think it's a national sifting-out. So I'm optimistic.
Do you think it's ever going to be as robust as it was?
Will it ever be as robust in software and technology? No . . .You're going to have an evolution of where technology takes you. There's so much innovation in the state, whether it's in biotechnology or wherever it's going to be, I think we're going to see very highly skilled people having business opportunities. . . . We may not know yet what that boom's going to be, but as long as you have MIT, Harvard, BC, you've got people that are looking to build that, and that's why I think this is a strong hub.
How many positions are you hiring for?
We would like to be somewhere around 20 positions, basically doubling our size from where we are now, over the next six to 12 months.
There's been a lot of talk in the region about housing [prices]. Do you find that's a concern for folks who are thinking about moving here?
Well, it's all relative. If you're talking about housing in downtown Boston and Beacon Hill, that's a concern. But . . . there's very affordable housing out in this area, and this is one of the reasons why we came here. If we were trying to do the same thing right now in Palo Alto, Calif., we're talking three, four times the rate. . . . I have people here that are three years out of college. . . . They're looking to buy a condo here. They can afford to get a nice starter house.
When you sell this region to people, what do you tell them?
If you want to raise a family where you can go and be at the mountains in a couple of hours, skiing, you can be at the beach in a couple of hours, this is the place to be. . . . I'm an avid sports fan, so . . . there's no more passionate place to be if you want to follow sports. . . . And you don't have to worry about earthquakes. There's snow, but that melts.
What sports in particular?
I guess baseball right now is a big one. This is kind of what I look at for the company here. . . . If you have strong management that's on par with the players and let everyone do their jobs, you've got to reward that, and I think that's one of the things the Red Sox have done. From Larry Lucchino and the management team to Theo Epstein to [Terry] Francona, they're all passionate. They're all onto the same focus. . . . I want them to win, because I think that's the right attitude, and that's how we're looking to try and build the business. . . . Trust each other, give all of the individuals the ability to execute, and go.
