Going high-tech

La Crosse Tribune, Sep 30, 2001 by Cahalan, Steve

Firstlogic Inc. has become one of the La Crosse area's most successful high-tech businesses and continues to grow in employment and sales.

Firstlogic provides software that helps companies manage their databases, and provides software and services for use in print-andmail operations to maximize postage discounts and reduce production costs.

Three years ago, Firstlogic had about 200 employees in La Crosse and about 50 elsewhere in the United States. Company officials said then that Firstlogic had about $35 million in sales in 1997.

Today, the La Crosse-based company has about 310 employees in the city and about 120 employees elsewhere. Although the company doesn't announce its annual sales figures anymore, "We have said the company has had roughly a 30 percent compounded annual growth rate over roughly the last five years," said Paul J. Byrne, executive vice president and chief executive officer.

Firstlogic is a leader among a cluster of software and information systems companies that have developed in the area.

The growth in high-tech employment has earned national recognition for the La Crosse area at a time when manufacturing jobs are being cut.

But, while the area's quality of life is cited as a positive factor in the growth of high-tech jobs, industry officials say the competition for high-tech workers in a smaller market is a critical challenge.

To help Firstlogic meet its growth needs, the U.S. Department of Labor has dedicated a portion of a $448,900 grant to provide training to 100 people.

The company was founded in 1984 as Postalsoft and has been known as Firstlogic since 1997. The largest part of the company's growth comes from its software that helps other companies manage their databases.

"As companies become more understanding of their need to know their own customers, to target their own customers, to handle the large amounts of data they have, there's been a need for our products," said Eric J. Lieberman, Firstlogic's president. "The growth has been just explosive in that area."

Firstlogic has outgrown its headquarters building - the former G. Heileman Brewing Co. headquarters at 100 Harborview Plaza. Its 300 La Crosse employees work there, in the U.S. Bank Place building and at an office building at Second and King streets that it shares with Electronic Data Systems Corp. and Ceridian Retirement Plan Services.

Firstlogic officials hope eventually to combine their three La Crosse operations in one building.

"No decisions have been made" on exactly what to do or when, Lieberman said. "What we know is that being in three separate locations certainly does introduce some management issues," he said. "Everything from 'How do we communicate, to 'Are people meeting together and having informal opportunities to talk?' So consolidating operations in one location in La Crosse we would view as desirable."

The slowdown in the U.S. economy in the past year hasn't had a major impact on Firstlogic, Lieberman said, and it continues to add employees. "We've been lucky because we're in a niche that is able to deliver some efficiencies as other companies are trying to cut back on costs," he said.

The La Crosse area's quality of life and educational resources are attractive to high-tech companies such as Firstlogic, Lieberman said.

"You can go out in the Silicon Valley and sit in a traffic jam forever," he said. "And here, somebody may have a 10-minute commute and be angry because it took so long. And they are able to go and do the things that they like to do that make life worth living, at the end of the day." For people who love rivers, hunting and other outdoor activities "it's just wonderful, it can't be beat," Lieberman said.

But Lieberman said the area needs more high-tech companies.

"One thing we may be lacking in La Crosse by not having more hightech companies is more of an opportunity for people to network, to interact with people doing other things, and learn about new and exciting things," he said. "And stopping down at the local bar and talking to somebody that's working on a project from another company, that maybe you can relate to. By not having more companies, you maybe miss those opportunities that you get in a more urban setting."

The area's population means finding qualified job applicants is "certainly more of a challenge than you might have in a larger metropolitan environment," said Rich Petro, Firstlogic vice president of human resources. "So you have to do more work to access the talent." He said most Firstlogic employees in La Crosse come from within about 200 miles.

"Once we get people to town, once they find out and get to know more about Firstlogic, what we do, where we compete, how we do it, and come and see this area, it's a pretty easy sell," Petro said.

"Finding this kind of skilled workers is a little more work than finding other types, just because they are in demand and there isn't a huge supply to begin with," Petro said. "But we're managing."

In recruiting new high-tech businesses, Byrne said, it probably would be best for La Crosse to focus on the types it already has. "I do think it's very difficult to start with a blank sheet of paper and not build on the skills you already have in your area," he said.