Beltsville-based company counts on its U.S. location to win federal

Daily Record, The (Baltimore), Apr 2, 2004 by Kathleen Johnston Jarboe

While the division's revenue has been stagnant for many years, Gantt only blames it on Spherix's business development approach.

We haven't been proactive in the market and instead have been relying on referral. That method can't grow business, he says.

The company has now set its sites on South Carolina, Colorado and Pennsylvania. All three states will take bids for their reservation work this year.

Much of any growth would happen in Cumberland at the heavily windowed edifice nestled in the mountains.

Spherix's space in Cumberland has room to grow its 360-person Western Maryland work force to 500. But there is another empty floor in the former Kelly-Springfield Tire Co. building if more space is needed.

Kelly-Springfield largely vacated it more than two years ago after moving its employees back to Akron, Ohio. Empty cubicles populate the building's main floor.

The floor perhaps serves as a reminder.

It's hard to get a good job here, says Joe Poturica. The 41-year- old phone specialist and supervisor is employee-of-the-year.

Hagerstown and Winchester are growing by leaps and bounds, but we don't have that here, he says.

The small town that once specialized in manufacturing has suffered as companies have moved such work overseas.

But regional economic officials aren't worried the same will happen with Spherix.

Most of their clients are government offices, said Tim Carney, an official from Allegany County Economic Development. There is a certain expectation that those jobs will stay in the U.S.

And there is no indication Gantt would consider a move.

Gantt says the Western Maryland group has a patriotic work ethic.

He makes the more than two-hour drive to the center at least every few weeks to help boost morale. He goes the week before the grand opening with not much more on the agenda than dropping off the blue welcome signs. Gantt walks around the floors saying hi to people. Some wave back. One jokes about his speech at the annual January post- holiday party.

We can grow here because the population is available here, Gantt says.

The small Western town also has lower wages. Phone specialists only earn $6.50 an hour to start, but get a 50-cent boost after 90 days.

The salary is lower than the $10-an-hour rate county economic officials place as their goal.

But employees still say the job is good, and that supervisors are flexible. Many are college kids. Others have stayed for years. The center's general manager started as a phone specialist when Spherix opened its first Cumberland location about 15 years ago.

In the cubicles, almost 10 minutes passes before 21-year-old Dave Stewart gets another call to make a campground reservation. The busiest time is in the morning as many campers plan to make reservations at the first moment their desired lots become available. Many spots can only be reserved a few months in advance.

Stewart sketches a character that is half-human and half-wolf in a spiral notebook between calls. Stewart says he wants to keep his art skills sharp and perhaps go to school to become a graphic designer.