Haywood Street slowly becoming downtown high tech corridor By Dale Neal, Staff Reporter Nov. 14, 2004 7:34 p.m.	photo: Ewart Ball
Andrew Bukoski, left, and Todd Mostowy of InterVelocity work on their wireless Internet connections on top of the Flat Iron Building. From this vantage point, the high tech staff provides fast broadband to clients along Haywood Street as well as the Grove Park Inn and out to businesses on Crest Mountain. Haywood Street is fast becoming a high tech corridor as Web businesses quietly locate in downtown.

ASHEVILLE - When technology makes it possible to close a deal halfway around the world with the click of a mouse, Todd Mostowy learned the best business is still done with a handshake.

"In the Raleigh area, I was used to doing deals with e- mail and telephone, but I lost a few deals up here that way until I learned you've got to shake people's hands," said Mostowy. "It's very old school, but I like it."

Mostowy has relocated his InterVelocity firm downtown at Haywood Street for more of that human contact and to be closer to some of his best clients, including Blake Butler of Seventy-two dpi and Patrick Scully of M2 Digital Designs.

With Web businesses quietly moving in on the second floor overlooking the sidewalk shops and restaurants, Haywood Street may just be turning into downtown's tech corridor. Asheville is billing itself not only as a premier place to visit for beauty and outdoor recreation, but many business leaders are promoting the city as a place to work, especially in the high tech and digital media sector.

On the second floor above the Earth Guild, an angled hallway of offices has become home to up-and-coming tech companies.

"It wasn't by design, but there seems to be something going on with being downtown," said Scully, who moved from Biltmore Park last year to be closer to the action.

Scully is next door in the Suites at Haywood to Matt Ledford, who relocated his ydesigns.com™ from Arden in August. "We felt a little removed from the creative stream out in Arden. Now we can take clients to neat places downtown, and we've noticed we've had more clients coming to visit since we moved," said Ledford.

These Asheville firms still pull in business from across the country and the globe, but these business owners also like being able to walk down the hall and bounce ideas off their colleagues. Rather than competing against each other, these small shops are succeeding by working together.

"I know if I hand something off to Patrick he'll handle his part and we'll handle our end. And we'll make money in the process," Mostowy said.

How much high tech?

While Haywood Street seems headed toward the high-tech, there's no hard count of how many new digital jobs have been added in Asheville.

In a door-to-door survey last winter, HandMade in America estimated nearly half of the businesses in the 50 blocks surveyed were part of "the creative economy." Researchers figured the total annual real estate value - the rental value and taxable value - of the downtown creative core at $61.7 million.

Richard Florida praised these "knowledge workers" in his 2002 book "The Rise of the Creative Class." As manufacturing jobs slowly drain away, the Carnegie-Mellon University sociologist argues that cities such as Asheville that attract such workers will bring in the new high-tech companies and high-paying jobs in the 21st century.

"A lot of people call the Chamber and say they've heard that things are happening in Asheville," said Sharon Willen, director of business and industry services for the Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce. "They hear the buzz. You put that together with the quality of life and the broadband, and who wouldn't want to live in paradise?"

The Chamber and the Economic Development Council recently awarded the Media Arts Project a $4,000 grant to build a local database of digital artists, including Web designers, video game builders, filmmakers and others who provide high- tech content. Initial counts estimate more than 115 contractors working in Western North Carolina, said Greg Lucas, executive director of the MAP.

A leap of faith

Scully moved his design firm from Atlanta about two years ago, eager to raise a family and pursue his love of mountain biking.

"My wife and I looked at Boulder, Denver, Salt Lake City, but Asheville had the perfect climate. We took a leap of faith and built a house at Biltmore Park," Scully said.

Scully soon landed a Web project from Biltmore Farms, who became one of M2 Digital's largest clients.

He set up shop at Biltmore Park's Town Square wired with broadband access to the Internet. "It was very pretty, but there was something missing," Scully said.

Blake Butler over at Seventy-two dpi had worked with Scully and called him when space came open in the Suites at Haywood.

"Something happened when I moved here," Scully said. "You're walking around the streets, it's a venue where your paths can cross with other people."

Butler sees business improving for everyone with more players downtown, and in his building.

"It makes us more of a one-stop shop. People who want to build a Web site will talk to us, and then they can go over and talk to InterVelocity about hosting the site," he said.

Mostowy likes the synergy as well. He had provided Web hosting services for Seventy-two dpi for the last two years. He was doing well with his other company IT Networking, which runs the fiber optic network for the Crest Mountain business park.

But now downtown, he's closer to the brain trust spreading along Haywood Street.

"I remember 15 years ago, when downtown was all boarded up. Now it's a happening little place."

Across the street in the Haywood Plaza, Joe Scott runs IntelliSound, which provides top-notch audio for telephone systems.

Scott moved the high-tech firm up from Atlanta about a year ago, eager to leave the traffic behind. In Asheville, he's found colleagues to work with and resources only a walk away from his office.

"In Atlanta, you had to schedule a meeting a week in advance and schedule it around the traffic," Scott said. "The advantage of being in downtown Asheville with these other firms is that we are starting to act like a think tank. If you have an idea or a resource or see a trend coming, you can walk down the hall or go across the street, and say `have you got a minute?' It's a great environment for companies to use each other's resources."

Contact Neal at 232-5970 or DNeal@CITIZEN-TIMES.com.

InterVelocity

Offers business Web hosting, email virus and Spam filtering. The company was formed in Boston in 1994 and moved to Asheville in 2000, maintaining servers, datacenters, and bandwidth links across the SouthEast.

President: Todd Mostowy

www.intervelocity.com

Seventy-two dpi

Web design company, with clients such as Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce, Advantage West, Daniels Graphics, Young Transportation and others.

Founded in 2000

President: Blake Butler

www.seventy-twodpi.com

Ydesigns.com™

E-commerce consultants and designers of Yahoo! Storefronts for merchants. Online customers include the Waldorf Astoria, Fox Sports, Hamricks and the National Wildlife Federation

Founded in 1997 as Ledford and Company. Based in Arden, company relocated to downtown Asheville in August.

President: Matthew Ledford

www.ydesigns.com

M2 Digital Design

Graphic design for print and online. Clients include Biltmore communities, Hamricks and the Daytime Emmy Awards

Owner, creative director: Patrick Scully

www.m2digitaldesign.com

IntelliSound Provides audio services for telephone message systems. Clients include Bank of Asheville and medical specialties office across the nation.

Founded in Atlanta in 1997. Moved to Asheville in 2003

President: Joe Scott

www.intellisound.com

WEB EXTRA

Joe Scott of IntelliSound talks about the advantages of being in downtown Asheville. Listen at www.CITIZEN-TIMES.com