Babes in Computerland: men hi-tech entrepreneurs
by Mollie Babize
The Women's Times
June 1999
The Pioneer Valley isn't short on female hi-tech entrepreneurs, and those entrepreneurs aren't short on success. For instance, eclecTechs™, Victoria White's Internet consulting and website development firm, is growing like mad. Founded in 1995 as The Internet Connection, eclecTechs™ now employs eight people in a renovated mill building in Northampton.
eclecTechs™ has developed more than two hundred websites for clients such as Breast Cancer Resource Guide (www.breasted.org) and the Clarke School for the Deaf (www.clarkeschool.org). They've also created a site for small business owners (www.bizhelp.org). More than 1000 people have taken classes organized by eclecTechs™; recent offerings include Keeping Kids Safe: Internet for Parents, Marketing on the Internet, Preparing for Y2K, and how-to classes for website development.
White is a woman with a mission: "Our services were conceived and developed to initiate, expand and sustain equal access to the Internet. Knowledge is power." This statement, prominently placed on her firm's brochure, grew out of White's training and experience.
The daughter of "writer/artist-type" parents, White originally intended to major in art, but wound up majoring in chemistry. After a brief teaching stint at Cornell, she returned to UMass to work in the Polymer Science Department where she managed computer and Internet equipment for sixteen laboratories.
Her interest in information technology led to an MBA, with a focus on computer ethics. "An oxymoron," she quips, but she takes the concept seriously. "I was concerned with how the information superhighway (as we called it then) would further fractionate society. There are neighborhoods where families don't have a telephone. How will they get access to this technology?" Without access, under-privileged groups will be at an increasing disadvantage, she believes. Cost is another barrier: "A working mother, who is choosing between paying the rent and fixing the car, is not going to be able to buy a computer for her kids."
Although her work at UMass was interesting and paid well, White decided to take the plunge and start her own business. Then her mother was diagnosed with breast cancer. During the six months she spent with her mother, White put her plans on hold. She emerged with focus. "I realized that time isn't infinite. You must be very organized to accomplish what you want." At forty-three, Victoria White is accomplishing a great deal.
In addition to providing equitable access for a wide range of clients (interns hired by eclecTechs™ develop websites pro bono for nonprofit organizations), White gives presentations to realtors, attorneys, writers, small business groups, and college classrooms. She serves on several boards and committees. White is serious about knowledge's responsibility as well as its power.
Knowledge rather than gender is the key to accessing hi-tech professions, according to Diane Doherty, regional director of the Small Business Development Center of Springfield. Because these fields are relatively new, she says, they may be more equitable than most. "Women are out there, and they are willing to learn technology.
"Women are starting new businesses at twice the rate of men," she explains. Technology allows women to work at home more easily, and thus can be combined with raising a family. Furthermore, says Doherty, women are more willing to ask for advice and information. "Women are very resourceful, and that makes for a good entrepreneur."
Women are particularly adept at working with clients, according to Doherty, when they combine good expertise with an ability to listen and problem-solve with clients. White credits her success to this skill: "I listen well, to myself as well as to others. And I take time to make difficult decisions." As for profits, she continues to channel proceeds back into the organization, providing good jobs and investing in equipment rather than earning a big salary
Mollie Babize ia a consulting land use planner/designer based in Conway, who can't seem to relinquish her love of journalism.
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