SOFTWARE TECHNOLOGY
Stratacache aims for '250 by 12' from Dayton headquarters
Sunday, May 11, 2008
DAYTON — Talk to Chris Riegel, and the chief executive of Stratacache sounds comfortable with his company's headquarters on East Third Street.
But Ohio and Dayton government officials take heed: Other locales would love to have this ever-growing software and technology firm leave Dayton behind.
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Riegel said he has heard overtures from Texas — he calls them "interesting invitations." The Lone Star State, he noted, has no state income tax.
"We've played on the idea," the 36-year-old Alter High School graduate acknowledged.
"Every customer in the world," Riegel said, has asked him why Stratacache is based in the Gem City. His answer: The cost of living is competitive here, and it's easy to fill his "back-end infrastructure"— accountants, marketers, logistics specialists and others. Designers and creative-types might prefer other cities, he said.
So for now, Dayton is home, the base from which Riegel and colleagues move toward their "250 by 12" goal — reaching $250 million in annual revenue by 2012, as well as having 250 employees. Today, the firm has just under 100 employees globally — in offices from Montreal to Mumbai, India — with about 15 workers at the Dayton headquarters.
Stratacache's biggest tools for growth: Activia digital signage systems and Omnicast for digital media.
Activia powers the six-foot iPhone obelisks for AT&T and Apple, among other uses. Digital signage, Riegel said, has been a "rocketship," growing 20 percent monthly — not annually — as retailers revel in the power of interactive displays to draw customers.
If Activia is the rocketship, though, Omnicast remains the firm's "workhorse." Omnicast has proven to be the tool that can get films distributed digitally, a capability that has proven attractive in India and China. But digital content can also be moved to mobile phones and computers for a variety of customers.
Riegel calls Omnicast "digital Fed Ex."
Those who wish to rush movies and music to customers, beware.
"We're racing the pirates," Riegel said.
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2390 or
tgnau@DaytonDailyNews.com.
Stratacache
Revenue: Would not disclose, but Chris Riegel said the firm is approaching the halfway mark to $250 million globally.
"Because we target such high growth-rate markets, we think that it's pretty reasonable to reach that number."
Years on East Third Street: 12.
"We have been actively reviewing new site options."
Calls he receives weekly from outside venture capital firms: 6 or 7.
"Dayton has plenty of brains, money (venture capital) not so much."
Source: Chris Riegel, Stratacache
CEO.
