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Business landscape changing with times

Old and large? Or new and nimble? Local leaders look anew at diverse, smaller firms

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By Thomas Gnau and Tom Beyerlein
Staff Writers Updated 12:37 PM Sunday, June 7, 2009

For better or worse, it’s a new day.

In the wake of General Motors Corp.’s descent into bankruptcy and NCR Corp.’s decision to pull its corporate headquarters south, business and development leaders openly question the wisdom of relying too much on a few companies with large numbers of employees.

Lumbering, top-heavy multi-nationals subject to the whims of leaders with few if any connections to Dayton offer less stability than once thought, some argue.

It’s this shift to focus on smaller companies that illustrates the changing face of the Dayton region’s economy.

“Give me ten companies that employ between 100 and 200 people over one company that employs 2,000,” Joe Tuss, Montgomery County assistant administrator, said June 2, the day NCR announced its plan to move its corporate base (and 1,250 jobs) to Duluth, Ga.

Scott Sullivan, president of Washington Twp.’s SelectTech Services Corp., said that the advantage of working with smaller companies is that they are more flexible and less reliant on sub-contractors.

“We’re seeing the times change because we are starting to demonstrate that we can do that work,” Sullivan said.

Added Tuss, “Over the long term, I am optimistic. Over the short term — it is going to be a rough ride.”

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