EAST LIVERPOOL Software academy, plant to train disadvantaged

The software plant will compete for jobs now lost to offshore competitors.
By CYNTHIA VINARSKY
VINDICATOR BUSINESS WRITER
EAST LIVERPOOL -- Imagine a school where economically disadvantaged young adults learn computer software development, with a guaranteed job for two years when they graduate.
And how about a software company to employ those new graduates, a low-cost alternative to sending the work offshore to competing plants in China or India.
It's more than a dream for Craig Newbold and Lawrence Deidrick, two Beaver Local High School alumni. They're making it happen.
Newbold and Deidrick, both with successful business track records outside the area, have returned to the Mahoning Valley to start a nonprofit software academy and a companion, for-profit software production plant. For now, they've bought buildings in downtown East Liverpool to house the school and the software plant. As the program grows, Deidrick said, they may consider moving elsewhere in the region or setting up additional sites.
Newbold has invested more than $1 million of his own money to launch the school, NewLife Academy of Information Technology, and the business, Soaring Eagle Inc.
"Our goal is not to make money," Newbold said. "Our goal is to change lives, and to do something for our community."
Supporters
East Liverpool Mayor James P. Swoger is a believer. After working with Newbold and Deidrick for more than a year, he says he's thrilled about the project and believes it will succeed.
"I think it's innovative thinking, a great thing not just for East Liverpool but for the whole area," he said. "This is a chance to do something to keep our kids here." East Liverpool is having some financial problems of its own, so the city hasn't been able to contribute financially, Swoger said.
City officials signed a letter of support to help the management team in its application for state and federal funding, however, and government leaders from Columbiana County, the city of Wellsville, Liverpool Township and St. Clair Township also signed.
"The fact that they've invested their own money -- if that doesn't show commitment, what does?" Swoger said.
KSU interest
Larry Froehlich, dean of Kent State University East Liverpool Campus, also backs the project.
He said campus officials have been meeting with Newbold, investigating a possible collaboration with the academy.
"This campus and KSU are certainly supportive of this venture, and we think it will benefit the community," Froehlich said. "These people have a wealth of experience behind them and the wherewithal to have a successful business and academy."
Newbold said he's also working with Youngstown State University, the Port Authority of Columbiana County, Computer Task Group, Mahoning and Columbiana County Training Association and the Family Recovery Center in Columbiana. In all, he said, the agencies and institutions have committed more than $2.2 million in cash and services.
Accepting applications
NewLife Academy of Information Technology, housed at 139 W. Fifth in the former Elks Club Lodge, is accepting student applications now for classes to start in mid-March.
Planners hope to enroll mostly economically disadvantaged students in their 20s who have had previous work experience. Applicants must have a high school diploma or GED and must have computer aptitude.
Applicants will be screened for aptitude in computer technology and will be required to take a drug test. The first class will be small, about eight students, but plans are for later classes to number about 25.
Tuition will be free for those who meet income criteria. Funds from a federal worker training program will foot part of the bill, and the rest will come from private scholarships and foundations and from Newbold.
The 20-week curriculum includes more than 800 hours of classroom time, with classes from 8 am. to 5 p.m. and evening workshops where the students will work one-on-one with mentors.
Newbold said he's had the curriculum "critiqued and refined" by professors from KSU, Youngstown State University, Thiel College and Carnegie-Mellon University in Pittsburgh.
Dorms in future
Eventually, he said, the school will include a dormitory and students will live on site for the duration of the program.
"The theory is that these people are coming from a disadvantaged background," Newbold said. "We want to put them on a track where they're continually working to improve themselves. The dormitory is a very important part of the plan."
The school will draw from Mahoning and Columbiana counties at first, but once the dorm is in place planners will be able to accept students from outside the area.
Soaring Eagle, the software production company, is already operating on a limited basis out of Newbold's basement. The company recently completed a study for the Ohio Treasurer's Office, he said, performed at cost as part of its effort to develop a relationship with state officials.
The management team is looking for business customers, and Newbold bought a 24,000-square-foot commercial building, a former grocery store on West Fifth Street in East Liverpool, to house the business as it gets bigger.
Employment for grads
Their plan is to offer NewLife graduates employment at Soaring Eagle for two years so they can get real-world experience. After that the workers will be offered assistance in finding new jobs elsewhere to make room for new graduates coming in.
The new grads will earn entry-level salaries, which will keep plant operating costs low and allow it to compete with low-cost offshore software makers. The planners' goal is to have 250 graduates in three years.
"We won't be as low, salarywise, as the offshore companies, but we're closer and communication is easier," Newbold said. "We think those advantages will offset the difference in price and keep some of those jobs here."
Newbold, president and chief executive of Soaring Eagle Inc., is the former owner of BEST Consulting in Seattle, a technology company that he said had annual sales of $110 million and 1,200 employees when he sold it in 1996. He then worked for a non-profit, faith-based organization in Washington.
Deidrick, chief financial officer, spent several years as president of the medical malpractice insurance arm of the Illinois State Medical Society in Chicago, then ran his own woodworking and home remodeling business in New York State.
vinarsky@vindy.com