Local product set to become international

The company will begin translating its software into other languages.
By DON SHILLING
VINDICATOR BUSINESS EDITOR
YOUNGSTOWN -- A downtown technology company hopes to obtain half of its sales from foreign countries after signing deals to put its system in 33 countries.
Turning Technologies, which designs audience response systems, said Wednesday that it has formed alliances with distribution companies that will sell its technology in countries such as France, Brazil and Malaysia.
The Youngstown company already has been using distributors to market its TurningPoint product in the United Kingdom and Australia, and foreign sales now represent about 10 percent of its revenues.
To lead its expansion, Turning Technologies has appointed Richard Neal vice president of international distribution. He is based in London.
"We intend to achieve what no other audience response company has done -- create a multinational distribution channel with a multilingual product," Neal said.
Mike Broderick, company president and chief executive, said a key step toward foreign growth is the translation of its technology into foreign languages.
The first languages will be Spanish, French, Dutch, Portuguese, Japanese and South Korean, with other languages to follow.
Who and what
Broderick and two others started Turning Technologies in 2001 in the Youngstown Business Incubator, which provides a home for fledgling technology companies. The company now employs 55 and is to be the anchor tenant of a second building that the incubator intends to construct downtown.
TurningPoint is integrated into Microsoft PowerPoint so presenters can ask questions of a class or audience and receive immediate feedback from users of a small keypad. Universities are a large customer base for the company.
Turning Technologies has developed both the software and hardware for the system and ships the units from its downtown location.
shilling@vindy.com