In spite of being dead last in new job creation in the state, one area of Kitsap’s local economy that is booming is high-tech. There is a shortage of qualified software talent. Individuals skilled in C, C++, Visual Basic, Java, XML, and other programming applications are in high demand.

   Kitsap County has an enviable quality of life, coupled with affordable business costs. Those are a few of the reasons why Ed Cooper moved his emerging software company to Silverdale earlier this year from California.
   “We came up here to attract people who don’t want to live in Seattle,” said Cooper, CEO of Square Rigger Corp., an industry leader in the application of technology to the transportation and distribution industries. “This is a great place to live and work”
   What Cooper and other CEOs and top-level managers of Kitsap-area technology companies have discovered, however, is that attracting qualified local software talent — those individuals with expertise in C, C++, Visual Basic, Java, XML, and other programming applications — isn’t easy. The shortage of propellerheads and geeks has reached critical proportions for some local firms.
   “Many programmers who live in Kitsap County and commute to Seattle every day simply aren’t aware of the types of technology companies that are doing business right here in their backyards,” said Kevin Dwyer, Director of Business Recruitment and Marketing for the Kitsap Regional Economic Development Council. “There are a number of interesting technology companies in Kitsap County that are doing leading edge work that are in need of employees.”
   The EDC is assisting companies such as Square Rigger and Applied Technical Systems Inc. in locating potential programmers. Square Rigger, which has seven local employees and three others in out-of-state locations, is looking for two programmers and one-to-two sales people. The company writes vehicle maintenance software and uses a variety of hand-held application devices it has developed for a client base that includes trucking companies, car rental agencies, cities and municipalities with large fleets of cars and businesses that use large pieces of equipment.
   “We’re transitioning from the private sector into government markets, municipalities, utilities and organizations with bigger budgets,” said Cooper, whose firm moved into its current headquarters in Silverdale in June. “Our job is to present information to our customers.”
   Applied Technical Systems is an information management and knowledge discovery solutions company with 18 full-time employees in its Silverdale offices.
   The company, which has been in Kitsap County for more than two decades, customizes object-oriented analytical databases for clients such as the University of Washington, Corbis, the U.S. Navy and the U. S. Army. The company is looking for application engineers, software engineers and people with strong object-oriented development skills.
   “Ours is more of a discovery product when you don’t know where you’re going (in a search),” said Carey Kolb, ATS’ chief operating officer. “We write most of our software from scratch.”
   Kolb said working for a company like ATS or other tech firms in Kitsap County “not only allows programmers to give up the commute but gives them the opportunity to work on cutting edge technology.”
   Other Kitsap area technology companies, such as Integrated Data Communications Corp. on Bainbridge Island and Paladin Data Systems in Poulsbo are also on the hunt for qualify employees.
   “Helping these companies find the valuable talent they need to survive,” added the EDC’s Dwyer, “will help us in our long-term mission of attracting high-end, family-wage jobs to Kitsap County.”