| Much to the community’s dismay, the federal government recently closed the Bremerton Electronic Commerce Resource Center (ECRC) along with more than a dozen similar centers throughout the country. The demonstration project had a successful seven-year run, offering advice and sponsoring classes to help local firms enter the world of electronic commerce and gain an equal footing with large corporate bidders for Defense Department contracts.
The Bremerton ECRC served eight Northwest states, but being headquartered here assured the lion’s share of its assistance benefited western Washington — especially Kitsap County.
The national contract for the program went to Concurrent Technologies Corporation. Congressman Norm Dicks, made sure that the Kitsap Regional Economic Development Council (EDC), with the help of then executive director Earle Smith, would be the principal subcontractor for the program throughout, in collaboration with Olympic College.
However, the ECRC closure isn’t all bad news. The core group from the program, Donna Kirkpatrick, Loren Chilson, Naydu Nosse and Richard Roberts, have formed a non-profit organization called the Electronic Commerce Technical Assistance Group. Between them, the group has a combined total of over 20 years of e-commerce consultation and training experience and they have helped an estimated 14,000 small businesses throughout the Pacific Northwest.
They have established the West Sound Business Resource Center (WSBRC) in downtown Bremerton, which will offer e-commerce technology seminars and computer lab training in web development, eCatalog creation, and a host of B2C, B2B and B2G marketing topics. They will also train students in current e-commerce software applications that are not provided by Olympic College. The only difference from the ECRC offerings will be a fee for services.
For information, visit www.ectag.org. |
