Asa Jay's weblog

Today I spent some time talking with people from two different places. The first was LLIX, an Internet supplier in Liberty Lake. The other was the Spokane Economic Development Council. The initial goal for today was to get information about network infrastructure needed in my business idea. That conversation then led me into a visit with the EDC. All this was done during a day when I stopped to visit several employers in order to continue my work search.

My first stop for internship purposes was with LLIX in Liberty Lake:

23403 E Mission Ave
Liberty Lake, WA 99019
www.llix.net
I’ve had my personal Internet services with LLIX through Aimcomm for many years now and they have provided a very good personal level of service. For my business idea, I would need good Internet access in order to provide service for several customers at one time. After arriving, I was put in touch with Chris Walter (688-2583) who manages Commercial Accounts.

After a quick tour of the facility, the server rooms, etc., we sat in their employee lounge and talked about my idea of an internet cafe’ and more. Based on what I wanted to do, Chris helped me get an idea of different service levels and the costs associated with them.

The needs I expressed to Chris were:

• Approximately 10 computers on-line and accessing the Internet at any one time
• Mostly download use, i.e. research.
• Probably some game use.
• One server perhaps acting as a mirror for specific data used locally (again mostly using download and not serving upload beyond the business)
• Some upload capacity for website updates, on-line ordering, gaming, etc.

After we talked over my needs, we figured download was much more important and could reasonably be served using DSL technologies readily available in the Airway Heights area. A T1 line would not give me that much more bandwidth but would cost a whole lot more and be expensive to install practically. Cable is not currently available and the service might not be as good. Based on this, Chris suggested I use Qwest Premium DSL. Speeds would be about 5Mbps download and 896Kpbs upload. Overall charges between Qwest and LLIX would be ~ $80 per month. There would also be a DSL Modem needed for ~ $80 in a one-time purchase. In Contrast, Fiber (for T1) ~ $1800 month (too spendy, probably way more than I need)

Next we talked about security in the following areas:

• Firewall to protect incoming and outgoing traffic.
• Protecting computers internally from each other.
• Protecting wireless connections.
• Web site filtering (porn filters, etc.)

Chris pointed me to Fortinet Wifi (www.fortinet.com) which is an all-in-one firewall with wifi-security and more. I’ll have to do more investigation into that later. I did ask if LLIX could supply contracted or outsourced labor to assist me in setting up and configuring certain resources on business start up. I was told they could contract IT resources between $75 and $150 per hour depending on complexity. This would be good as I don’t initially see the need for a full-time person to manage the network.

We moved on to talk about how I might be able to offer limited ISP services to local individuals and businesses in my area, as part of my business model. Chris told me LLIX has packages available to resell dial-up accounts and other services that I could take advantage of. I would need to talk with Craig Brandvold for more information, but didn’t have enough time today to talk with him.

At some point in our conversation, Chris suggested I talk with Gary Mallon at the Spokane EDC, as there may be money available to help build businesses in Airway Heights, my target location. Chirs knows Gary from other activities and he know there is money available as Airway Heights grows. I took notes and decided I would stop at the EDC on my way back home and see if Gary was around and could talk with me.

I then spent a little time talking with one of their technicians, John Taylor, about server packages, reseller accounts and the technical aspects of moving from one type of service to another as part of the business.

Time Spent on site with LLIX was approximately one hour.

After stopping to talk with more potential employers and to fill out my job search log for the State of Washington, I made my way downtown in Spokane to the EDC.

Spokane Area Economic Development Council
801 W. Riverside, Suite 302
Spokane, WA 99201-0908
509-742-9355
www.spokaneedc.org
I was looking for Gary Mallon, and as luck would have it he was in and had time available to talk with me. I introduced myself and how I came to contact him. Gary had me come into his office and we talked. Gary’s phone is 624-3759 and email gmallon@spokaneedc.org

We started by having me explain to Gary what my idea was. In response, he asked a series of questions that helped him understand how the EDC might be able to help. What I found out was that the EDC has funding available for certain kinds of businesses in a production, manufacturing or development field. If a company is going to produce a product, they can probably get some funding. However, a service oriented industry such as what I’m looking to open, does not qualify for any funding. Well darnit anyway.

Now, just because the EDC did not have any funding, didn’t mean Gary didn’t have other ideas for me. He pointed me to the following additional resources:

• Northwest Business Association in the Hutton Building
• Small Business Administration
• Small Business Development Center
• STC, behind Jensen Byrd
• Connect Northwest – Dennis Lytle (sp)

Gary also gave me the name of Tom Lein (Lien?) who used to be on the Airway Heights economic development council. I need to stop in to AH and see what they have going for an EDC there.

Before I left, Gary gave me several copies of publications to puruse:

• 2006 Market Fact Book from Journal of Business
• The Spokane Region – At a Glance
• Spokane Surging Forward, by Washington CEO Regional Report
• Welcome to the Spokane Region, containing demographic informaiton
• Spokane, Washington: A True Digital Community, January, 2006, by the Spokane Area EDC

On a side note, Gary also told me I should look into a company called NexIT, who does military and government stuff, for possible employment. He also asked for a copy of my resume.

Time spent on site with Gary was about 30 minutes.

Things I learned:

• The EDC has contacts and funding sources available for specific kinds of businesses.
• Many of the small towns around Spokane have their own EDCs.
• The EDCs can be a good source for demographic data.

Further research and tasks necessary:

• Contact economic development councils in Airway Heights, possibly Medical.
• Visit the Small Business Administration when I have more time.
• Research the Fortinet Wifi that Chris told me about.
• Start a spreadsheet of costs.
• Learn more about demographics and how to focus a market survey.

That’s all for today.
Asa Jay

Today I took a new path with my career and education as I signed an internship contract with Whitworth College. This is kind of like a directed self-study where I will be doing all the work on my own, under the guidance of a Whitworth instructor. My study focus is on what I need to learn and know in order to open my own business. To accomplish this I had to come up with several goals for the study and they had to be approved by my Faculty Advisor. In addition, I have to complete at least 40 hours of work, study and reporting in order to gain one credit. I elected to sign up for three credits, which means I will have to put in 120 hours of work, basically three regular work weeks.

Here is a summary of my goals:

– How to measure the validity of a business idea: Marketplace Survey

– Investigating Business Expenses, material & Human Resources

– Break even Analysis

– Risk Assessment

– Financial Planning; loans, capital, etc.

The Work Site Goals are a listing of things we believe I need to do in order to accomplish the above goals, and they are:

– Research the market for fine-tuning the business idea and check for validity.

– Research brick & mortar space for operations: cost, terms, availability of necessary utilities, etc.

– Research cost of equipment: initial acquisitions, maintenance contracts, etc.

– Research cost of Human Resources: types of jobs necessary to run the business, necessary skills needed, costs associated with those jobs.

– Research ways to finance startup operations: bank loans, etc.

– Complete reports on paper, financial and otherwise, to determine go-no-go decision on business validity, and for use as presentation material for loan applications.

– Learn break-even analysis and estimate break-even volume.

So there it is, I just need to get rolling on it.  Since I’m currently unemployed I should have plenty of time to do things.  Let’s see how it goes.

Asa Jay

I’ve recently completed my third class at Whitworth.  This time it was “The Sociology of Middle Eastern Society.”  Our instructor was very knowledgeable and simply crammed information into our heads on a non-stop basis for the entire course.  The tests were comprehensive and depending on how much a person studied, could be found to be difficult.  In my case, I felt I wasn’t doing too bad and I hoped to get a “B” when it was all over.  By the end of the course, I managed to pull an “A.”  With this one out of the way and the fall class schedule coming out, I’ve had to do some thinking about changing plans, more on that later.
With my last class out of the way, I’ve entered into my next class, or rather set of classes.  The accelerated program I am in doesn’t leave much room to be taking two classes at the same time; however, in this case I am taking one full three-credit class and another small fill in for one credit.  My primary class is “The Life and Teaching of Jesus” and my minor one credit class is “Problem Solving and Decision Making using Microsoft Excel.”

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Another six weeks down and one more class finished toward my degree. The grades were about a week late in coming, finally being posted today. Now with a final passing grade, I feel comfortable in writing about the class and moving on. I have 18 more to go, that’s two less than when I started.

I’m not a “sociology” kind of guy, I’m more technical. Social sciences and humanities courses are the types I have avoided like the plague for years, even decades. I started out finding the class very much against my better tastes; however, as I was determined to make the best of it, I found the material grew on me in a positive way. By the time the course was finished, I was happy I had endured, learned a lot and hopefully became a better person for it.

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I’m painfully reminded why I’ve never taken a social science class before, it’s very non-technical and involves too much “emotion.” That’s my knee-jerk impression after attending my first night of class for the sociology of death and dying. Why in the world would I take such a course? Mostly for very good reasons, I need to fulfill a social science requirement for graduation and this class appeared to be just as good as any other in the sessions I could choose from. I just don’t think it’s the right class for me.

To start with, the class has 20 people in it, that’s almost twice as many as my last class. The room feels crowded to me, and with so many people I don’t feel the urge to participate, though a portion of our grade is going to be on class participation. My last class I participated in real well, but this one is going to be more difficult.

The second problem, as it relates to class participation, is that I probably have much different beliefs about death and the grieving process. Most folks are big on funerals, viewing the deceased in a casket, making a big deal, crying, wailing, etc. I can understand a bit of emotion tied to the loss of a loved one, it’s happened to me; however, I sometimes wonder if I am more comfortable in my faith because I look at death (of others) as a release from the burdens of this life, a victory which none of us living can truly understand. For me, a funeral is a celebration of life, not death.

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