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Upstart company, MSE, Information Technology, settles Uptown Butte

The newest division at MSE, Information Technology, has more than just its goals — it wants to assist Butte as well.

That was the message delivered by Rita Spear, MSE’s vice president and general manager for Information Technology, to about a dozen retired executives at the Service Corps of Retired Executives meeting recently at the Butte Chamber of Commerce.

By Leslie McCartney of The Montana Standard

The cornerstone for Information Technology was the purchase of the historic Thornton Building, Broadway and Wyoming, Uptown Butte. Along with significant upgrading, the Montana Information Technology Enterprise Center has been christened.

“ We believe in Butte and we believe in the Uptown,” Spear said.

MSE is hoping that the new center, which will be key to attracting technologically driven jobs, will pull in new money and new business to Butte. Portlock Software and Tetragenics are already tenants.

Spear argued that Butte has many excellent service businesses, but new business, jobs and outside dollars are needed to help the com munity — which has been struggling with lack of good-paying jobs and significant growth.

New to the building is Big Sky Internet, a high-speed wireless provider that will be a boon to those seeking accessibility. MSE is invest ing in the building with a new data room, a mini network operating center and other vital infrastructure that invites business.

The goal of the center is to deliv er 100 percent reliability. That means those dependent on connectivity will not have to worry about it going down. With a main and backup system in place, the center can deliver a nearly flawless system, she said.

The center should not be con fused with a fiber hotel, which is a specially dedicated space within the building to serve tenants and nearby buildings. At one time, the fiber hotel was a push by the Butte Local Development Corp., but MSE’s building differs.

“ This is more of a data center,” Spear said.

Another attractive component, Spear pointed out, is that Butte is “ strategically isolated.” With threats of terrorists hitting major data centers on the West or East coasts to disrupt business and financial centers, they can be assured that the Butte center can back up data and keep it safe.

“ We are off the radar screen,” Spear said.

MSE has dabbled in IT for years, Spear said, but the new push is an effort to capitalize and commercial ize its expertise. Simply put, IT is a collection of products and services that turns data into useful, meaningful and accessible information.

“ I’m excited about this. I can’t tell you that we’ll be wildly successful but you won’t if you don’t try. We’ll give it your best shot,” Spear said.

MSE is one of the larger employers in town with about 200 people working in various disciplines, including engineering and environmental remediation. They work on projects all over the globe and are involved in both government and private jobs.

At one time, MSE was entirely dependent on government appropriations, but that has changed as the company tries to commercialize its strengths. The various entities fall under MSE’s parent company, the Montana Environmental Revitalization and Development Institute.

Reporter Leslie McCartney may be reached via e-mail at leslie.mccartney(at)(at)mtstandard.com

http://www.mtstandard.com/newslocal/lnews01.html

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