Center to Bridge the Digital Divide | Rural Bridges Community Resources

Rural Bridges

Case Studies

There are many stories of successful businesses operating in rural communities. WSU Rural Bridges is beginning to develop a set of case studies highlighting employers and entrepreneurs from a range of industries and geographic areas. Learn about businesses employing a rural workforce, what lessons were learned, benefits gained, and barriers overcome by downloading their individual stories in pdf below.

Technology

HomeMovie.com, Winthrop WA
Preserving Videos on DVD
HomeMovie.com, an industry-leading business in the rural Eastern Washington town of Winthrop, uses sophisticated digital technology to convert videotapes to higher quality and more durable DVDs.
Call Centers 24X7, Port Angeles, WA
Call Center and Business Solutions
Shane Miller, president of Call Centers 24X7, in Port Angeles, Washington, has taken an innovative approach to providing technology-based business services. Shane believes that by integrating Web hosting and other Web-based business tools with traditional call center services, his company can support the entire spectrum of business processes, from managing documents to e-commerce solutions.
Capacity Provisioning, Inc., Port Angeles, WA
High Speed Communications
After owning communication companies in the Port Angeles area for several years, Bill Roberds and Bob Jensen came together in 2001 to form Capacity Provisioning Inc. (CPI). Together they strung fiber optics cable for their first customer, the Port Angeles School District. Soon after that, Craig Johnson, another local technology expert and Port Angeles native, joined the company and their customer base began to grow.
IBM, Curlew, WA
Remote Specialist
IBM boasts a large cadre of experienced teleworkers, but Dan Miller is unique. While most IBM remote workers cover administrative or marketing needs, Dan is the only teleworking technical support specialist. Situated in the small Eastern Washington town of Curlew, Dan provides remote assistance for IBM field technicians, who call him for assistance when they need help diagnosing and repairing difficult problems and hardware failures.
eAcceleration, Poulsbo, WA
Internet Security Products & Services
In the 1980s, Clint Ballard, founded a business in the Silicon Valley that grew to be the world's largest SCSI disk management software company. NCR Corporation/AT&T purchased the SCSI Device Management System and it became the standard in over 30 million computers. From the proceeds of that sale, Ballard moved to rural Kitsap County in1992 to be near family and begin eAcceleration Corp. For over seventeen years eAcceleration has developed and distributed innovative software for the consumer market.
Magna Force, Inc., Port Angeles, WA
R & D for New Technologies
Most inventors can choose to live and work wherever they want, which is exactly what lifelong resident of the Olympic Peninsula, Karl J. "Jerry" Lamb, did in 1993 when he founded Magna Force, Inc. in Port Angeles, Washington. The company's early efforts included the creation of a family of maintenance and energy saving coupling technologies that greatly extend the useful lifecycles of motors and industrial equipment. Thousands of Magna Force magnetic couplings are now in use throughout industry in several countries and by the U.S. Military.
Mobilisa, Inc.
Mobile & Wireless Software Development
Mobile & Wireless Software Development Dr. Nelson Ludlow has traveled the world, serving as an Air Force offi cer, mathematician, pilot, intelligence offi cer, technical director of artifi cial intelligence and professor of computer science. Three years ago, he returned to Washington to start Mobilisa, Inc, a leading provider of mobile and wireless solutions for government and military. In June, 2004, Mobilisa was selected by Washington CEO Magazine as one of the Best Companies to Work For in Washington State. In fact, Mobilisa was the top information technology organization in the small business category.
NCTeleserve, Winthrop, WA
Call Center
In 2000, after 25 years in call center development and consulting, George Dale and his wife were ready for a change. They fell in love with Winthrop Washington in the Eastern Washington, joined forces with a team of investors and started the plans for a new business in their new community. The business was NCTeleserve, a call center that provides technical and customer service support for companies that want to lower call center expenses and improve their customer service.
RFTrax, Allyn, WA
Shipping Container Tracking Sensors
RFTrax Inc. is a premier supplier of intelligent sensors, inventory management and security solutions utilizing various wireless and web-based technologies. RFTrax solutions allow their clients to continually track the movement of, and monitor the security of, any item as it moves along the supply chain.
TechTell, Inc., Satsop, WA
Robust Outsourced Network Monitoring
TechTell, Inc. is a leading provider of network monitoring services. They have a staffed 24x7 network monitoring center as well as a secure, state-of-the art, 24x7 network operation center (NOC). A redundant physical NOC facility is located in Tacoma, Washington. In addition, TechTell also has redundant monitoring applications running across North America to create an intermeshed monitoring infrastructure to insure reliability.

Services

Athey Consulting Services, Ritzville, WA
Indoor Air Quality Consultation
ACS has helped hundreds of facilities (schools, medical, industrial complexes, office buildings, government and residences) identify and resolve adverse indoor environmental conditions.
Earth and Sky Studios, Twisp, WA
Web Design and Development/Marketing
Set in the Eastern Washington town of Twisp, in the Methow Valley, Earth and Sky offers a comprehensive portfolio of Web design and development, graphic arts and marketing services.
Earthwork Services, Cosmopolis, WA
Computer-aided Earthwork Analysis
After slugging it out in Seattle traffi c for 7 years and dealing with exploding real-estate and labor costs, David Zimmerman moved his business to a farm near Cosmopolis, WA. From there he can still provide computer-aided earthwork calculationshis services to a growing national customer base, yet own and live on a large piece of river front property he never could have dreamed of owning near Seattle.
James & Associates of the Northwest, LLC, Ritzville, WA
Collection Agency
Owner Paul says, "I couldn't have done it without the Internet." His company is still headquartered in Pendleton and is managed by his assistant. Paul's office in Ritzville functions as a branch office.
Kitsap Payroll Services, Poulsbo, WA
Payroll Services
After several years working for a major telecommunications provider, Jim Craswell, returned to his hometown, Poulsbo, Washington to start a business. He had seen the small business market begin to grow and observed many people leaving the corporate world in big cities and moving to smaller towns to live and work. His years of work with customers at the telephone company led him to start a fi rm to support small business payroll needs.
Leffel, Otis & Warwick, P.S., Davenport, WA
Accounting Firm
Leffel, Otis & Warwick is an accounting business with four full-time and four part-time offices, located in and around the small farming communities of Davenport, Wilbur, Odessa and Ritzville.
Language Line Services, Forks, WA
Over-The-Phone Language Interpretation
Pura Carlson works for a major international enterprise headquartered in California and serves clients around the globe. She lives, however, in the rural Washington town of Forks, on the Olympic Peninsula. Pura is one of a growing group of teleworking language interpreters who are the skilled backbone of Language Line Services (LLS), a company that provides language interpretation for worldwide client organizations.
Olympic Graphic Arts, Forks, WA
Turn-key Printing Solutions, Office & Art Supplies
Since 1973, Olympic Graphic Arts has served as the nexus for print, media, and art needs in Forks. Their comprehensive services include logo development, graphic design, full-service printing, post-press bindery, and more. They also carry a wide range of offi ce supplies and art necessities. Stop in for a drawing pad, a new pen, pastels, watercolors, inkjet cartridges, fax services, or digital color copies on acid-free, archival-quality paper.
TextPRO Business Writing Services, Sekiu, WA
Business Writing Services
Denise Dunne DeVaney, owner of TextPRO Writing Services in Sekiu, Washington, provides a variety of business writing services to companies around the world. She believes that living in the country is the perfect training ground for those who dream of being self-employed. As she explains, "Life in a rural environment means that often there is no business nearby to solve your problems for you."

Governement, Education and Healthcare

Inspired University, Oroville, WA
Professional and Personal Development Training
Headquartered in the rural Eastern Washington town of Oroville, Inspired University provides inspirational and motivational classes and lectures to its online members.
Department of Social and Health Services, Forks, WA
Washington State Agency
The Washington State Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS) is a 150-year old state agency that is dedicated to improving the quality of life for Washington individuals and families in need. Five years ago, DSHS took a fresh look at its customer service processes and decided that with the abundance of new communications technology options, it could do a better job of reaching out to its clients.
Washington Dental Service , Colville, WA
Dental Insurance
Washington Dental Service, Washington state's largest dental benefits company, recognized the need to expand its operations in the late 1990's. "We began to run out of space at our Seattle facility and, at the same time, it was increasingly difficult to attract quality applicants for customer service and claims processing positions," explains Heather Kirton, director of operations. As a result, the company opened an office in Colville, WA where the cost savings and productivity have exceeded the their expectations.'s three-year business plan included an initiative to evaluate expansion alternatives.
Western Washington Rural Healthcare Collaborative, Olympic Penninsula Partnership
Rural HealthCare
For years, rural healthcare providers have struggled to meet the medical needs of their communities. Some have begun using technology to provide access to specialized services, staff development and shared information technology support. Traditionally, this has involved a rural facility linking with a large urban provider to secure these services. Thanks to innovators like Roger Harrison, Forks Community Hospital and Mike Rand, CHOICE Regional Health Network, a group of six critical access hospitals on the Olympic Coast created the Western Washington Rural HealthCare Collaborative (WWRHCC) to change that paradigm.

Entrepreneurs

Benbrook & Associates, Cathlamet, WA
Consultancy
Benbrook and Associates is a sole proprietorship working to help individuals, organizations, and communities achieve their economic and community development goals. Sandra Benbrook-Rieder Ph.D., founded the company in 2000 in Renton, Washington. In 2002 she and her husband built a home in Cathlamet, where they plan to retire. "We selected Cathlamet for its rural character, pristine beauty, history and low stress environment. Since much of my work is computer-based and with the availability of the Internet, the location from which I work is not an issue for my clients."
Kagele's Kache, Ritzville, WA
eBay Business
Colleen and Dennis Kagel discovered that a more rural lifestyle wasn't the only adventure she would share with her new husband after their move to Ritzville. Dennis had been an avid eBay buyer since shortly after the company opened for business, and they soon found themselves shareing a passion for buying and selling on the Internet auction website, eBay. At first, they purchased treasures for themselves, but eventually realized that selling on eBay provided a unique business opportunity.
Larry Burtness, Forks, WA
Technology Entrepreneur
Larry Burtness, a technology entrepreneur in Forks, Washington, is an expert in finding new opportunities in a small town. When he moved to Forks in 1997, his plan was to concentrate on moving the his software development company he developed in Anacortes, to this new, rural location. Now Larry also teaches computer courses at the local community college and uses his skills or several other technology projects.

Retail

Dennis Company, Raymond, WA
Hardware/Home Center & Variety
Over the years, Dennis Company has grown to include 5 retail locations, with stores in Raymond, Long Beach, Aberdeen, Elma and Montesano, Washington. They employ over 90 full time employees. In addition to hardware, electrical and plumbing, Dennis Company also sells clothing, work wear, sporting goods, house wares, garden supplies, and automotive. They also operate two concrete plants and a television and appliance store. Dennis Company took the lead (working with ComCast and Pacific County PUD) to initiate the development of broadband services in their rural community.