Technology and Economic Development
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A NEW KIND OF FACTORY IN PERRY COUNTY
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VisionPerry, in collaboration with cTechnology, Inc. of Nashville, South Central TN Workforce Alliance,
the Town of Linden, the City of Lobelville and Perry County Government, will be implementing a pilot training
program to develop a Digital Factory in Perry County. A recently published report prepared for the county
by Strategic Development Group of South Carolina, portrayed an uphill battle in attracting a new traditional
manufacturing facility to Perry County. The report cited the lack of a 4 lane highway and the remoteness
of the area as being major obstacles. The Digital Factory however, will take advantage of the Internet
and is not affected be these obstacles. The program will be divided into various production lines requiring
increasing skills, similar to a standard factory concept.
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CSR (Customer Service Representative)
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Rural Communities have suffered great economic loss as our manufacturing base has moved off-shore. As factories sit idle and our
traditionally productive workforce struggles to provide for their families, few opportunities are available without the great expense
of long commutes, working away from home or the inevitable exodus to unsecured job opportunities beyond our hometowns.
The same informational technology advances that ushered in the era of out-sourcing now provide the economic opportunity for
rural sourcing. The eCommerce economy is booming as companies can now rely on technology to provide a regional and culturally
rich solution for Customer Service. The green solution is a virtual call center that capitalizes on the cost competitive
benefits of our rural communities and the opportunity for a true and legitimate home based business. Wages for CSR professionals range
from $9 - $13 per hour ($18,000 - $26,000 annual). With the slow expansion of rural broadband, the VisionPerry Headquarters serves as
the Community Based Co-working Center for Perry County.
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LAMP (Linux, Apache, MySql, and PHP
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The Digital Factory Network trains and places new and displaced workers into good paying jobs that can be preformed
over the Internet.Physically, the Digital Factory is a rual-based office that contains desks, broadband internet, phones,
computers, printers, and confrence rooms, all in a relaxed work atmospheres similar tp an internet cafe or a urban co-working
center.
A more highly skilled Digital Factory line will also be developed to be known as LAMP Programmers.
LAMP stands for Linux, Apache, MySQL, and PhP/PERL which are the most popular open source programming languages
in the world. Tennessee has a large shortage of programming talent in LAMP and the Nashville market in particular
is making every effort to encourage its growth. cTechnology has partnered with the Enterprise LAMP group in Nashville
and is developing a strategy to train and place rural, LAMP-trained persons in these advanced, well paid positions.
These workers will require approximately 6 months of training and internship with Nashville-based companies and will
then be qualified for low level programming. However, this work in the programming world pays a competitive $15-$25
an hour!
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VisionPerry serve two key community needs: As a prominent sign of economic activity and job creation and as a point of synergy
between entrepreneurs and like-minded individuals in search of a community atmosphere for networking, creative development,
mentoring and supportive business resources.
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