Newbold Technologies: Rural goes High-tech

Founder and President of Newbold Technologies, Craig Newbold, grew up near East Liverpool, Ohio. He returned home after retiring to build several technology organizations that would help revitalize the area. His company has adopted the model of  Rural Sourcing; this is partnering with talented individuals from rural areas and training them with a team of seasoned professionals brought in from around the nation. The goal is to keep local people working in their communities in areas distressed from dying industries and business closings.

“With steel, pottery, and other manufacturing jobs gone we had to put on our creative hats to find a way to revitalize the area and help people stay in the community,” said Craig. “We are dusting off the old concepts of apprenticeship and journeyman and bringing that into contemporary standards by finding the right people, intensely training them in IT and computer-related technology, and providing constant support and additional training as needed.”

Technology today is not location dependent – software development, testing, and handling of IT service calls can be performed anywhere in the world. Many of these services are often handled offshore. At the heart of Rural Sourcing is the concept of training and retraining people here in our communities to keep people working and to offer high-quality technology services that are in great demand around the world.
To provide this training, Newbold Technologies has partnered with an affiliated, non-profit, certified school that Craig started to teach Open Source, Microsoft .Net, e-commerce and custom vendor training to people that live in roughly a 50-mile radius, including East Liverpool, Ohio, Chester, West Virginia, and Midland, Pennsylvania.

“It took 4 years to build the company and prove the concept that we can compete with Off-shore pricing using our staff in rural Ohio; now our team serves IT organizations throughout the nation and internationally,” said Craig. “This is the most rewarding work I have ever done.”
With a representative now in Columbus, Newbold Technologies is looking to leverage their TechColumbus membership by establishing relationships with Columbus companies in the high-tech community.

“We have heard great things about the TechColumbus community,” said Craig. “They are supportive of companies trying to establish and sustain technology with networking, speakers, and an opportunity to share ideas. We look forward to getting involved.”