The most natural market for Montreal-based Net Communications (NetCom), an Internet software development and service firm, extends from Quebec to Florida, Daniel BÈland, the firm’s business development officer, told GlobalFax last week.
Aside from being all in one time zone, Mr. BÈland said that a surplus of talented programmers and multimedia workers in Quebec and a shortage in the Southeast provides a timely opportunity for his company to form U.S. partnerships.
Primarily for this reason, he added during a telephone interview, he plans to attend the Georgia Technology Forum in Atlanta Oct. 20-21. NetCom will be one of 13 international companies attending the forum put on by the Technology Association of Georgia (TAG).
Mr. BÈland helped his sons, Sylvain and Luc, launch the company in 1994. Although he had been an insurance salesman for 20 years, his sons, who are software programmers, persuaded him to become involved, he explained.
Now the company has a 30-person team specialized in the gamut of programming languages and in Web development and multimedia documents.
It also has a client list of some of the world’s largest pharmaceutical and cable companies including Merck and Warner- Lambert, and Nortel and Videotron. In addition, it has launched a sister company, The Software Research Center, which benefits from Canadian tax incentives including a tax credit of up to 25% and $15,000 for every job created. The credits may be shared with U.S. partners, he added.
NetCom received more good news this summer when its application to join Montreal’s newly developed “Multimedia City” was accepted. As part of the project, it will be in the midst of Montreal’s efforts to be on the cutting-edge of all ramifications of E-commerce and other Web related developments.
To schedule a meeting with Mr. BÈland when he is in Atlanta, call Louise Fortin of the Quebec Trade Office at (770) 980-0262 or send an E-mail to atantla@quebectrade.qc.ca