TECHNOLOGY: Local businesses tap global market

April 30--TRAVERSE CITY -- Hagerty's Joe Niemer expects to learn something new about cutting-edge technology every time he attends a national trade show.

The vice president of digital commerce for Hagerty, he knows the big players in the auto insurance industry have extensive resources. Surely they must lead in the field in technology. Yet every time he is poised to learn something new from the big kids on the block, Niemer discovers that Hagerty is a step ahead of the competition.

"That lets you feel you're at the top of your game," Niemer said.

Traverse City and Michigan are gathering steam as driving forces in the powerful economic engine of technology.

Salamander Technologies, 122 W. State St., creates systems that track people and equipment at both planned events and during disaster-response activities.

"We work primarily with emergency services. We do all of our software development right there in that office on State Street," said Adam Fray, North American sales director for Salamander.

Salamander, launched in 2001, now employs 16 people and has 16,000 customers spread across all 50 states. Nine state governments use Salamander's credentialing and tracking system for all their emergency response personnel. Salamander also has a few clients in Canada.

The company is poised to reach across the Atlantic. One of Salamander's biggest clients, Team Rubicon, organizes volunteers, many of them military veterans, to help during disasters. The TR group plans to expand its service area to the European Union and beyond.

"They're a catalyst to move us outside the U.S.," Fray said. "We're working with them to take our system global."

Lars Kelto, who has made his living as a tech freelancer in Traverse City for two decades, said Traverse City's tech scene is populated primarily by two kinds of businesses. Small tech firms can thrive here if they develop a client base that reaches far beyond the city limits, he said.

At the same time some large firms with established client bases have opened satellite offices in Traverse City specifically to offer employees a small-town lifestyle.

"That's what's driving the job growth," Kelto said. "People who are able to pull in clients from other parts of the world."

Technology provides a growing employment market both in Traverse City and statewide.

Michigan ranked fourth in the nation in tech job growth, according to an August 2015 report published by DICE, a tech recruiting company.

The company analyzed data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics to determine that Minnesota led the nation in tech job growth in the first half of 2015. Its number of tech jobs grew 8.36 percent. Michigan tallied 4.47 percent growth in tech jobs while California ranked No. 10 at 3.04 percent growth.

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Chris Podges, Munson Healthcare's vice president and chief information officer, said technology already was a big part of the medical universe when he entered the health care technology trade 34 years ago. But direct clinical use of technology was only a dream at that time. Electronic medical records became reality in the 1990s.

"That's the revolution in health care," Podges said.

Munson's information services unit employs about 150 people. Much of their effort aims at making patient records secure yet accessible to health care professionals through Munson's network of eight regional hospitals.

The auto insurance industry also has adopted electronic technology in a big way. It's hard to turn on a TV without seeing an advertisement touting the online tools offered by Progressive, Geico or The General. Each of the big players touts its version of technology.

But Hagerty has been on the cutting edge of online insurance services for years. The reach offered by the Internet has been a key to Hagerty's growth.

Hagerty clients love their classic cars, but they also love computers and smartphones. Many potential Hagerty clients want to pull a smartphone out of purse or pocket, swipe a few times, and see a quote. The company recognized that desire for instant response years ago and created an online tool that allows potential clients to get a quote quickly. Hagerty designed and built its own software to handle insurance quotes and more.

Niemer said a pair of trade show attendees from Australia once recognized the company's banner from afar not because they associated it with insurance, but because they were familiar with the Hagerty Valuation Tool, which is so useful and engaging some auto enthusiasts use it for entertainment in addition to its primary purpose of determining the value of classic automobiles.

"That tool itself has really helped us grow our business," Niemer said.

Hagerty employs 600 people in Traverse City, said Connie Adams, Hagerty vice president of application solution delivery, and another 170 or so scattered across the globe. About 10 percent of Hagerty's staff is devoted to technology. The company also works with freelance tech talent in the Traverse City area. The geographic concentration of technology workers came about by design.

"Software development is very collaborative," she said.

Adams said it makes sense to use workers who speak the same language and share a solid understanding of a particular project in which they're involved. That mindset results in a drive to have team members work in the same location. The company's tech staff has grown from five to 70 in the 10 years Adams has worked for Hagerty.

Some tech workers do move away from Traverse City to be closer to clientele. Salamander's Fray lived in Traverse City for 10 years before he recently moved out of state to help the company deal directly with potential client organizations based on the East Coast.

Salamander recently sold to a Minnesota-based company. Salamander's tracking technology -- which involves credentialing of people and equipment tagging -- has been used at the U.S. Open, the Alpine World Ski Championships, the Super Bowl and a major earthquake in Nepal. Salamander's system can be used to keep track of participants, patients, evacuees, first responders and volunteers.

150 and 70

The number of tech workers employed by Munson Healthcare and by Hagerty.

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