InformationWeek
Defining The Business Value Of Technology
August 16, 1999
Ohio's Edge
State's Y2K Ready program helps small businesses gain a competitive advantage
The program uses $50 million of the state's treasury investment funds to make low-interest
loans of up to $250,000 available to small businesses that need assistance to prepare for the
year 2000 date change. Moraine Industrial Supply Inc., a 25-employee company that produces
wholesale mill supplies, is one of 120 businesses that have participated in the program. The
Dayton, Ohio, company needed to upgrade its accounting system to address year 2000 issues, but
it also wanted to use technology to improve customer service and prepare for migration to an
electronic-commerce model, says Jon Thuerman, Moraine's secretary-treasurer in charge of
technology purchasing.
Under the Y2K Ready program, Thuerman was able to secure a five-year, $75,000 loan with 3%
interest during the first two years. This let him purchase a distribution system from
supply-chain vendor Profit 21. The system, which went live last week, includes a server,
operating system, and software. It will handle inventory, purchasing, accounting, shipping, and
receiving processes.
"We've made a tremendous advance in our ability to service our customers," says Thuerman.
Because the industrial-distribution industry is slightly behind the technology curve, most of
Moraine's customers aren't ready to use an E-commerce buying model, he says. But the new
supply-chain system allows Moraine to be prepared to meet the demand for E-commerce as it
becomes a standard in the next few years. "Right now, our competitors aren't being hurt by using
just any system," Thuerman says, "but they'll wake up one day and realize they're behind."
The potential competitive advantage derived from Ohio's Y2K efforts wasn't an anticipated
benefit when the state launched the program, says state treasurer Joe Deters--but it's been a
welcome surprise. "This program was envisioned more for the retention and creation of jobs,"
says Deters. "We're in a competitive area in the Midwest, with states like Kentucky and Michigan
pulling business away from us."
Deters' long-term goal is to push all 520,000 of Ohio's small businesses that have resisted
technology to expand their thinking and embrace an E-commerce model. "For Ohio to compete, we
have to think beyond our state borders," he says. "There are people here who don't understand
that, and they're going to get swept under."
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And from our sister publications:
he state of Ohio's Y2K Ready program,
launched in March, was designed to help small businesses with limited resources achieve year
2000 compliance so they could stay afloat. But many companies that have taken advantage of the
program stand to move into the new year with technology that puts them ahead of the
competition.
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