Qbase could be the first sign of a new economy

Springfield News-Sun (February 27, 2007)

Springfield has a proud history of entrepreneurship. At the beginning of the
20th Century, manufacturing was king and Springfield was a center of productivity. Fortunes were made and workers at plants like International Harvester made good livings and entered the middle class.

Those days have been gone for a long time.

That's why Monday's announcement from a company named Qbase was such
a welcome development. The Beavercreek-based Qbase will open a facility at Springfield's NextEdge Applied Research and Technology Park.

That has the potential to help lead us out of a rust belt mentality.

The jobs, about 40 to start with and up to 100 projected over the next three years, are high-salaried, technical positions.

Perhaps more laudable is that the individuals who made this happen see it as a model that can be repeated.

The Turner Foundation, Wittenberg University, state legislators, city, county and regional officials and business leaders all came together in a remarkable effort.
At the center of the collaboration was U.S. Rep. David Hobson.

Qbase CEO Bill Pardue credits his company's decision to bring the jobs to Ohio to a crucial meeting over a lunch of baloney sandwiches and Fritos in Hobson's office. Pardue's partners were angling for an East Coast location.

But one of Hobson's arguments was that in Springfield Qbase will stand out and have the support of a community vitally interested in its success. He was right.

The company has also linked with local colleges, including Wittenberg University,
to try to grow here some of the talent that will be needed for the new jobs.

Qbase uses state-of-the-art software to mine huge databases in ways that can provide startling results. By looking at a mountain of hospital records about brain tumors, Pardue said Qbase can help predict the likely outcome of a particular treatment. That could save lives. But perhaps the most remarkable thing about the announcement made at Wittenberg Monday morning was the atmosphere of the event. Hundreds of business and education leaders from the Miami Valley packed into the auditorium. The atmosphere was like a victory celebration. It was clear something good was going on. And it might just spread.

Qbase CEO Bill Pardue addresses a crowd Monday at Wittenberg University to announce his company's expansion into Clark County.