Q&A with Qbase's Bill Pardue about Turner's influence
Springfield News-Sun (Monday, February 25, 2008)
by Gail Cetnar
Staff Writer
"People tend to think of entrepreneurs confined to business. But I would suggest that John Landess is as much of an entrepreneur in the philanthropic world as I am in the business world."
— Qbase CEO Bill Pardue
The health/sciences division of Qbase will be the first tenant in the new building going up in the Nextedge Applied Technology & Research Park.
The company mines clients' computer databases to help them staff and set policies more efficiently and thus save money.
In an interview, Qbase CEO Bill Pardue said the Turner Foundation played a crucial deal to bring the company to Springfield.
Bill Pardue: I met John Landess and Ray Hagerman (formerly with the Turner Foundation) in 2003 through the Dayton Development Coalition at the trip to Washington D.C. to talk about economic development with members of congress. John invited me to visit Springfield and consider an expansion of LexisNexis, where I was the chief executive officer at the time. We then began a series of negotiations to place a $43 million data center in Springfield.
Pardue: In the fall of 2005 when Congressman Dave Hobson heard (Qbase) was thinking about putting a business in the Washington D.C. area, we were asked about Springfield. (That did not pan out.) One year later, the shareholders and I decided to open up a health/sciences division. And it reopened the question of where we could put this brand new business unit.
So I contacted (Hobson) and John Landess.
Pardue: Part of it (the draw) is the financial package...
The $4 million (that eventually came from the Turner Foundation) originally ... was part of a program that we proposed in a Third Frontier competition, an economic development program launched under Gov. Taft and Speaker Jon Husted. We together entered a competition and it was not successful.
But being the resilient, optimistic kind of guy he is, John Landess and I (asked) 'Is there something left here in terms of the concept and the vision that is still worth doing?' And together we decided there was. And I then went out and raised $7 million from our shareholders.
If there were already a half a dozen high-tech companies paying a lot, a high wage, in Nextedge park we would not have gotten a deal like this. But our shareholders were willing to take a risk to be the first. And the bigger the risk the bigger the payoff.
Pardue: We're very cognizant that the Turner Foundation is invested in us. And they want more than just jobs. They want companies committed and involved in the community. They are banking on our not just creating jobs and hiring people, but on our being a company that gives back and is committed to community improvement.
Pardue: One of the reasons this is attractive is that Springfield is manageable in terms of size. It is still at a point that around one table you can get all the decision makers you need to reach a deal. And you can shake hands and know that it's going to happen.
The Turner Foundation is extraordinary. Every community would love to have a Turner Foundation.
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