A growing group of tech industry "geeks" are calling Rhode Island home. One of these, Soren Ryherd, founded Working Planet Marketing Group in 2003. The 12 person company, which manages Google ads and pay-per-click campaigns, has consistently enjoyed annual growth of approximately 100%.

...Ryherd says, “It turned out that Providence has actually been a great place to start a business and to grow a business.”

Another, Charlie Kroll, founded Andera while still a student at Brown University in 2000. The company develops account opening software and has grown to employ 30 people for a client base of 129.

“People ask me if we’re going to stay in Rhode Island,” [Kroll] says. “I say the answer to that is clearly yes, unless we run out of people to hire.”

Examples of a few other local geek sector startups include Public Display, which collects and organizes unstructured data from the Web; FarSounder, which gives mariners the ability to “see-ahead,” underwater, in true 3-D; Traction Software, which helps businesses communicate, share and find critical information via wikis and other media; and DIGI[cation], a Web-based learning community, created by two Rhode Island School of Design educators, now used by more than 1000 schools across the US.

In response to the developing community, Jack Templin of Providence and Brian Jepson of Kingston launched the Providence Geeks, a community focal point that holds monthy "Geek Dinners" at downtown's AS220 featuring for presentations from a local startup.

As simple as it sounds, Templin says, there’s no replacement for making the creative entrepreneurs at these get-togethers aware of one another, and their work and needs: “...We’re seeing hiring, collaboration, investment. We’re seeing all that stuff,” he says, “and that stuff adds up.”

“I would certainly rather live in Providence than in the Boston area,” says Kingston native Chris Nuzum, the 36-year-old chief technical officer and co-founder of Providence-based Traction Software...Now, thanks to the Providence Geeks and cross-pollination between startups and the state, “You know people, you can meet up, and have a great conversation about what you’re working on. It really changes the quality of being here.”

Saul Kaplan, executive director of the RIEDC, puts the infotech and digital media population at 15,379. And with an average salary of $65,281 as well as a relatively low statup cost in terms of money and time, this sector is becoming a focus of state economic development efforts. Already established towards this goal are the Slater Fund, a tax credit for investors, and the Science and Technology Advisory Council. As a physical focus, the EDC hopes to create the Rhode Island IT & Digital Media Center; although the necessary $600,000 wasn't approved by the General Assembly earlier this year, plans will continue forward.