ACD.net’s new facility in north Lansing is beginning to look like the high-tech headquarters company President Kevin Schoen envisioned when his pet project began in early 2006. Light and bright with high ceilings and racks crammed full with network servers, the 42,000-square-foot building might remind visitors of something that could be found in the Silicon Valley. Instead, many view the new endeavor as the cornerstone of mid-Michigan’s fledgling high-tech industry.

ACD.net has transformed this building, formerly an auto parts warehouse, into what city leaders view as a key component in this region’s economic survival—so important that Lansing Mayor Virg Bernero chose the Metro Internet Exchange, the new headquarters of ACD.net, as the site of his January State of the City address. Bernero spoke of the city’s need to attract high-tech companies to bring economic diversification to the area.

ACD.net provides high-speed Internet service, Web hosting, telephone service and data storage to more than 20,000 customers across the state. The company is a full-service communications company with networks in Lansing, Grand Rapids, Jackson, Ann Arbor and the St. Joseph/Benton Harbor area. The company employs 35 people and contracts with another 15 subcontractors.

Schoen, a 35-year-old and a self-described high-tech junkie, founded Advanced Computing Devices as a 16-year-old in the basement of his parents’ home near Howell. ACD Computers was born with Schoen fixing and rebuilding computers with parts salvaged from his various projects. The company opened an East Lansing location in the early 1990s and had ventured into the Internet business by 1996.

“Most of our technology is based on Internet technology. We offer phone service through Voice Over Internet Protocol [VOIP], we deliver broadband primarily over DSL lines, and provide data storage to the private sector, including software and Web hosting companies,” said Schoen.

V0IP is Internet telephony that allows customers to make phone calls using a broadband Internet connection instead of a normal analog phone line and is the fastest growing sector of ACD.net’s business.

“It’s a lot less costly and the quality issues have been resolved,” Schoen said. “VOIP customers can typically save about 30 percent over regular phone bills.”

Customers use a regular telephone from the office or home with the calls going into ACD.net’s switching station where they are converted to voice over Internet, Schoen explained.

ACD.net’s newly constructed data center, one of the largest in the state, focuses on data storage and security for corporations, government, IT companies and the medical industry.

“The data storage business is growing rapidly thanks to the digitization of data and as security risks have increased. Identity theft and fraud are an everyday occurrence it seems,” said Schoen. “In fact, many companies are required to maintain data off site from where their actual business is located.”

Schoen selected the former auto parts warehouse on Grand River Avenue for the $2 million retrofit not only because of its proximity to Old Town, but also for its site reliability.

“We needed someplace ultra-reliable. It’s not far from downtown, but we are away from water, and this is a very well built building. We have the room to expand and add tenants as needed to help attract IT development,” said Schoen.

The Metro Internet Exchange (MIX) building houses ACD.net, several other high-tech firms, and serves as a high-tech incubator for five small companies. Business incubators help emerging companies survive and grow during the start-up period when they are most vulnerable.

“We have the space here and I have experience in raising venture capital. All of these companies are IT-based. We have what they need, bandwidth and data storage,” he said. “The key component for an incubator is to keep it low cost and in a location with similar companies to share ideas and nurture their growth.”

Schoen described the high-tech incubator as a stage two incubator where companies are already operating and can cover a reasonable portion of their costs, but still need relatively cheap space to locate.

Plans also call for the development of the Chris Holman Center for Entrepreneurship, an early to mid-stage incubator that will focus on developing start-up companies.

“There are fantastic resources in the building as far as power, Internet and the other companies in the building,” said Jeff Lawton, president of Ideal Solutions, one of the incubator’s tenants. “We’ve built a symbiotic relationship with the other organizations; so if we get beyond our own resources, we can call on them. There are big advantages for us to be in the data center.”

Ideal Solutions, founded in 1999, is a unique computer integration company familiar with Windows, Mac and Lynux operating systems, Lawton said. The company reviews clients’ needs and assesses the best use of all available technology, both financially and productively.

Similarly, Jadian Enterprises, Inc. has found being nearby the incubator’s other technology-minded companies extremely beneficial.

“High-tech incubators such as the MIX building greatly improve the odds of success for technology start-ups, thus planting the seeds for more jobs,” said Karen Griggs, vice president of marketing and sales for Jadian Enterprises, which specializes in fully integrated software systems for managing inspection and compliance activities.

Schoen believes much of the future economic growth for mid-Michigan will depend on the willingness of businesses like his and other IT and high-tech companies to invest in the community.

“Private industry really has to take the lead on this. Our goal, of course, is to have some return on investment and to recoup some of the expenses, giving us more money to invest in other tech companies,” Schoen said. “We will continue to see jobs shift from manufacturing to high-tech, magnifying the importance of high-tech incubators such as the MIX building.”

Author: Randy J. Stine
Photography: Terri Shaver