New software helps schools find substitute teachers
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CNY Business Journal, 3/7/2008 By Eric Reinhardt Journal Staff SYRACUSE - One of the problems school districts face in the early morning hours is finding substitute teachers when the regular instructor calls in sick. Well, a new computer software company in downtown Syracuse is helping the Syracuse City School District - and five others - streamline the process. Central Xchange, Inc. is located on the 13th floor of the State Tower Building at 109 S. Warren St. President and CEO Michael Doyle leads a small staff in the local office, and has additional help from technical people around the country. Doyle has a telecommunications background, and his wife is a substitute teacher. It was five years ago when he sat down with the person who makes the calls in the morning to arrange for classroom coverage. Doyle says there were several steps, people, and buildings involved, and the results were needed in a time frame of roughly two hours. "One thing led to another and we thought we could provide a better, faster, more cost-effective approach to placing subs in school districts in the morning," said Doyle. The Web-based software is called Sub-IT, and it automates the process of logging teacher absences and identifying, contacting, and placing substitutes teachers into the necessary classrooms. The product helps the school districts by allowing them to fill vacancies rapidly during a typically intense period of the morning. "If you teach chemistry, we're going to call you first, because there's not too many people who can sub for chemistry." Doyle says it also allows for a more efficient use of staff time. "We keep all that data and report it back to the principals. There are several principals that now check that Web site for their school on the way in in the morning before they get there, so they know exactly who's out and who's coming in for them. So, it's not a big scramble when they get in there at the beginning of the day." Doyle says the Syracuse City School District, Oswego School District, and Hannibal School District are using Sub-IT. He's also working with school districts in Texas, Minnesota, and Florida. Doyle adds the project has the support of the Syracuse School Board and the Syracuse Teachers Association. Central Xchange is an example of a small business that has benefited from the help of the Greater Syracuse Business Development Corporation (GSBDC), an affiliate of the Greater Syracuse Chamber of Commerce. Central Xchange was able to secure $162,000 in working capital for Sub-IT through the Central New York Quasi Equity Fund, which is a collaborative initiative of the GSBDC, the Onondaga County Industrial Development Agency, and the Central New York Enterprise Development Fund to support the growth, start-up, and retention of manufacturing and producer-service firms in the region. Peggy Adams, executive director of the GSBDC, says the money is typically used to hire new employees or to market their company, product, or service to help young companies grow to the next level. "This fund provides a very flexible debt instrument that is often structured with no principal or interest payment for an initial period providing the borrower with an opportunity to implement their business plan (with no loan payments) thus simulating equity for that period," said Adams. She says it's a program offering businesses an alternative to venture-capital financing where they would often have to give up ownership/control in their company and perhaps move their business out of Central New York. The GSBDC says Central Xchange qualified for the money because it's selling a product to school districts out of state and meeting a requirement of net wealth generation - or bringing new dollars into the community. Central Xchange was started in 2003 and is still a work in progress. In the local office, Doyle says he has 3 people, including himself. His employees focus on marketing and maintenance. The company also calls upon a dozen or more technical people for help. "[We] never have enough people. We have a group of dedicated individuals, 12 to 15 located around the country, that worked on developing the code, writing the code, putting it into production, keeping our equipment up to date and running on a full-time 24-hour basis." Central Xchange plans to add 13 employees in the next three years. Doyle also has help from USA Datanet, which provides Web service and phone lines from its offices, inside the same building. He's also had marketing help from Communigration, Inc., an interactive marketing firm located inside the Syracuse Technology Garden on Harrison Street. The office of Central Xchange - inside the State Tower Building - is rented for $550 per month. Doyle wouldn't comment on any revenue projection he has for 2008. When asked if he's happy with the company's progress, Doyle simply says some things just don't happen fast enough. "That question is best approached by our customers, and I think our customers have told us and continue to tell us that we do a nice job, so I guess we are. I am satisfied with that." |