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 High-tech creatures of different shapes, speeds March 7, 1999 By Michael Newman, Post-Gazette Staff Writer
For an economist, David Birch knows a lot about animals. In the menagerie of the business world, unlike that of the natural world, they can be difficult to recognize. Birch, the president of Cognetics, a Massachusetts economics-research firm, coined the term "gazelle" more than a decade ago. It refers to a small, nimble company that is growing quickly. There are others in the zoo. A "gorilla," for instance — also called an "elephant" — is defined as large and slow-moving, while "mice" start and stay small. But from an economic perspective, sometimes gorillas run like gazelles — especially in the field of high technology. Take the example of Warrendale-based Fore Systems, which is probably the largest local gorilla, with more than 900 of its 1,900 employees based in the region. It is also hiring at a rate of 20 per month. "We’ve got kind of gazelle legs with a gorilla body," spokesman Rich Borden says. Regions, like companies, can be difficult to categorize. Pittsburgh, for instance, is just below average as a gorilla; as a gazelle, it is just above average. In both categories, it ranks in the bottom half when measured against other PG Benchmarks cities. According to the WEFA Group, an economic-research consulting firm based near Philadelphia, in 1997 Pittsburgh’s "gazelle" score was 101.3, just above both the national average of 100 and last year’s score of 99.3. It thus places 12th of the 15 Benchmarks cities, one rung higher than last year. The WEFA Group defines a gazelle as a region that is adding high-tech jobs quickly. If high-tech jobs in a given region grow at the same rate as the national rate, the region scores 100. If jobs grow 25 percent faster than the national rate, the score is 125; 25 percent slower, the score is 75. The most "gazelle-like" region of the 15 included in the PG Benchmarks survey was Atlanta, with a rating of 141.12. And what about the gorilla metaphor? WEFA defines a gorilla as a region with a high concentration of high-tech jobs. By that it means the percentage of high-tech jobs in relation to all jobs. If the regional percentage matches that of the national economy, it is assigned a score of 1.0. If it’s twice as high as the national average, its score is 2.0; half of it would result in a score of 0.5. As a gorilla, Pittsburgh is smaller than average, with a score of 0.87 — a decrease of 6 percentage points from last year’s score of 0.93. It gained slightly on its Benchmarks cohorts, ranking ninth of the 15 Benchmarks regions compared to 10th last year. The Denver-Boulder-Greeley metropolitan area is the biggest gorilla, with a score of 1.66. One of the ways to become a gorilla, clearly, is to first become a gazelle. But what’s necessary to become a gazelle? Besides a couple horns and four hoofed feet? Birch has some ideas, but no real answers. Many of the most entrepreneurial cities in the country, he notes, are in the South and West. Yet it is more than climate or geography that defines an "entrepreneurial culture." "The entrepreneurial culture is very important," he says. "It’s the attitude of society toward entrepreneurs — which clubs do they join, which boards do they sit on, which banks lend to them. … "It’s the old industrial world vs. the new economy," he says. "Those cities that reflect that new economy are doing well. Those that don’t, aren’t." Fore Systems’ year-old marketing campaign may thus have some relevance. Featuring grimy steelworkers in industrial settings, it carries the slogan: "We’re from Pittsburgh. We build networks that last." The campaign is designed to heighten the high-tech profile of both the company and the region — without ignoring its more low-tech heritage. The impact of such marketing is difficult to gauge, of course, but Borden says it’s had one measurable effect: Hundreds of former Pittsburghers from around the country have inundated the company with requests for a poster version of the ad — even though they may not know or view Pittsburgh as a high-tech region. "They say, ‘I really don’t know what you make, but this strikes a chord with me,’" Borden says. "They really want that poster."
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