State-of-the-art technology company considers Keene Will build 50,000 square-foot building, employ 30-35 people By Paul Gnadt Posted: 10/21/2013 02:43:49 PM CDT RediResults CEO John Williams, right, tells the City Council Thursday night that he would like to bring his high-tech company to Keene if the city can arrange conduit bond financing for $35 million. City Council James Chapline listens to the presentation. The Keene Health Facilities Development Corporation voted to takr the proposal to bond attorneys. (Paul Gnadt) Keene used to manufacture more stick horses than any place in the world. Now, a business wants to push an elephant through a garden hose. RediResults, in partnership with Sovee, is hoping to build a 50,000-square-foot, three-story building in Keene that will generate an annual revenue of $25 million and employ 30-35 people, the companys CEO, John Williams, told a meeting of the Keene Health Facilities Development Corporation Thursday night at City Hall. The building would be called the Jewel Technology Center, named for “The Jewel of Johnson County,” Keenes self-described nickname on the citys website. Members of the KHFDC are Mayor John Ackermann, Bud Findley, Jack Hardwick, Gary Heinrich and Mickey Johnson. City administrator Bill Guinn serves as treasurer. Williams said the company will focus on telemedicine, using “dark fiber” to store and transmit millions of medical data used for communication between patients and doctors, doctors and hospitals, hospitals and hospitals and others involved in the delivery of medical services. The dark fiber is tens of thousands of times faster than the current fiber optics, Williams said. “We have the most complex compression software anywhere,” Williams said. “We can squeeze data into the most compressed form in the world. We can literally push an elephant through a garden hose. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Advertisement -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ” Williams and members of the KHFCD looked at potential sites but havent decided yet where to locate, he said. “Were looking at partnering with Southwestern Adventist University and the city took look at the future and create a foundation for healthcare and for additional companies coming into Keene,” Williams said. The Jewel Tech Center would also house an urgent care emergency room, Williams said. Texas Health Resources Huguley and THR Cleburne have been in discussion with Williams and are both interested in being involved, he said. In addition to the telemedicine portion of the service, Williams explained a scenario where emergency responders would be able to communicate in real time as they respond to situations using RediResults technology. “Imagine firefighters responding to a fire and they encounter resistance with gunfire,” Williams said. “They cannot advance any further to the scene but here comes the police and sheriff, all watching in real time on monitors what is happening because the fire department has the capability to transmit the scene to them.” RediResults would host the multi-point connectivity in real time, displaying to as many as 12 responding agencies simultaneous views of the scene, Williams said. “If a victim doesnt speak English, we will be able to translate in dozens of language in real time,” Williams said. The KHFDC voted to take the proposal to the citys bond attorneys for review with the intention of issuing bond to fund the $35 million needed to start the project. In a PowerPoint presentation to the KHFDC, Williams said the startup costs would include $12 million to build the Jewel Tech Center and $15 million for working capital. Three years into existence, the company would need another $20 million, Williams said. The RediResults technology will also provide the opportunity to enhance the citys high speed Internet and for businesses to hook into the system, Williams said. “We will attract new businesses because we can host their Cloud-based operations,” he said. Sovee, a global video distribution and translation technology company headquartered in Chattanooga, Tenn., was recently named one of the “100 Companies that Matter Most in Online Video” by Streaming Media. Sovees transcoding, autosensing and adaptive-bit rate sensing technology is best known for eliminating the “dreaded buffering wheel” that frustrates consumers trying to watch video online. It also ensures playback on virtually any device, whether mobile or desktop, Mac or PC, said its website at sovee. Sovee also offers video hosting and video translation through Closed Captioning, subtitles and/or human-like synthetic voice. Findley praised Harry McQueen for his work in bringing RediResults to the table. “Harry has been invaluable to this board and we would not be here with him,” Findley said. The KHFCD board unanimously approved Williams application for conduit bonding to be submitted to bond counsel. “The city will not be liable for any loss in the sale of bonds,” Findley said. “According to state statute, the conduit bond sponsor, which is Keene, is not financially responsible for repayment.” State statute requires multiple levels of approval process before the bonds are issued for sale, Findley said. The bonds will be market-rate and are sold to sophisticated investors, he said. The city and RediResults will agree on an underwriter or investment house to handle the transaction, Findley said.
Posted on: Thu, 24 Oct 2013 13:34:57 +0000
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