European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - February 25, 1989, Darmstadt, Hesse Sup in cow country by Sharon Cohen associated press he land of sparkling Waters and towering Trees around eau Claire wis., was once Home to Brawny loggers. Now it s a Mecca for some of America s brai Niest scientists. This is America s Dairyland proclaimed on every Wisconsin License plate. But cow country is swiftly developing into a supercomputer corridor where some of the fastest costliest and most mind boggling machines in the world Are created. With $50 million in incentives As a sweetener eau Claire formerly a lumber Mill town lured a different Breed of builder supercomputer wizard Steve Chen whose Young company Hopes to construct a new machine 100 times faster than any that exists. Target completion Date the Early 1990s. Every state in the nation wanted this said Michael Schatz eau Claire s economic development specialist. It definitely is a major coup. This has just As much Impact As an Auto Plant would have for Kentucky or Chen s firm has t created Many jobs yet and there s not even a guaranteed product but his locating there in 1987 further establishes the upper Midwest As the nation s supercomputer capital. The Region was already Home to Cray research inc. And founder Seymour Cray a leading guru of supercomputers As Well As the Industry s second major . Player Eta systems inc., a subsidiary of control data corp. Now joining them is Chen s supercomputer systems inc. They Are All within 100 Miles of each other in Northwestern Wisconsin and Southeastern Minnesota. They have followed a path Laid Down just after world War ii when several retired naval intelligence officers founded engineering research associates in St. Paul minn., and built code cracking computers for the government. Era was later bought out by uni vac which years later spawned control data. Cray helped Start control data then formed his own company in 1972. Cray research headquartered in Minneapolis has a major base 11 Miles from eau Claire in Chippewa Falls wis. Cray recently expanded to Colorado but most of his workers Are in the two midwestern states. Cray hired Chen who left to Start his own firm 16 months ago. Now these neighbor rivals Are competing to create a machine faster than those that already do billions of calculations a second and help design cars forecast weather and Aid in weapons research. They re both after the fastest gun in the West said Peter Patton a computer consultant in Minnesota. Chen s oiling up his having so much brainpower battling to build the world s biggest and Best supercomputer in so Small a Region lends new prominence to a part of America probably better known for breweries and bitter cold than breakthroughs. This places Minnesota and Wisconsin on the International map said Patton director of technology assessment at the super performance computing service of Dat quest inc., a marketing forecasting firm. Some predict this Industry will have a Ripple effect attracting parts and Supply businesses. Patton said hundreds of companies in the twin cities area such As Honeywell and 3m, Are already involved in advanced technology. Some have grander visions. The potential is there to develop these businesses and offshoots into a mini Silicon Valley said Dick Hansen president of the first Wisconsin National Bank of eau Claire. But there Are big differences Between Silicon Valley and Chippewa Valley. Steve Chen is out to build the world s top supercomputer. In California the focus is on microprocessors materials for Many everyday products. Supercomputers Are More elite with Only about 350 installed worldwide Many in government and corporate offices and expensive costing $10 25 million each Patton said. In terms of dollars this is a very Small Corner of the total computer Market said Tad Pinkerton director of information technology at the University of Wisconsin Madison. Even if you have 100 machines at $10 milion apiece that s not a lot of some midwesterner also say they Don t care to duplicate some things about the Silicon Valley particularly its explosive growth. T Wisconsin has a very progressive social environment one which is going to move cautiously in things like building Pinkerton said. Even Chen s company will grow slowly. Chen who formed a partnership with International business machines corp., talks of taking four to five years to build his computer. Employment now about 100, in t expected to reach 1,000 until the late 1990s. Despite the wait eau Claire population 58,000, had few qualms about offering Chen a $50 million package of Grants and federally guaranteed Loans even though it was $4 million More than the City s annual budget. The City is lending $1.5 million of the $31.2 million loan package. Hansen s Bank is responsible for the rest. The Deal Calls for a Federal Agency to guarantee $25 million in Loans which Haven t been approved yet. Despite the risks Schatz said this was the Chance of a lifetime. It s the first time we seriously played with the big boys and went after a nationally known famous eau Claire and other cities began wooing Chen when he left Cray in september 1987 after the company cancelled his supercomputer project saying his proposal was too risky and too costly. He decided on eau Claire in part to avoid moving the 40 Cray workers he d attracted to his company. Chen has also opened a chinese restaurant in town. His company has created an influx of new residents who Schatz said Are responsible for raising the average Cost of a House to $105,000, up $20,000 from 1987. You re always looking for clean High tech Industry Schatz added. They pay High wages. It brings an intellect to your Community with scientists and engineers. It s an environment people like to work that was t always the image of the Northwestern Wisconsin town named for its Clear Waters. In the 19th Century eau Claire was White Pine country Home to logger Barons. With 20 sawmills on its River Banks it was nicknamed sawdust a Century later in 1981, an almanac ranked eau Claire no. 1 in America for most taverns per person one for every 629 people. Erma Bombeck i be been watching the commercial wars too Long. After George Bush was sworn in As president i sat there waiting for someone to yell what a Gonna do now George and he would answer i m Goin to Disneyland commercials Are changing the Way America thinks. Little children who used to cling to their mothers Bony Knees and fantasize when i grow up i want to be a corporate Raider now aspire to go where the big Money is hustling diet Pepsi. During the super bowl it was like High noon at the soft drink Corral. Forget Joe Montana and Boomer Esiason out there throwing their brains out. The big question on everyone s lips was would George Michael s commercial for diet Coke premiere and overshadow the game or would a major soft drink company take a corporate risk and pick an unknown non singing Chimpanzee to go against the opposition forget the scandal of the Chicago Grain Market traders. The real shocker was that business ground to a halt while All of them stood around singing Happy birthday of Mcdonald s. On company time yet. How could you get so Many people to sell out commercials used to be the iceberg of a titanic career. There was a stigma attached to them. Come out for a Hemo Rhoid Cream and your professional life was Over. Today commercials have replaced the casting Couch. Sandy Duncan Teri Garr Roseanne Barr All boosted their careers making commercials. Even the legends Are taking a second look. They Aren t ready to go Public but they Are testing the Waters. Foremost is Jimmy Stewart whom you never see on camera but you know by the voice he s there sipping soup. And it does t take a Genius to figure out that the Raisin playing the piano is Ray Charles. Where is All this going i think the trend will give new meaning to the word i can foresee a future where a producer will say of so if meryl Streep has so much Talent then How come she never Sells Oldsmobile stars will leave messages on their agent s answering service turn Down the prune commercial. I m too Young to play the Rock stars will refuse a people cover for a shot on a Cereal Box. I would t be too surprised if people taped an evening of television and fast forwarded the regular programs stopping Only to watch a $5 million performance by Madonna for Pepsi. The War goes on. As you Are Reading this somewhere in new York a client is saying to an Agency get me Elvis. Price is no object c 1989 Erma Bombeck saturday february 25, 1989 the stars and stripes Page 17
