3 Taking bytes out of the U.S. market.

With a client list that includes the likes of Adidas, American T-Shirt Co., and Willow Pointe Sportswear and a customer base that is 98 per cent American, North Bay's FDM4 International Inc. truly lives up to its name.

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Business for the developer and provider of software solutions for distribution, inventory and catalogue industries has been so swift that the firm is looking expand its current 10,000-square-foot facility by an additional 11,000 square feet in the coming spring.

"The reason that we have to do this is that not only are we getting new customers, but we're getting more business from our existing customers," says John Cutsey, president.

"If we don't scale up with people to do that, my customers are going to go somewhere else."

In order to meet customer demand, FDM4 has already seen recent expansions. Within the last three months, the company increased its workforce from 45 to 58, with an eye on potentially boosting that number to 80 as the new building is constructed.

As a result, many of the company's work space, from its storage rooms to its training rooms to its garages, have been converted into office space for its programmers and managers. What's more, 11 offices have been rented out at the Jack Garland Airport to house staff.

However, this new building will handle its current workforce, while still leaving room for new hires as the company continues to grow. In fact, with a gymnasium, an exercise facility, and 12-foot ceiling-to-floor glass windows for every office, Cutsey says the new facility will provide strong incentive to not only to attract new staff, but to retain existing workers. The facility will also feature a fresh air ventilation system, which Cutsey says is key for the well-being of his workers.

"It is so important to have the freshest, most humid of air for my people who are here all day, using their brain. It's crucial that they have the best possible ventilation for their working environment."

Although business is booming for FDM4, it wasn't always this way for Cutsey, who begin within the business nearly 29 years ago as a national sales manager for Olivetti typewriters and calculators.

After purchasing the local branch office from the company and discovering that the former staff had taken the client list, Cutsey decided to move into the field of selling mini-computers to insurance companies in New Liskeard and construction companies in Sudbury. At the time, such computers were the size of desks and weighed up to 300 pounds, though the advent of smaller personal computers led Cutsey to take a focus on programming inventory software for such systems.

Following a lack of interest from local companies for his customized software, and facing a squeeze from big-name competitors such as Microsoft, Cutsey took his product to the American apparel industry, whose distributors and mills embraced it.

"Why would people from Honolulu, Hawaii buy from us in North Bay, Ontario when they can get a little less of a time zone to be buying from San Francisco, Silicone Valley, Los Angeles, or Portland on the West Coast? For that matter, why would people in Dallas or Boston or Philadelphia do the same? They're buying from us because we have good software and some great people with terrific skills."

While the overwhelming majority of FDM4 International's business is done with the United States, Cutsey says North Bay offers terrific opportunities for an aspiring tech-oriented company.

"North Bay is the perfect place for us to develop software. We are far enough north of Toronto that we are not plagued with all kinds of headhunters. North Bay is one of the best communities to bring up families for bright young people who want to be in the IT industry. The cost of living is very reasonable, and it's close enough to all the advantages we could want, while still having that small-town community feel; it's a beautiful city."

QUICK FACTS

FMD4 International Inc.

Head office: North Bay

Founded: 1987

President: John Cutsey

Employees: 58

www.fdm4.com

By NICK STEWART

Northern Ontario Business