AF Kelly & Associates is a technology consulting firm with 130 employees. Clients include Chrysler, Toyota and Dow Chemical. And when one of those employees tells potential clients that the company is located in Covington, “we do get what you expect as an initial reaction,” said David Hempel, Kelly's chief development officer.

        Which means something like, “Hunh?”

        “When we explain to them that we're part of a region here that is rapidly growing, that we're part of the Greater Cincinnati area, we talk about the technology corridor that's developing here, how we're able to attract top-notch talent here in the region, how we have the advantages of cost of living — their concerns go away very quickly,” he said.

        It's not impossible, then, that Covington might be the focus of some kind of high-tech community. That would be good news to the five people starting the Madison Avenue Launch Team, who are trying to develop a high-tech incubator five floors above the Fifth Third Bank branch at Fifth and Madison there.
       

Network building
               The team doesn't discourage comparisons to Main Street Ventures in Over-the-Rhine, a business accelerator that's helped launch more than a dozen dot-coms.

        But there's one key difference: MSV essentially took an informal network of a group of companies already in the Main Street area, then formalized and enlarged it.

        Does the Covington effort have such a base to build on? That's not clear. But there seems to be a lot of interest.

        The team has a building, a fat fiber-optic data pipe running down Madison, a board of mentors to advise startups and enough interest from the community to build confidence that the first $250,000 can be raised without much trouble. Since an Enquirer story about the effort ran Oct. 21, the team has had dozens of phone calls and e-mails from people wanting to take part in the effort.

        “That's what's been shocking to me, all the people that have come out of the woodwork,” said De Stewart, one of the launch team's founders. “We've had a couple of different companies saying, "We're here, and we're happy you're doing this.'”

        But do those Northern Kentucky high-tech companies know about each other? “That's what I don't know,” he said. “They seem to want us to be the touchstone.”
       

Interest encouraging

               Lawyer Thomas Prewitt, another founder of the team, said the level of interest has been encouraging. The group has offices for what it considers to be a critical mass of 12 companies to get a Covington core going.

        “We would like to think we could get there fairly quickly,” and the group has already looked into how quickly it could obtain more space for companies.

        Michael Ziegler, a launch team founder and real estate executive, likens the effort to leasing a medical building: Get one doctor in, and others show an interest. “If you are providing an opportunity for people to congregate, you are going to be successful,” he said.

        One entrepreneur is finding no lack of business in Northern Kentucky. Chris Fischer has built his Systems Insight consulting business in Covington by word of mouth.

        “I've made one phone call in my company's history,” he said. “I'd love to see something similar to Main Street Ventures in Covington. I think there's a ton of business in Northern Kentucky that's untapped.”

        E-mail johnb@enquirer.com or call 768-8377. Find a list of local New Economy companies at www.enquirer.com/neweconomy/.
       

Forest Fair: Mall on the Mend
Bass Pro Shops bring outdoors indoors
Forest Fair Mall chronology
BYCZKOWSKI: Covington could become tech center
What's the Buzz?
Auctioneering fast, tough, competitive
Small-business diary
Business conventions, meetings
Keep service personal on the Web
Toy sellers aim sophistication at kids
Day care keeps canines busy and content
Glut of oil pros tapped for teacher jobs