By James McNair
The Cincinnati Enquirer

For all the efforts of venture capitalists, economic developers and state programs, large - and even midsize - high-tech companies remain an elusive species in Greater Cincinnati.

Once again, not a single technology company appears in the Greater Cincinnati 100 list of biggest, locally based private companies. Auto dealer groups, home builders, distributors and traditional manufacturers flourish here. But when it comes to cultivating enterprises normally associated with the computer age, there seems to be something lacking in the Tristate's soil.

One high-tech company, however, should have made the 2003 list, but it simply chooses not to participate in such things. Cincom Systems posted more than $100 million in its latest fiscal year, an amount that would have placed it in the top 50. The company celebrated its 35th anniversary this year and employs 400 people - half its work force - at its 200,000-square-foot facility in Springdale.

Cincom's founder and chief executive, Tom Nies, isn't surprised by the absence of tech firms in the Greater Cincinnati 100. He said he sees no reason why the region can't support a larger technology industry, other than the shortage of skilled labor.

"It's a shame that Cincinnati isn't participating more fully in the tremendous potential of high tech and the employment opportunities, tax base and consumption that these kinds of things develop," Nies said.

In fact, the development of high-tech industries in the region is a consensus priority for business leaders, chambers of commerce and, above all, Ohio Gov. Bob Taft, architect of the $1.8 billion Third Frontier program to convert research and ideas into companies and industries. On Oct. 29, the program awarded $25.2 million for the establishment of the Center for Computational Medicine, a public-private venture that is expected to create at least five new companies.

But for now, Cincinnati's community of tech companies falls below the $38 million threshold of this year's Greater Cincinnati 100. All it takes is about $10 million in annual sales to be a standout high-tech company in Cincinnati.

Joseph Rimsky, president and CEO of Trasys in Blue Ash, said the three-year slowdown in technology industries offers a partial explanation for the lack of tech companies on the list.

"The reason probably you're not seeing very many technology companies in that 100 list is that the whole sector has been down very significantly and is just now climbing back," Rimsky said.

Trasys, which provides information technology services, staffing and training, is headed toward $12 million in annual revenue, he said. The company ranked 165th on the Inc. magazine list of 500 fastest-growing privately owned companies in the United States.

One downtown company, Intrieve, is knocking on the door of the Greater Cincinnati 100. In its last full fiscal year, which ended Jan. 31, Intrieve posted $37.8 million in revenue, up from $29.9 million the year before. Having acquired two companies in the past year, the developer of software for financial institutions expects to do about $52 million in sales this year. The company employs 250 people, including 195 in Cincinnati.

Other companies might be at a breakout stage.

Diversitech, of Springdale, had $13.5 million in revenue in 2002 and was ranked 76th on the latest Inc. 500 list. Intelliseek, of Over-the-Rhine, is still below the $10 million revenue mark, but growing. Atomic Dog Publishing, which makes e-textbooks for colleges, has about $2.5 million in annual revenue.

A Blue Ash company called Synchrony was approaching the $10 million mark in 2001 when it was acquired by Chicago-based Divine InterVentures. Divine then went bankrupt, and Cincom Systems bought Synchrony in September.

Mark Greenberg, CEO of Atomic Dog Publishing, said many high-tech startups know from the outset that they will not become large, freestanding companies.

"Most of these companies have an exit strategy built into them based on the fact that they're funded by venture capital," Greenberg said. "If we get Atomic Dog into the range that gets interesting, that'll happen to us, too."

In the Milken Institute's annual economic comparison of the 200 biggest metropolitan areas in the country, Cincinnati was ranked 130th overall, but 68th for its "high tech quotient," or its concentration of high-tech output. Apparently, the locally based and privately owned companies contributing to that score are not big employers or household names - yet.

"A lot of the digital technology is newer companies. You're just not going to have companies that large that quickly," Greenberg said. "It takes time to grow a company and get on that (Greater Cincinnati 100) list. The list reflects the business in Cincinnati."

E-mail jmcnair@enquirer.com.