Working in a smart city

3 Jun 2011

By Ken McElrath

Recently the Intelligent Community Forum named Chattanooga as one of the seven smartest cities in the world, and Kim White of River City Company thinks Skoodat is one of the reasons why.

One of our primary concerns at Skoodat is to make a social impact with the smallest environmental footprint possible. Chattanooga helps us do this. Shocked? Read on.

Back in the 1970s, Walter Cronkite declared Chattanooga the most polluted city in America. Since then, Chattanooga has been transformed into an outdoor sports mecca. For example, our headquarters is housed in an old plow factory that now has a green roof and an innovative ice-powered AC system. Walking, biking and hiking trails surround us, connecting us to a River Walk and other trails. Chatt's turnaround reflects a can-do passion for environmental stewardship that reflects Skoodat's own commitments.

Just a few years ago, Google scored a PR coup by announcing their intention to install gigabit Internet service in a U.S. city. But Chattanooga built a better system while Google's was still just a dream. As former mayor Jon Kinsey says, "We've got the fastest fiber optics in the world and the smartest grid in the world... We have something that everybody else in the world wants and nobody in the world has."

Because Skoodat is 100% committed to the cloud, gigabit speeds help us do more with less. By working smarter and faster in the cloud, we can reduce environmental impact and keep costs down, and in turn, help education organizations do the same.

I am often asked by clients and "wannabe" investors why we moved Skoodat to Chattanooga instead of Silicon Valley, New York or Boston. My answer? It's a smarter place to launch a company.

I encourage you to read this short article from CityScope Magazine to learn more.