It keeps us alive
Local charities treasure tech support
December 1, 2006
by Keith Regan - Mass High Tech

Boston, MA – (December 1, 2006) For the two-person staff at the Boston chapter of the Starlight Starbright Children's Foundation, having iCorps Technologies Inc. as a benefactor -- and neighbor -- has been a welcome boost.

ICorps, a network services firm based just downstairs from Starlight in the Schrafft's building in Charlestown, has provided the foundation with financial backing, volunteer help and even pro-bono tech support for its computer systems.

It's just one of the many New England tech companies committed to giving back to the community -- an effort that goes against the general belief that tech firms are less likely to be active corporate citizens.

To highlight such philanthropic work, Mass High Tech recognized 17 companies on Dec. 1 during its TechCitizenship Awards breakfast, which honors the region's top tech companies for their community service. Companies that exceed a minimum percentage of revenue donated, or exceed a minimum total value of donations, are honored.

Starlight is part of an international organization, but it operates independently -- meaning that it raises nearly all of its funding locally. That only increases the value of corporate support from iCorps and others, said its executive director, Julianne Beauregard.

"It provides so much," said Beauregard. "We've been able to ... double the number of children we reach without increases in our staff."

Starlight's programs, for children battling diseases, include entertainment, events and technological aides such as a portable gaming system that helps distract patients as they prepare to undergo treatments.

And while some New England technology companies provide money to national or international causes -- EMC Corp. in Hopkinton, for instance, donated heavily to relief for Hurricane Katrina last year and the Indonesian tsunami the year before that -- more often they seek out local causes.

EMC Chairman Joe Tucci has been active in national educational efforts such as the Business Roundtable. EMC's philanthropy reflects that philosophy. One of the beneficiaries has been the public schools in Worcester, the state's second-largest city and home to many EMC employees, said Maria Gorsuch-Kennedy, EMC's manager of community involvement.

In Worcester, EMC sponsored 30 of the 60 teachers who took part in the Massachusetts Math Institute, which trains elementary teachers in math. State funding sponsored the rest of the teachers and public funds may help continue the program after EMC's support got it started. "Let's be honest," Gorsuch-Kennedy said. "Private money is great, but it's a drop in the bucket for something like public education. If we can start something and give it a vote of confidence, that's an important role."

EMC has also funded a robotics team at Worcester's North High School and partners in a program to provide incentives to students taking rigorous courses.

Natick-based Cognex Corp. also makes it a point to support local causes, providing backing for the Natick Education Foundation, which helps fund grants to public school teachers for special projects.

It also has been a key benefactor of the Morse Institute Library. When the library was expanding several years ago, shortly after Cognex came to town, Cognex pledged $75,000 for technology at the library -- a private nonprofit and the town's main public library -- a commitment it has maintained since.

"Technology is ever-changing and our municipal budget would never allow us to keep pace," said Joan Craig, the library's director of community outreach.

Natick-based The MathWorks Inc. also focuses its local efforts on math and science education. The company holds an auction every year at its headquarters, encouraging employees to donate unwanted items as well as their special talents to be sold off to fellow workers. The proceeds from the lively event are often funneled to PROMYS, a six-week math-intensive summer program at Boston University for students who have shown promise in math, said Elizabeth Callanan, corporate relations manager at the software firm.

PROMYS director and BU math professor Stephen Rosenberg said the proceeds from the auction enable the program to reach inner-city and rural youths who would otherwise be unable to attend the program.

"If we can identify those kids and give them six weeks of math boot camp here, it can open doors for them," Rosenberg said.

Rosenberg knows firsthand, because he attended a similar program in the 1960s at Ohio State University. "I was on the borderline of getting in trouble. That program got me started off on this career. Not every kid is going to become a mathematician, but we have a lot of our students choose careers in math and the sciences."

What does corporate support such as that from MathWorks mean to PROMYS' bottom line?

"It keeps us alive," Rosenberg said.

Keith Regan is a freelance writer in Grafton.