The article below was written by William B. Carroll and originally published in the Daily Star on February 23, 2013. View the scanned article here. Part 1 and Part 2
Techy Tangi
Up-and-coming company leaves no stone unturned
Back in September 2011, Brian Walker and Tim San Fillippo had developed the beginnings of 5 Stones and were looking for office space to continue the development of their business.
“I was working as a freelancer from home building websites, but I was lacking the graphic design skills so my websites didn’t look great,” Walker said. “I met Tim at church and we started working together on several projects in the spring of 2011.”
A need for space led Walker to the incubator. “I was a member of a business networking group, Business Networking International, which was meeting at the Small Business Development Center at Southeastern,” Walker said. “I asked them if they had office space for rent and it was at that time that I learned about the incubation program.”
Walker said that he and San Fillippo were required to fill out an application so that representatives from the center could ensure that 5 Stones was a proper fit.
“We build websites for small businesses and perform web based marketing for our clients,” Walker said. “The idea behind the program is that they do not want businesses competing against each other.”
Walker said that the initial draw of the program is that the rent is significantly less than at other lo-cations. “They deliberately raise your rent every six months to entice you to develop your business where you can eventually move out,” Walker said. “It is good because it forces you to focus on building your business. Our plan is actually to move out at the two-year mark and hopefully find a location downtown where we can continue to grow.”
Working with the center
San Fillippo said the business worked well with staff at the center. “We have a good rapport with the folks downstairs. We use the facilities here regularly, in fact I would say we use the conference room here every other day,” San Fillippo said. “I think it would have been harder to grow our business without this center, we have all of the things we need here at a smaller price.”
Grow the business did, and in short order, the partners brought on four additional employees to help shoulder the work. “Initially we were looking at moving into social media management and so we brought Kim on to handle that aspect,” San Fillippo said.
Kim, Brian’s wife, is a South-eastern graduate with significant knowledge regarding social media. “Brian and I partner to teach classes with the center regarding how to help other small businesses,” Kim said. “It helps us as a marketing tool because we have gained clients and referrals from the classes. It is a symbiotic relationship between our business and the center.”
Future goals “Our goal is to continue to grow and help to provide jobs for the community,” Walker said. “We are spoiled in this area. We love the area, my wife and I are from here and we intend to stay here.” Walker said that southeast Louisiana is experiencing a boom in the information technology industry.
“Many local companies are focusing on marketing to the New Orleans market, while we are also interested in the New Orleans market we are focusing our marketing efforts on the Northshore and Baton Rouge,” Brian Walker said.
Working with Southeastern
“There are so many opportunities in working with the university that helps us bring on quality people,” San Fillippo said. “We have been working with and developing partnerships with Southeastern students for awhile now and it would be foolish of us not to use the resources available to us.”
Walker said that he is very impressed with the quality of students Southeastern is producing. Intern Tony Romain is one example. Preparing to graduate this year, Romain is a current student who is studying graphic design and photography. “Our plan is to bring Tony on as a full-time employee at some point,” Walker said. “Whenever we have openings we try to make sure Southeastern students are the first ones to know.”
