This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
Listen
Ministerial US tour reaches an end
22/11/2002
Enterprise Minister Iain Gray visited the Scottish
Development International office in Herndon,
Virginia, today at the end of a four-day tour of
America.
The Scottish Development International office, one of
six in the US, serves as an incubator and business
development outlet for Scottish companies who are looking
to set up operations.
The purpose of the Minister's visit to the Herndon
location was to recognize the particular success of two
Scottish technology companies, Axios Systems and ABM, who
have received assistance from the office.
"In Scotland we are rightly proud of our excellence in
science and academic research - with many of the products
and inventions that have changed the world originating in
Scotland," said Mr Gray.
"Our economic policy - A Smart, Successful Scotland - is
focused on delivering an economy that builds on this
culture of innovation. Getting our world beating ideas out
of our labs and into the world's biggest market will mean
that we can achieve long-term, sustainable economic growth.
These two companies making announcements today are very
much putting our vision into practice and I wish them every
success."
Axios Systems provides Help Desk & IT Service
Management Software solutions to medium and large
organizations.
With corporate headquarters in Edinburgh, Axios has
worked with Scottish Development International for over two
years now and as of August 1 has officially moved employees
into the Northern Virginia area.
Ross McIntosh, VP of North America, said:
"We are thrilled to be here and are really encouraged by
the huge amount of interest shown in our solution, assyst,
from medium to large organizations both in the Herndon area
and across the US. It is both challenging and expensive to
penetrate this marketplace but the rewards can be fantastic
and we are already seeing a solid return on our
investment."
The Minister also congratulated software company ABM on
the announcement of a new contract award from the
Pennsylvania State Police.
ABM designs data management software and is used
primarily by the law enforcement community to aid in
informant management, crime management, evidence management
and crime analysis. They recently finalized a deal which is
reported to be worth upwards of $7.2 million.
John Shaw, vice president, said:
"We really want to thank the officials from Scottish
Development International for all that they have done to
make our adjustment a smooth one.
"This contract, which we are pleased to announce today
in the presence of Minister Gray, is the largest deal we
have done to date and we are looking forward to working
with officials from Pennsylvania to install our system and
train their law enforcement officers in its use."
During his visit the Minister also attended a function
at the British Embassy, made a speech before the Maryland
BioAlliance and went to Capitol Hill for a meeting with the
U.S. Department of Education.