Daily Hampshire Gazette
"TechCavalry aids nonprofits"
Thursday, June 13, 2002

By CLARE McINTYRE

Thursday, June 13, 2002 -- FLORENCE - TechCavalry Inc., a computer services company, has launched a program that would make non-profit organizations in the area eligible for free services through a lottery-style selection process.

TechCavalry specializes in computer services for small business owners and home computer users. Under the company's new program, non-profit organizations that register for free services would be placed in a pool from which one would be selected at random each month.

The services include general computer maintenance, hardware installation, software installation and assistance, networking, and virus detection. All of the work will be done by one of the company's four bonded and certified technicians.

To make sure services are offered to registered non-profits actually in need of help, organizations need to register on the company's Website during each month that they hope to take advantage of the service. All non-profits, of any size, are eligible for TechCavalry's help.

Although the company has only been in business since January of this year, CEO Jef Sharp of Florence said the company wants to start playing a positive role in the community right away.

"Giving back to the community was part of our plan from day one," he said. Although right now the company devotes only a limited amount of its time to non-profit work, Sharp said the company hopes that contribution will expand as the company increases in size and becomes more profitable.

Marlene Marrocco of Florence, the company's chief operating officer, added that the company's plans for future growth made the idea of contributing to the community right from the start all the more important.

"Within the next eighteen months we'd like to start franchising it in New England, and eventually nationwide," she said. "One of the things we wanted to do was to make it part of the business model to give back to the community."

Sharp hopes that with TechCavalry's help, non-profits will be able to operate more efficiently and make better use of their resources.

"It's a way for us to leverage our expertise to make non-profits more technically efficient and productive," he said. "We're giving them not only some hours of our time and expertise, but everything that that will generate within (the organization)."

TechCavalry was founded by Sharp, Marrocco, and chief technical officer Jeff Hausthor of Pelham.

All three have a background in entrepreneurship and in the high-tech industry. Marrocco was previously a vice president in Lotus Development Corp.'s quality decision management division, and Hausthor has worked as a project manager with Sony in New York City.

Until early this year, the three were partners in XSCapacity, described by Sharp as an "e-marketplace for the better utilization of manufacturing capacity worldwide."

Marrocco said she hopes that in addition to helping individual non-profit organizations, TechCavalry's example will encourage other companies to follow suit.

"It doesn't matter what business you're in," she said. "Everybody should be giving back."

Non-profit organizations can register on TechCavalry's Web site at http://www.techcavalry.com, or call (413)517-0088. The office is on North Farms Road in Florence.

© 2002 Daily Hampshire Gazette. Used with permission.