FC: Pennsylvania Gov. Ridge competes with Net startups in his own state

[Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>]

[The buzz has Ridge on the very short list for the GOP vice presidential 
nomination. This article below shows what a Bush-Ridge administration might 
view technology. --Declan]



http://www.phillynews.com/daily_news/2000/Mar/13/business/PORT13.htm

                    Guv riles cybernauts
                    Netizens see state's portal as competition

                    by Michael Hinkelman
                    Daily News Staff Writer

                    Outside the state, Gov. Tom Ridge is often
                    portrayed as one of the most tech-friendly
                    governors in the nation. Closer to home,
                    however, some members of the state's cyber
                    community think the techno-gov may be
                    dabbling a bit too much into commercial
                    Internet territory.

                    They claim the Republican governor is
                    actively promoting "socialized e-commerce"
                    of all things.

                    And what has raised their ire? A joint
                    venture between the state and software giant
                    Microsoft Corp. to create "PA PowerPort,"
                    the country's first statewide Internet portal.

                    ...


                    The governor called the new initiative a
                    "one-stop shop for the information we all
                    need" in his budget address last month.

                    According to one critic, the project puts the
                    state in a position of competing with tax
                    dollars against "every Web and Internet
                    Service Provider and entrepreneur currently
                    existing in the state that are out there actually
                    trying to build this industry in Pennsylvania."

                    That's the view of Kessler Freedman Inc., a
                    Web site design company in
                    Mechanicsburg, just outside Harrisburg.

                    The company, which has been the most
                    vocal critic of "PA PowerPort," has
                    developed more than 40 commercial Web
                    sites since its inception in 1996.

                    In an essay posted on their Web site,
                    Kessler Freedman contends Ridge wants to
                    build what amounts to a "mini-Yahoo," albeit
                    with services like hometown news that are
                    geared toward the state.

                    Several Pennsylvania-based
                    privately-owned dot-coms already are
                    building similar Web sites and offering some
                    of the same services that the state plans to
                    make available.

                    ...

                    "It bothers me," said Allen Deckert, a
                    co-owner of PAdotNET. "Maybe they don't
                    think there's enough talent here and they
                    didn't need to get anybody's opinion or do a
                    survey of people who are trying to do the
                    exact same thing the state wants to do."

                    Wayne Kessler, a co-owner of Kessler
                    Freedman, summed up his feelings this way:
                    "If the state suddenly decided they were
                    going to give away free food, I would
                    imagine there would be a lot of restaurants
                    and supermarkets that would be pretty
                    ticked."

                    ...

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