Utah State Students Lend an Ear and Volunteer

Utah State University students answered hundreds of phone calls in January to help Utah Gov. Michael O. Leavitt following his State of the State Address.


During the address, Leavitt announced the creation of up to 1,500 new jobs in the health information management field. Anticipating this announcement would create interest and generate many questions from the public, Utah State students and staff from Information Alliance, part of Cache County's Smart Site located at the Utah State Innovation Campus, were asked to answer phone calls.

"We wanted to help Governor Leavitt," said Kim Larson, president of Information Alliance. "We knew we needed volunteers, so we asked the Utah State student body to help out."

As is usually the case, Utah State students stepped up to the plate and helped out, said Tiffany Evans, director of student activities for Utah State.

"As part of a last minute effort, I contacted the Associated Students of Utah State, the President's Leadership Council, the Latter-day Saint Student Association and various fraternities and sororities," said Evans. "As always, the Utah State students were willing to serve. They are fantastic."

With as little as one day notice, 16 students volunteered to help answer the 1,500 calls received at the Smart Site.

"We were happy to be of help and to donate our services," said Larson.

Information Alliance donated its employees' time to handle incoming calls from people throughout the state as well as its call center equipment, said Larson. "We could never have done this without the students," said Larson. "We have all of the equipment – that's the easy part. We have staff answering the phones, but students took time from their busy schedules to help throughout the week."

Cache County was one of seven initial Smart Site locations designated by Leavitt in March of 2001. Utah's Smart Sites have quickly become one of the largest single sources of employment in rural Utah, with locations in 14 counties. Since the inception of the program, which allows companies to set up shop in rural areas to do outsourcing, 600 new jobs have been created.

Across the state, companies are partnering with Smart Sites providing opportunities in fields like software testing, database management, data entry and website development. The Logan Smart Site is also equipped with a technical call center. According to the Governor's office, rural Utahns don't have to leave the small towns they love to hold a quality job. Smart Sites have proven to be a "win-win" for both employers and rural workers.

Cache County's Smart Site team includes Information Alliance, a privately funded charitable computer training program, and Information Connections, a private market research firm, as well as Cache Economic Development, the City of Logan and Utah State.

The university Smart Site employs 270 people, two-thirds of whom are Utah State students, said Larson. Locating the site at the university made perfect sense for her because of the vast amount of resources available to her through Utah State.

"Our company provides inbound technical support, customer service and DVD authoring for various entities ranging from technical companies to research studies," said Larson. "My staff is here to provide the call-centers, help desk services or graphic and web design that these companies require."

Larson calls the Smart Site "a perfect partnership between academia, government and business." She says she often consults with the university for technical support in the math and science areas. "If the math gets too complicated, I will call up the Utah State math department and ask for help."

Larson also sees the Smart Site as a valuable tool for Utah State Extension efforts. "Utah State has the knowledge and expertise to provide much-needed technical training to people throughout Utah, and the Smart Site will provide an additional vehicle to deliver that training."

For more information about the Utah State University Smart Site located at Innovation Campus and the services they provide, visit their website at http://www.infocnxn.com/default.aspx. For information about Utah State University Innovation Campus visit http://www.usu.edu/innovationcampus/.

Contact: Kim Larson (435) 750-8767
Tiffany Evans (435) 797-2911
Writer: Maren Cartwright (435) 797-1355
Graphics courtesy the Innovation Campus and Information Alliance Web sites