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business Birthing Businesses R ick Perko knew he had a good idea for an airborne training video. But getting his product quickly into the military mar- ket was another story. Perko is president of Immersion Media, a Fayetteville-based company that uses an- imation to produce sports education and training interactive DVDs, Internet media and forms of media. Content ranges from soccer skills for youngsters to the mechan- ics of calling plays for aspiring umpires. However, in 2009 Immersion Media ventured into a new animation genre: Mil- itary training. Immersion Media is one of several local businesses hoping to take ad- vantage of millions of dollars in military purchases that for many years were going to companies outside of North Carolina. "We hooked up with CSM (Ret) Wolf Amacher who told us about the potential viability of a project with the Advanced Airborne School. Since we had few con- nections at Bragg at the time, we needed some help and that's where DSTA came in," Perko said. DSTA is the acronym for Defense and Security Technology Accelerator, one of two unique programs under the auspices of the Partnership for Defense Innova- tions, a not-for-profit organization es- tablished by the state of North Carolina in 2005 to promote military-related eco- nomic development in North Carolina. Several years ago former Sen. Tony Rand of Fayetteville sponsored a bill that established the "Defense Technology In- novation Center" that would eventually become the Partnership for Defense Inno- vation. The bill called for a sector-focused business accelerator for "fueling entrepre- neurs and innovators to create technolo- gies used in the global war on terror." The bill sought to make the Fayetteville center the nexus of the state's technology industry. However, to ensure intellectual property rights and safeguard security projects from the state's open public re- cords laws, the bill established the center through an independent non-profit organ- A local business incubator and lab are giving life to new ideas in defense technology | BY JASON BRADY ization: the former Cumberland County Business Council, the precursor of today's Fayetteville-Cumberland County Cham- ber of Commerce. In June 2006, PDI became an inde- pendent entity and hired Perry Scott as its president. Perry is a retired Army ser- geant major who brings with him more than 20 years of special operations lore and an extensive knowledge of government contracting. "My particular job was to create jobs that create revenue. The tool I use to do that is defense contracting," Perry said. His two flagship programs that achieve "the creation of jobs that create revenue" are DSTA and an accredited Research and Development Lab. DSTA The Defense and Security Technology Accelerator (DSTA), located at 455 Ram- sey Street, helps startup companies devel- oping technology to quickly market their product. The products or services must CityViewNC.com | 21 PHOTOS BY AWAKENING PHOTOGRAPHY

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