Where Things Stand: A Look at Sept. 11, 2002

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In choosing this tact, we are in no way trying to minimize or de-emphasize the human toll the tragedies claimed. The loss of innocence, loss of security and, above all, loss of life shall never be forgotten. That you can count on. But in preparation for this sad albeit momentous day, we reached out to a company that we thought might be able to provide some perspective on enduring an awful tragedy and moving on after the fact. That company is Edgewater Technologies of Wakefield, Mass.

As you may recall, almost two years ago, on the day after Christmas 2000, Edgewater employee Michael McDermott entered the offices of Edgewater and gunned down seven innocent people. While the circumstances of that tragedy and those of Sept. 11, 2001 are obviously different, there are unmistakable similarities: in each instance, life was wrongly and savagely taken in front of innocents in a workplace setting.

God forbid that America ever endures something on the scale of last year again. If it does, however, the lesson of New York, Washington D.C. and Pennsylvania is simply this: Life, that most precious thing, goes on, not as before, obviously, but on nonetheless. If you're still wondering how, look no further than Edgewater.

Just one week after the tragic shootings, employees at the company returned to work. Although some chose to work from home or the company's facilities in Peabody, Mass., and Manchester, N.H., most went back to the Wakefield office. A large group of entered in unison. There, CEO Shirley Singleton addressed her staff and answered questions to the best of her ability.

For months, bad news followed. The company sustained layoffs, a stock slump and slowing sales. But it also won some industry awards, established a charitable foundation for the families of the victims and explored new market opportunities. At each step of the way, there were reminders of what the company lost, recalls Singleton.

"Whenever someone loses a loved one in a non-accident related tragedy, the first year is always tough due to all the anniversaries, etc. They bring back the messages of what people were doing last year at the time," she says.

On Sept. 11 of last year, a few short months before the first anniversary of Edgewater's own tragedy, Singleton said a strange thing happened at Edgewater: all of the company's employees stayed at the company's offices. Some had relatives join them there. Despite the horror on their television screens and the awful memories in their minds, they stayed together as a team, grieving again as one.

Then they reached out to help, hoping it would somehow ease the burdens of others the way that kind acts from strangers helped ease their pain. Less than a month after the events of Sept. 11 Edgewater announced that it would provide Angel Flight Northeast (AFNE), a non-profit group that provides free air transportation for medical patients and their families, with a customized solution that links pilots and patients.

Since then, the company has returned its focus on building up its business. It has become a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner in eCommerce and recruited new talent. Like virtually every other high-tech company, it continues to struggle for new business. For the first six months of 2002, revenue totaled $9.4 million, down from $14.5 million in 2001.

But on this mournful day, Singleton says there's reason for hope, at least as far as business is concerned. Requests for bids have increased, as have their dollar value. Though the anniversary of 9-11 is still on their minds, customers are again thinking about new technology. They have to, she believes, if they wish to be competitive. Because of that simple, immutable fact, she believes that business will return to some sense of normalcy, though life will never be the same.

That goes for Wakefield, New York, Washington, Pennsylvania and everywhere else.