Data Knight 365 – who are these people and why would Floyd do business with them?

When I first read in the paper that the Floyd County Economic Development Authority was announcing plans for a data center, I thought, "How nice! That will mean jobs for our citizens!"

After using Google and Google maps for an hour, I really wonder if our trusting local people are being taken for a ride.

I hope that our Floyd County Economic Development people have actually visited the world headquarters of Data Knight 365 aka Power Direct Marketing, because I took a Google tour of their headquarters neighborhood and looked at a company profile and I was not impressed.

Look at these photos of 4805 Pearl Rd in Cleveland Ohio and tell me
what confidence level you would have in an organization with its
headquarters on this street. The building is a modest one story office building called the McIntyre Center with no signage for Power Marketiing or Data Knight.

This appears to be 4805 Pearl Rd according to Google Maps.

4805PearlRd

The two images below show the opposite side of the street at 4804 Pearl Rd.

4804PearlRd

4812PearlRd

The image below is looking Northeast on Pearl Rd. It looks a bit like Williamson Rd NW in Roanoke. Not the place you would look for a company that has access to $25 Mil and is willing to invest it in Floyd.

4812pearl looking NE

4816PearlRd

Above and below are near 4816 Pearl Rd

4820PearlRd

4798PearlRd

4768PearlRd

After I took the pictures you see above, I toured Pearl Rd from Stickney to Fulton and found used car lots, restaurants, churches, schools and homes. For a 15 year old company, they are keeping a low profile. They may have big dreams, but it would appear that they will need to use other people's money.

I would hesitate to invest in them as it looks as if they have barely enough money to rent a suite in The Station on Locust, let alone make a $25 Million investment in Floyd County Commerce Center.

Here is a company profile from Manta. Does this sound like a company that can successfully establish a business in Floyd? I fear that they will attempt to raise money and get tax and rent concessions and we will have nothing to show for it in six months.

If someone has real data on this company, I would be happy to review and discuss it, but the lack of a credible track record and a real business address has me wondering why we are dealing with these people.

The only positive data I could find was this:

Norwalk, CT (March 3, 2008) Technology Marketing Corporation (TMC (News – Alert)) today announced Customer Interaction Solutions magazine’s twenty-third Annual Top 50 Inbound Teleservices Agencies Ranking and #29 was Power Direct, Inc. www.power-direct.com

The TMC site looked more like a link farm than a legitimate business site, but Power Direct was #29 on their list.

I found it disquieting that a well-known firm like Harte-Hanks (NYSE: HHS), headquartered in San Antonio, Texas, a worldwide direct marketing and call center company, does not appear on the TMC list.

For more information about this company and its management read the intriguing Data Center Article by Doug Thompson.

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