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Dell notebook: At the ground breaking
Notes on the Dell plant ground breaking Wednesday that didn't make it into the paper:
Like many homes, Dell's factories have gone wireless. All of the communications in its new factory here will be wireless. Dell still uses fiber optics for downloading software to new machines for "burn in".
Despite the fact that Dell drove a hard bargain when asking for state and local incentives, Dell executives bring a lot of charm and humor to the table also. Ro Parra, the senior vice president of the Americas, told this story to show the importance of diverse
perspectives: An Ecuadoran native, he said that when he first moved to the United States in the 1970s, his family put their trash out like clockwork twice a week. They were surprised one day to see a police officer at their door who asked, "Why do you folks keep putting your trash in the mailbox?"
Parra and his family didn't realize that the blue containers on the corners were not trash cans, because in Ecuador, "trash cans were blue and they were on the corner of every block."
Parra is also big ACC basketball fan and an alumnus of University of Maryland, which drew good-natured boos from the assembled leaders. He even managed to draw a parallel with the ACC tradition and the Dell way of doing things: "Winning isn't only a hope -- it's an expectation."
Dell says the majority of subcontractors working on the plant will be local. Dick Hunter, the vice president of Americas manufacturing, said that decisions on companies to hire are being made now.
The groundbreaking on Wednesday often felt more like the Academy Awards minus Chris Rock. Dozens of people who helped recruit Dell were duly thanked for all their personal time invested. Still, as some speeches rambled, one wished for Bill Conti to strike up the orchestra and cut to a commercial.
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