AmCad Dallas Wolf
"Our business is that we are a service bureau, and by that I mean that we take large numbers of customer data, in terms of images, whether they be digital images, archived microfilm images or hard copy images, and convert them from one format to another, store them, and present them on the Internet for customers, both commercial, federal government, and state and local government.

"In making a decision to come to the Arsenal, I think in our case one of the real draws was the security. The second is the facilities, the services, and the uninterrupted power supplies, that they have redundant power on the base. The fire department and police force are integral to the Arsenal itself. So, all of those are major factors in making a decision to come out here. The major one of course is that it is a good economic model for any business that wants to do it.

"The Rock Island Arsenal Development Group is very easy for us to work with. They walk a fine line between the commercial, the political interests of the community, and of course the interests of a federal reservation in the Arsenal. And, they maintain a real nice balance there. As a commercial firm, I can tell you it's very, very easy to work for them when you might think otherwise.

"In making recommendations to come here in the Quad-Cities, and specifically to the Arsenal, I would tell them that in my experience this is probably the best-kept secret in the country, in terms of lifestyle, a good place to live, cost of living, ability to do business, a great place to work, and an outstanding workforce.

"In terms of working on the Arsenal, I can tell you that I spent half my career working on the federal side and half my career working in the commercial side of industry. In working on the Arsenal, it's got some tremendous advantages, whether a company has ever worked with or around the federal government or not, and those include the ability to have a very secure facility, the ability to have cost-effective space, access to a wonderful workforce, and an environment that's just conducive to growth. There's tons of extra space here and a class-A operation.

"I would encourage anyone, whether they have government business experience or not to get a hold of the development group and at least look into it because it not only makes professional sense, it makes dollars and cents sense to any business, to look at locating here.

"The Rock Island Arsenal, of course, is a very historic installation, all the way from the Black Hawk Wars when it started, and it was actually a Confederate prison camp during the Civil War. There's all kinds of history here and amenities. It has a world-class museum that talks to all of the Arsenal's work in terms of small arms and artillery, since the turn of the century. Beyond that, we have a gym to work out in, a lot of parks that we can take advantage of, and the haircuts are cheap."

Thoth Solutions Debbie Shivers
"Thoth Solutions is a project management software development and logistics company. We're headquartered in Dallas, Texas. We've been in business since 1996, and we've provided Fortune 500 companies with our technical services.

"When Thoth Solutions moved on the island, we were sharing an office and there was this empty space; it was an empty warehouse, and we contacted the Rock Island Arsenal Development Group and asked if we could use this space for our office. What they did was they came in and they worked with me and they turned this warehouse into a very nice office. They did this office space to my specifications, and it turned out really nice, and they were just wonderful to work with the whole way through.

"This is such a lovely location. They have a walking path. You can walk on the river at lunchtime, or whenever you need to take a break. The historical buildings - I think a business would have a great opportunity locating here. One would be the camaraderie, the partnerships that they would be able to develop with other businesses that are like theirs, the ability to have close access to major commands, and being able to get in touch with key people.

"The Rock Island Arsenal Development Group has shown a can-do, will-do customer service attitude. They're always there to help you with all your needs. They're very responsive, and all I have is kudos for that group. They are fantastic."

Hancock Management Larry Light
"Hancock Management has been here on the island about seven years. I've been with them the last three. We've grown from seven people three years ago, to we have about fifty now, here on the island, throughout the various organizations here on Arsenal Island.

"We are predominantly a government service organization where we provide people to the government to do the projects and various things that they need done, that they don't have internal government employees to do. We compete in the procurement arena for these contracts and if we win then we provide the people to the government so they can accomplish their mission.

"We are located here on Arsenal Island because we're near our customers. We're a couple minutes away from all our customers here on the island, as opposed to having an office off post would be several minutes to get here or even longer.

"Some of the benefits of being on Arsenal Island are that there are three entrances or exits from the Island: Moline, Davenport, and Rock Island, so getting on is easy. Once you get badged, and all the tenants here are badged, access is very easy. You just show them the badge and you can get on.

"Some of the on-post facilities - there are several post restaurants. There is an open-air grill during the summer months. There are places to walk for the fitness if you want to walk at noon and what not. There is a golf course; you can join the golf club if you so desire. There are a lot of benefits here. There is also daycare. If you register you can get your child into daycare when the opening comes about, so there's a lot of different amenities here for somebody working on the island.

"I would be very positive in telling people that this is a good place to locate, even if you're not doing business with the government, because here you come in and you get the security, you get housekeeping, the utilities are all paid for - a normal monthly rate. You can budget for that. You know what your expenses are going to be, and everything else then is part of that rent.

"The Rock Island Arsenal Development Group has been very easy to deal with. They have listened to us. They have taken our needs into consideration, and bent over backwards to help us out, and get us established here. We're very happy with them and that's why we're here.

"When we first moved into our room here, we did not have water in our room. We got with them, we proposed a plan. They said, "Great, we'll do it." We did some cost sharing and they brought a break room into our physical room here and we now have water for our coffee and a place for people to take a break and eat their lunches.

"If somebody were looking to put an office here, or locate on the island, I would tell them that dealing with the Rock Island Arsenal Development Group is very, very pleasant."