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PAGE 10 â€" WATERLOO CHRONICLE. WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 2, 1987 Watcom President lan McPhee says the software company has grown into the second largest in Canada and achieved a global reputation by delivering the very best products and investing in research and development. lan Kirkby Chronicle Staft The Waterloo Chamber of Commerce has re sponded to the Starr Group report of community improvement policies, and are generally happy with ‘‘There‘s an emphasis on redevelopment of the Uptown area. which from the Chamber‘s perspecâ€" tive will be good because :t will provide economic opportunities and job opportunities." said Jim Harper. Chamber president. The Chamber response has been submitted to city hall ""The focus that we took is. ‘what would be good for our businesses""," said Harper Among the Starr recommendations endorsed by the Chamber are plans to increase parking faciliâ€" ties. develop the Regina St. area. improve the Waterloo Park area, and improve public transit to the Uptown "‘The lack of parking in Uptown Waterloo drives people out." said Harper. "For those businesses located in that area it is not good. It‘s become a very serious problem. Leze/~~ RENTâ€"Aâ€"CAR MERE" _ Weekend Special _ 4ADAYS :90 Redevelopment is welcomed in Chamber report response Thursday until Monday or Friday until Tuesday ""Waterioo is not such a large community that you want to discourage the citizens from gathering in the downtown." The Chamber is concerned about the cost of some of the recommendations due to a lack of cost projections. _ However, said Harper. ‘"We support the city in this project." Harper said the Chamber‘s message to city hall was intended to say. We applaud you for not trying to provide the Cadillac services. There‘s a fiscal responsibility you have to take while doing this. The philosophy is we should be fiscally responsible and prudent. If that is the philosophy (of city hall), we would support it The provision of increased fire protection as needed is another priority for the Chamber. Develâ€" opment of the Silver Lake area, and improved ease of access to the downtown area are other issues the Chamber supports. ‘"We want to make sure that when we promote the city in a tourism capacity, that there‘s something for them to come to and ease of access and moving around," said Harper LARGE INDOOR SHOWROOMS SUPERIOR MEMORIALS 528 Victoria St. N.. Kitchener (Besige Wesion Rakeries) 7456136 For Preâ€"Winter GREAT GIFTS! Over 40 shops A short drive north of Waterloo SHOULD Sf ORBEREO wOW %fith@ Sundays 12:30â€"5:00 Installation ian Kirkby photo Another key to the company‘s success, says McPhee is Watcom‘s "focus on particular niches and their special requirements. Within that framework, we‘re committed to delivering the very best products We make an effort to understand the needs of our customers." ‘"‘That‘s how we manage to continue making leadingâ€"edge products and continue growing," said McPhee. â€" The niches McPhee speaks of include educational software, a field in which Watcom is known worldâ€"wide. *"About 75 per cent of our customers are in education," said Douglas Buchanan, the executive vice president of marketing. "Virtually every university and college in the world which teaches computing as part of their regular curriculum is a customer of ours." One recent Watcom innovation with strong applications in education is the ‘"Waterloo MacJANET â€" a network of classroom personal computers linked together. and connected to the instructor‘s computer. Buchanan says that the strong reputation of the company in educational software is because "we address the needs of students as they learn computing." _ Another niche which Watcom has chosen is the field of administraâ€" tive software. or "data management". Their premium product here is Watfile. a product aimed at whiteâ€"collar workers within educational. business and government administrations. ‘"Watfile has incredible flexibility," said Buchanan. "The city of Calgary uses it in 28 different departments in everyvthing from data entry to data analysis and reporting. Watfile is very simple to learn and to use. It is a very intuitive product and people get ‘up to speed‘ very quickly. I learned Watfile in half an hour." Watcom is establishing a presence in Asia, partly through a "special relationship‘ with IBM, says Buchanan. The "Model Classroom Project" was a jointâ€"venture in which the compamies set up 13 computerized classrooms in 7 developing countries. Watcom is waitihg to see if the Ontario government is equally committed to computerizing classrooms. Such a proposal is currently being studied. and Watcom hopes to benefit. ‘"Third world countries don‘t want to go through the stages of development we did. such as the industrial revolution." said McPhee. ‘"‘They want to go directly into the 21st century. So they make an investment in computer education." AMlarien 4 Mlaunizn are pleased to announce that WILLIAM S. DAKHMS, B.E.S., LL.B. is now associated with the firm in the practice of law 277 King Street West, P.O. Box 9006 Kitchener, Ontario N2G 4J9 Telephone (§19) 743â€"0256 Telecopier (§19) 743â€"2540 Parristers 4 Selicélors The partners of