Trust fuels our creativity and propels our dreams. Without trust, we have only fear. At tekMountain, trust is easily defined: it’s being capable of what is needed, and doing it.
 
It’s a simple formula. I trust my son’s doctor, because he is capable of repairing my son’s broken leg and that’s exactly what he did. That’s trust.
 
We trust people who are competent and consistent. Trust is a baker’s yeast. It’s the oxygen that allows people to collaborate, and create more together than we are capable of alone.
 
Over the last few years, Wilmington has built a tremendous amount of trust in the technology community. The spark created here has caught – and the fire is heating up.
 
Starting a fire is hard – keeping it burning is much harder. So now we must pivot from fire builder to fire keeper. And, that is going to require a lot of trust. A collective trust that is not about individual corporate goals, but is rooted in a collective goal and vision.
 
There is a limited supply of technology companies willing to relocate to a new city and tremendous competition for their attention. Almost every city in the country is trying to attract a technology base to their community. Why? Because technology is the “oil” of the next hundred years.
 
In a world where traditional jobs are disappearing, the future requires that we commit to adapting to our economy. The work we are doing at tekMountain isn’t for us; it’s for our sons and daughters. This is an ultra-marathon that we get to start, but our children will be forced to finish. What position are we going to leave them in? That’s what is at stake, and that’s why winning this race is essential.
 
But make no mistake; it’s going to require immense creativity, courage and trust. And that’s exactly what we’ve been building – a substantial track record of doing what we said we were going to do. In the last four years, Castle Branch has invested over $4 million in tekMountain. It’s precisely what we said we would do. And the results have exceeded our expectations in every way. Today, we house over 200 entrepreneurial and technology co-workers representing companies such as SAS, IBM and Cisco. From two-person startups to companies that are rapidly scaling, 50-plus companies call tekMountain home. These companies are emerging leaders in gaming, pet products, real-estate, big data, marketing, healthcare, education, identity and finance.
 
So, trust us when we say that the best is yet to come. Trust us when we say we are firmly committed to Wilmington as one of the nation’s premier tech centers. And, that this is only the beginning.
 
Who’s coming with us?
 
Brett Martin is founder and CEO of Castle Branch and tekMountain.