By Paul Dellinger/The Roanoke Times

CHRISTIANSBURG - The new president of CCS-Inc. predicts growth for the Christiansburg-based computer networking specialist in an economy that he says is turning around.

Marty Muscatello, formerly general manager of a Rohm and Haas division and, before that, chief operating officer for Haleos Inc., said CCS will focus on developing business relationships with technological companies worldwide.

CCS logged $18 million in sales last year, and Muscatello anticipates increases this year as companies begin making purchases they had been delaying. "In our field, the technology field, there's such a diverse number of opportunities," he said.

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Muscatello...said he began talking with Ted Fleshman, chief executive officer of CCS, about joining that company several months ago. He wanted a job that kept him in the New River Valley, an area he came to like since attending Virginia Tech, he said.

"Marty's experience and knowledge of the manufacturing industry will open new doors for CCS," Fleshman said. "We are very excited to have him on board."

Fleshman and his wife, Priscilla, started what was then known as…”Computer Data Stations”…in 1981 in…downtown Christiansburg. Now it occupies a 16,000-square-foot building in the Christiansburg Industrial Park.

CCS has three divisions: industrial, technology and software. Its products and services include industrial computers, document management software and wireless networking solutions. It has 63 employees and customers ranging from General Electric to the town of Blacksburg.

The technology sector suffered along with other businesses last year, but Muscatello believes things are changing for CCS and other technology companies. Even in a lukewarm year, CCS increased profits as it streamlined its operations last year.

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Muscatello sees positive signs in the economy and stock market. He figures companies that have put off buying capital equipment will now start releasing some capital funding for delayed purchases.

He said industrial customers have accounted for about 80 percent of CCS' business over the past two and a half years. With capital spending on the rebound, he said he expects more purchases of CCS products in 2004. He also predicted CCS' software division would prove to be strongest in growth in 2004.

CCS has sought partnerships with other companies. It joined Tele-Works Inc. last September to launch the BlacksburgAlert project, which provides residents with instant emergency and general information by television, telephone, cellphone, pager, PDA and Internet. CCS provided the computer hardware and Tele-Works the software.

This year, the two companies will work together to promote the similar FirstResponder system to communities nationally.

CCS is moving from local and regional customers to national ones, he said. It is working with Dell Computers to develop customized computers, and working on measures to protect computers working in harsh environments, from military uses to factory floors, he said.

The company is launching an updated version of its QualTrax system, a Web-based tool that merges functions involving work flow, employee training and other capabilities customized for each company. CCS…has…salespeople in Chicago, Dallas and Knoxville to take QualTrax nationwide.

"This version of QualTrax will include an all new look and feel and enhanced functionality, making it very attractive to all regulated industries, such as food, medical devices and pharmaceuticals," said Muscatello.

QualTrax accounts for a small part of CCS' revenue today, he said, but has the potential to become the company's top growth segment. "It's sold all over the world. We have an English version and we have a Spanish version."

CCS bought F-One Consulting Inc., a small Christiansburg company, last year and brought its wireless engineers into the CCS technology division.

"It fits very well into our technology because wireless technology is still relatively new," Muscatello said. School systems are good candidates for wireless technology, because they have different buildings that need to be included in communications systems. Radford University is one of CCS' wireless customers, he said.

"That's basically the vision, to grow what we're doing," he said.