>>If your answer is "building more roads," you would be incorrect.

Several metro areas around the country have turned to technology that ranges from smart traffic signals to eyes in the sky.

"The first thing people think of is 'we need more roads or have to widen what we have,'" says David Schrank, a researcher with the Texas Transportation Institute at Texas A&M University. "We do, but that takes so long to plan and design."

Cities such as Seattle, Minneapolis, Chicago and even some parts of Florida's east coast have installed metered signals at freeway entrance ramps that allow vehicles on at timed intervals, thus merging traffic in a controlled manner. They work, Schrank says.

Some places in other parts of the country are also outfitting intersections on major thoroughfares with signals that "talk" to each other. The idea is they monitor flow and adjust to changes in traffic, thus moving cars more fluidly.

Cameras mounted on freeway bridges and road signs are also becoming popular. "There is 24-hour surveillance, so if there's an incident, the necessary emergency equipment can be deployed rapidly," explains Schrank. The response also could include dispatching tow trucks quickly and providing drivers with information about alternative routes. And metro areas using receivers mounted on signs and bridges could analyze and report traffic flow via the same transponder commonly used at tolls.

We could see both of those innovations here shortly. Florida plans to build a $35 million incident system that includes cameras on I-75 that feed into a building staffed by public safety personnel, and Lee County is in the planning stages of developing the receivers that use the toll transponders.

It might be longer before we see another traffic fix: satellites that detect traffic movement and accidents by taking readings through OnStar-like equipment. Still, "we're being very aggressive with our technology," says Johnny Limbaugh, Southwest area manager for the Florida Department of Transportation.

-Phil Borchmann

>>Arthur Allen has a wonderful view of Naples, literally and figuratively. His fourth-floor corner office offers a scenic vista of the Naples Bay landscape-and he has plenty of great things to say about the community in which ASG, his enterprise software company, is headquartered.

After coming out of retirement in 1986, Allen launched his business, growing it to a $200-million global enterprise. Nowadays, the Ohio native and technology guru spends 250 nights away from home on business, traveling to destinations such as Asia, South America, Europe and throughout the United States. For Allen, extensive travel does not create any downtime; he's shuttled around in the company's Gulfstream G-55, a comfortable craft that flies 15 plus a crew. It is his mobile boardroom in which he's enjoyed the company of many important CEOs and dignitaries, including former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev. Allen, a serious tennis player and community power broker, is a global thinker whose heart remains in Naples.

1. What are your growth plans for the coming year?

We are finishing our third building [in Naples], so I've built the infrastructure for additional growth. Over the next 12 months, we're going to hire locally about another 100 people to put into the building, primarily in telesales for North America. We will be announcing, if all goes well, an acquisition in California. That will give us another five to 10 offices around the world and another 150 employees. So we're continuing to grow both internally and organically, and we'll continue to grow through acquisitions. We're still on target to become a $1 billion revenue company by the year 2010.

2. How would you describe the climate for technology businesses in Southwest Florida?

Collier County is a great place for technology companies, but it wasn't that way when I started ASG 20 years ago. Literally, you'd be on the telephone and phone lines would drop or the power would go down. We now have great technology infrastructure. I'm a member of the Regional Business Alliance, and we're in the process of trying to bring more and more tech companies to Naples.

Office space is a challenge for larger companies. There's a lot of office space in Naples, but not in contiguous, large square footages, and the Regional Business Alliance is going to address that by starting some office parks or something.

3. What sort of gizmos do you have on your jet?

We literally have the plane equipped to conduct business on the ground, in the air, at trade shows. We really get a lot out of it. We have DirecTV, Internet access and presentation equipment. We can give a demonstration of our technology either over the Internet or on the aircraft. We have virtually everything you could have in a conference room or office building. I've closed million-dollar deals on the aircraft while we were in flight.

4. For companies considering doing business overseas, what advice would you have?

Stay very flexible and don't look for immediate success. It's an investment. For example, in Brazil, which is an emerging economy, we have gone to this one trade show for the past four or five years, and now every company in Brazil knows ASG. So it took us that much time to get recognized, and it's the same throughout Asia. It takes time to get in.

5. How do you answer critics who say foreign trade takes away U.S. jobs?

Being a global-thinking person, I come at it from a slightly different perspective. If you look back at the development of the United States, where it really started in the Northeast, all of the industry built up [there]. Over time industry moved to different parts of the United States, where companies could produce products at a lesser cost. That's exactly what's happening now with exporting from the United States. Companies get squeezed and the cost is so high that you have to start looking at alternatives to get those costs down, and one of those alternatives is to go to a low-cost provider [in a foreign country].

-Interview by Phil Borchmann

book of the month

Diversity, from

Promise to Practice

>>The year was 1963, and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. told the world of his dream. Forty-three years later, organizations are still struggling with the difference between knowing and doing.

If policies are neatly in place, numbers achieved, and "isms" under control, diversity is being managed, many argue.

"Not true," insists R. Roosevelt Thomas Jr., a Wall Street Journal-acclaimed, world-renowned expert on diversity management.

In his must-read book, Building on the Promise of Diversity, the author details the craft of diversity management.

This action-oriented book raises the bar. Instead of rehashing diversity per se, the author teaches us how to manage "differences and similarities through a formalized process of diversity management." He explains this process as a craft, which he has titled (and trademarked) Strategic Diversity Management Process (SDMP). It is both an art and a skill.

We begin by learning the art of "how the craft works and stakes that make change worthwhile." In Part Two of the book, we are offered context for organizational, personal and community progress with diversity. The remainder of the book focuses on the skill.

We are presented with specific, step-by-step instructions that help us gain proficiency with SDMP and reflect upon why we might be personally "diversity challenged."

The book is a wake-up call that rings true. As leaders of organizations and communities, we finally have a tool that moves us beyond finger-pointing and pontification to building healthy organizations and prosperous communities.

Using SDMP goes beyond nicety. It is a critical necessity-a necessity that can help us use diversity management to find creative solutions for achieving our organization's mission and making its vision a reality. Like Dr. King, it makes a difference in lives.

-Judith Kolva, assistant professor of interdisciplinary studies, International College

on the job

In the Driver's Seat

>>"What happens in the limo, stays in the limo," says Tony Puccia, owner of LA Limo Service in Naples. It's a motto he's been living by since he first started driving for a limousine company in upstate New York. When he relocated to Naples in 1994, Puccia foresaw a demand for a reliable limo service in the area, and in 1999 he started LA Limo Service, which at the time had only two competitors. Now, with an influx of affluent residents who want drivers to deliver them to local red-carpet events, he competes with half a dozen other local transportation companies. Over the years he's built and expanded the business with the help of his wife, Pam, who handles the administrative side.

What are your jobs like? I drive mostly to the airports. I'm getting a little too old for stag parties. There's more money to be made when you do the stag parties, but you have to baby-sit [the passengers]. They know they're going to get drunk and that they don't have to drive.

How much does it cost to rent a limo these days? [Most are] $65 to $85 an hour, with a four-hour minimum. We have three limos, one of them a Bentley, which goes from $100 to $150 an hour.

It must be a relaxing job, driving people around all day. Not really. You're driving people in the back of the car who are socializing and having a glass of wine, which can be stressful because you want them to be comfortable, and you're responsible for them in this crazy traffic out here. Those people trust you in case something goes wrong. You have to drive carefully and slower. A lot of people think they can [drive a limo], but not everyone can do it. You have to make sure you're not making sharp turns or sudden stops. You're hanging onto a steering wheel and they're hanging onto a glass of wine. So you try to make them feel like they're sitting on their couch in their living room.

What do you do in the down time, when you're waiting? Some [drivers] read books or watch a movie in the back. Some might clean the car or go grab coffee. It depends on the time of day.

Are limos as private as they seem? People think it's a moving hotel, they think the driver can't hear them or see them. Some crazy X-rated stuff goes on in the back of limos, because people think it's private, but they don't realize that when you have the lights on inside, people can see through the windows at nighttime.

-Rebecca Loveridge

getaways

Bermuda Beckons

>>Visit Britain without the jet lag. June's ideal for Bermuda, the world's oldest British-dependent territory (settled in 1612), a scant 260 miles off the U.S. coast. Gardens are abloom, the crunch crowds of July and August aren't there, legendary pink-sand beaches beckon. And it's the Queen's birthday, with appropriate celebrations.

SEE: Bermuda is thought to be the inspiration for Shakespeare's isle in The Tempest, so see it by sea. Specifically, grab the WildCat, (441) 293-7433, a high-speed catamaran that circumnavigates the country in three hours, with historic/ecological narrative and a rockin' music soundtrack. For a slower pace, call John DeShields, (441) 237-1395, to take you on a genteel horse-and-carriage tour of St. George, with its treasure-trove of historic buildings and local lore.

DINE: Meet the locals, casually, and indulge in first-rate traditional Bermudian cuisine (you'll love the chowder with sherry peppers) served at The Lobster Pot in Hamilton, www.bermuda.com/lobsterpot. For romance and gourmet grub, nab a terrace table overlooking gardens, turquoise waters and the sunset at the Seahorse Grill at Elbow Beach Resort, www.mandarinoriental.com.

SHOP: Get thee to the historic pastel shops lining Hamilton's Front Street. What to buy: kilts, cashmere, bone china, linen, local rum and art. Where to buy them: The Irish Linen Shop, venerable Trimingham's department store, Onion Jack's for edgy souvenirs and great homemade condiments, and The Island Shop for unique pottery, art and linens.

STAY: Snuggle happily in one of the island's cozy, luxurious cottage colonies. Two favorites, both with private South Shore beaches, great restaurants and a romantic, exclusive ambiance are Ariel Sands, www.arielsands.com, co-owned by actor Michael Douglas, and The Reefs, www.thereefs.com. Do dress for dinner at either.

INSIDER TIP: Forgo renting motorbikes and worrying about driving on the "wrong" side of the road. Take taxis, enjoy the view, wine with dinner . and late-night dancing at The Deep, the hot new ocean-side club at Elbow Beach Resort. Remember: any Bermuda visit must include an inaugural Dark 'n' Stormy-ginger beer and rum, the national drink-at the Swizzle Inn, (441) 293-1854, en route from the airport. This should also be the last stop before you leave.

-Mary Alice Kellogg

making waves

Shaping the Future

>>Penny Bladich describes her personal credo this way: "Always try to maintain balance in your life; focus on what's important." Bladich, 31, talks about it in the context of work and family, but she's also helping to maintain balance in a larger perspective as co-chair of the Southwest Florida Urban Land Institute (ULI) Young Leaders Group.

The ULI brings together private industry, environmental organizations and public agencies to provide solutions to land issues in our area. Bladich is in charge of recruiting real estate professionals under age 35 into the group.

"We want the leaders of tomorrow to interact with the leaders of today in order to learn about land-use issues. The goal is to enhance the total environment," she says.

"With our growth, it's important to have an organization that helps balance the environment and development."

As an assistant vice president for the commercial real estate group at TIB Bank, Bladich has become active in the Greater Naples Chamber of Commerce and the Economic Development Council of Collier County, and it was through contacts at the bank that she became involved with ULI. But her interest in the region's future is not just professional.

"I consider this my home and that's another reason ULI is important to me-to see the area that I love and that my child's going to grow up in develop, and the different aspects that are going to affect it."

-Lauren Bernaldo

my first job

Bob Ball

Lee County Port Authority director

>>"My first long-term job was at a family campground called Arrowhead in Delevan, N.Y. I started working there at 15 and continued each summer through high school. I did everything there; I was a lifeguard, I shoveled gravel, filled holes in the road and fixed bridges. I collected garbage and took it to the dump. I was paid room, board and food and got an occasional couple of bucks to go to the movies

"The owner, Merrill Bull, was a tremendous influence on me. One day he got tired of the professional world and just quit. He bought 200 acres of land and developed it into a campground. Merrill was a comedian; he ran his own camp show, he played the trumpet. He really taught me that you can do and be whatever you want to do and be.

"He helped me develop a great work ethic. You're not going to get anything unless you work; and if you work hard, you're going to get whatever you want.

"Merrill, along with my father, kept me focused on the thought that I could be whatever I wanted. That allowed me to avoid a lot of peer pressure from people around me."

-As told to Lauren Bernaldo

June 2: Cape Coral Council for Progress breakfast meeting, 7:30 a.m., Gulf Coast Village, 1333 Santa Barbara Blvd. Members, free; non-members, $15. 282-2186.

June 3: Pan-American Business Expo and Job Fair, 9:30 a.m.-3 p.m., Harborside Event Center, Fort Myers.

June 3: Naples SCORE workshop, "Harnessing the Power of the Internet to Help Your Business," 9:30 a.m., Collier County Public Library, free. www.scorenaples.org or

430-0081 to register.

June 4: Taste of the Beach. 11 a.m.-5 p.m., Old San Carlos Boulevard, Fort Myers Beach.

June 7: Florida Gulf Chambers of Commerce Annual Luncheon, speaker Susan Pareigis, Agency for Workforce Innovation director. 11:30 a.m., Tentatorium, Punta Gorda, $20. 627-2222 to register.

June 8: Business 2 Business Expo, 3-7 p.m., Three Oaks Conference Center, Estero. Bonita Springs Area Chamber of Commerce. $10 in advance, $15 at the door.

June 8: Fort Myers Beach membership luncheon, Pink Shell Resort, 684 Estero Blvd. $12 with reservation; $15 at the door. 454-7500.

June 12: "How to Successfully Build-out Your Office Space," 9:30-11:30 a.m., Naples Area Chamber of Commerce, 2390 Tamiami Trail N., Naples. $20. FGCU Small Business Development Center, 225-4220, or e-mail avholmes@fgcu.edu.

June 15: Business After Hours, South Beach Grill, 7205 Estero Blvd., Fort Myers Beach. Free. 454-7500.

June 17: Naples SCORE workshop, "Advertising and Media Opportunities," 5-8 p.m., Collier County Public Library. www.scorenaples.org or 430-0081 to register.

June 17: Mick Bernard Legacy of Faith Golf Tournament, Heritage Palms Golf and Country Club, Fort Myers, to benefit the children of the late Lee County Port Authority police sergeant. 8 a.m. $75/person or $300/foursome.

560-2247; www.mickbernard.com.

June 22-24: Public Relations Society of America Florida Sunshine District Conference, "Studio PR," The Ritz-Carlton Golf Resort, Naples. www.prsagulfcoast.org.

To submit events, email information to philb@gulfshorebusiness.com,

fax to 594-9987 or mail to 9051 Tamiami Trail N., Suite 202, Naples, FL 34108 at least eight weeks in advance.