July 31, 2009

When businesses consider locating in Delaware, they need information - lots of it - about the state and its work force. For starters, they want to know whether workers are available, how much education they have and how much they're paid.

School counselors and job seekers need information too. They want to know which industries offer the best opportunities for employment and what the prospects are for specific types of jobs.

The information that businesses, counselors and workers are looking for isn't static; figures change from month to month, and everyone wants the latest data.

Thanks to Diamond Technologies, there is a place to obtain all this information and to be sure it's up to date — the web page of the Office of Occupational and Labor Market Information (OOLMI) in the state Department of Labor.

Diamond Technologies, information technology experts serving government, the private sector and non-profits, recently completed a comprehensive upgrade of the OOLMI site making the data easier to access and understand, and giving Department of Labor staff the tools to update the web site on their own.

The technology behind the new web site automates the process for getting information out of Microsoft Office Word and Excel files and onto the web, allowing the Department of Labor to post time-sensitive job and labor data much faster than before. Diamond Technologies created standardized formats for dozens of tables, making it easy for specialists at the department to update tables online as soon as the information is available. Easy-to-read graphs, also updated automatically as soon as new values are entered, show trends at a glance. And helpful publications, like the Delaware Career Compass, widely used by counselors and job seekers, are easy to download or to read online.

"The Department of Labor told us they wanted a site that would be easy for the public to use and easy for its own staff to update. We've created a system that lets the department share more information with the public and requires less staff time to accomplish that objective," said Chuck Burns, Diamond Technologies partner and co-founder.

Diamond Technologies has developed intelligent, time-saving technology solutions for numerous clients in the private sector and in government, including Wawa convenience stores, Delaware's Department of Education and Department of Transportation, the City of Wilmington and New Castle County.

About Diamond Technologies:

Diamond Technologies, based in New Castle, Del., believes in "taking the uncertainty out of IT" by offering comprehensive Information Technology solutions to business, government and nonprofit organizations. Its clients include numerous Delaware state agencies, New Castle County government, the City of Wilmington, the National Constitution Center, Wawa convenience stores, Auto Port Inc. and Animas Corp. It has earned recognition for its rapid growth through selection to the Inc. 500 and the Philadelphia 100.