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This isn't San Francisco, but that doesn't mean there are no big technology firms in town. None of the major hardware, software or Internet companies want to miss out on selling to the Boeings, Allstates and Sears, Roebucks of the world, or to the city's small business population. We went looking for the local folks at the highest echelons of high-tech.
INTEL CORP.
Sales and technical support are handled by about 100 employees in the Schaumburg office of the 37-year-old Santa Clara, Calif.-based manufacturer of microprocessors. But the office is headed up by Hillsboro, Ore.-based Thomas Kilroy, vice-president of the sales and marketing group and copresident of Intel Americas.
Mr. Kilroy began his Intel career in the Schaumburg office 15 years ago; today he oversees all the company's sales and marketing in North and South America. He is two levels removed from Intel CEO Craig Barrett, also based in Oregon. (Mr. Barrett plans to retire in May; he'll be replaced by President and Chief Operating Officer Paul Otellini.)
The local office, opened in Oak Brook in 1975, sells Intel components to Chicago retailers, product dealers, system integrators, and other partners that ultimately sell computers directly to large and small corporate clients.
Intel, a pioneer in branding microchips with the "Intel Inside" campaign, has struggled recently to compete with other highend chip makers. Mr. Kilroy says the sales folks in...