HeliOS is on the Move...

It's been months in the cooker but things have solidified to the point where we can make the announcement.

The HeliOS Project will now have our own dedicated building.

We will call Taylor Texas our new home.

Taylor sits just a few short miles from Austin.  It is a small community, originally founded to supply and support The Great International Northern Railroad in the 1850's.  With a population of 15,436, many people would assume that Taylor is a "sleepy" town.

 Nothing could be more incorrect.  Taylor remains an active and important hub for the railroad and the businesses in and around Taylor are thriving.

Skip Guenter, our Director of Systems and Engineering, through a series of contacts and associates; introduced us to the City Manager and City Engineer of Taylor.  With assistance and further introductions from Marge Tripp of the Inter-agency Support Council of Eastern Williamson County, we were able to introduce the leaders of Taylor to HeliOS and what we do.

They were impressed enough to offer us an extremely generous deal on a 2200 square foot building for our use.

Of course, we have an interest in this corner of the county because of the number of kids we will be able to serve.  While we will still work within Austin to provide computers to the disadvantaged there, Eastern Williamson County will benefit from our presence.

There are many kids in that area that need our help.

We will now, literally, be in a better position to help them.

But, in kind, we will need a bit of help ourselves.  This area has been hit harder than most by the recession.  Our numbers of qualified recipients here will more than double.

While Taylor will be donating us the use of this building for three years, it is going to take some assistance to make it work.  There will be a fairly large amount of interior construction and electrical work to be done.  We have the workers but we will need some help with building materials, electrical components and costs associated with the move itself.

This will cost us several hundred dollars to complete so if you can see your way clear to give us a hand, I would sincerely appreciate it.  Your donations are, as always, tax deductible and you can make donations to our construction and moving fund here.  Or you can click the HeliOS logo at the top left of the page.

If you prefer to use your paypal account, contact me, helios at fixedbylinux dott komm and we can make the arrangements.

Since we are still working out some minor details and the necessary insurance coverage, we do not have a solid move date, but we've been told that it will be within the next couple of weeks.  We have a substantial amount of inventory to move from Lakeway and Hutto to the new facility so if you want to participate in the move itself, let me know.  We will have at least one large truck but can always use pickups and vans to assist.

We will also have a grand opening when this is completed, so if you are local, you will be more than welcome to attend.  I will send out the invites myself.  Just let me know that you are interested.

This is a huge step in the evolution of The HeliOS Project.  We will be able to impact entire neighborhoods and area's, not households in one's and two's.  We will finally have some autonomy and freedom in our operation, and as always, it will be the Free Software and Linux Communities that makes it happen.

You always do.

All-Righty Then