Edgewater Focused on the Internet

Wednesday, December 27th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

Edgewater Technology Inc. began as a small computer consulting company eight years ago. Now, it is the flagship operation of a publicly held company that sees so much potential in the Internet that it is selling off its other businesses.

Company officials were stunned Tuesday by the killings of seven Edgewater workers, allegedly by a fellow employee, Michael McDermott, 42.

In a statement released Tuesday night, the company said that ``his actions apparently stem from occurrences in his personal life. We deeply regret that Mr. McDermott's problems manifested in actions against the company and its employees.

``There was no way to anticipate his actions or any apparent reasons to restrict his access to the building.''

A motive for the shooting in Wakefield, Mass., was not immediately known. John Cooley, Edgewater director of financial resources, said there have not been any layoffs, nor are there plans for any in the future.

Edgewater was acquired by the former Fayetteville, Ark.-based StaffMark in 1999. Since then, Edgewater's consulting business has grown to be the top business for StaffMark.

StaffMark adopted Edgewater's name, sold off its temporary staffing company in Britain and is unloading its staffing agencies for law firms, medical clinics and the technology industry to concentrate on the Internet.

The company helps its customers, mostly other companies, use the Internet to expand their business.

Edgewater has about 250 workers at its Wakefield office, and the rest of the company is moving there from Fayetteville.

During its last fiscal year, the company reported income of $30.2 million on revenue of $1.2 billion.

Edgewater's stock had fallen from a high of $7.25 per share in July to $4.56 at the end of October â€” a drop of 37 percent â€” but has been on an upward trend since then. It fell more than 5 percent in after-hours trading Tuesday after finishing regular trading at $6.38, down 9.4 cents.