David J. Colella, left, senior vie president, and John Colucci, Waterbury area technician, show the corporate vehicle for Nerds To Go, a computer servicing business based in Guilford. Colella and his wife, Kristina, founded the company two years ago and are expanding into the Waterbury area.

Computer trouble? Just call a nerd

Repair service expands into Waterbury

The Waterbury Republic
2005 Republican - American

By David Krechevsky

Jason Lucy can use a computer but like many people he can't fix one.
So when his home computer developed problems connecting to the Internet last month, Lucy didn't America Online, he called AOL's technical support line, but that didn't help.
"It was just aggravating me," said Lucy, a Waterbury resident. "Everybody's outsourcing to India and you almost need an interpreter."
Then he visited his father in Milford and found a direct-mail advertisement for Nerds to Go, a Guilford-based computer repair service that makes house calls. The service hadn't yet expanded into Waterbury, but agreed to help anyway.
"They made the trip for me," Lucy said. "They came in and they did a great job for me. And it only took about two hours. I would recommend them to anybody."
As of this moth, any residential or small business computer user in the Waterbury area can contact Nerds to Go for help. The two-year-old company, founded by David and Kristina Colella of Guilford, is expanding its coverage area to include Waterbury and surrounding towns, including Middlebury, Naugatuck, Prospect, Wolcott and Watertown.
Nerds to Go charges a flat rate for house calls, ranging from $99 to $300 depending on the service required, David Colella said. Service contracts are also available -- for homeowners and small businesses -- as well as 24/7 phone technical support.

Waterbury resident John Colucci is the local "nerd" responding to calls. A former third shift computer operator for Nasdaq, Colucci was laid off Dec. 3. He found out about Nerds to Go when he "got an e-mail from a friend, one of the company associates," he said. "I decided to check out what they are about." He accepted a job one month after being laid off.
To be hired, "nerds" must have five years of technical experience and A-plus certification from the Computing Technology Industry Association. But they must also have good social skills.
"We will be going into people's homes, crossing their comfort barrier," Colella said, "We are searching for people with very strong customer service backgrounds as well as the technical specs. We want people to call us back time and time again."Colella and his wife developed the idea for Nerds to Go based on his experience working for IBM and other computer related companies that serve large corporations. They developed a business model for serving smaller clients -- individual consumers, and small businesses without information technology staff. They set up shop in Guilford, covering the Connecticut shoreline from Branford to Old Lyme, and later expanding north toward Middletown, west into New Haven County and east toward Mystic. "Nerds to Go's philosophy is that there should be a 'nerd' within five miles of every home," Colella said, quoting the company's Web site, www.nerdstogo.com.
The company hasn't gotten there yet.

It has hired subcontractors in nine other states -- including Massachusetts, Maine and Rhode Island, and as far away as Arizona and California. It has about 20 people on staff in Connecticut, and a fleet of 12 Toyota Scion XBs that Colella hopes to expand to 20 in a few months. The cars, painted bright yellow and wrapped in the company's logo, serve as a combination office, delivery van and rolling billboard.
That will be demonstrated Saturday, when a caravan of 10 cars parades around downtown Waterbury, stopping along the way to hand out business cards, caps and T-shirts. They plan to gather at the Brass Mill Center mall at 8 a.m. and go from there, Colella said.
The company chose the scion because of its distinctive look. "We were looking for a 'nerd' car, and that's the one we came up with," he said. "It also gets great gas mileage, and when you put down the back seat you can get 10 computer boxes in the back."
And like Colella, who calls it a "term of endearment," Colucci isn't offended by the term "nerd."
"I'm happy to be called a nerd," he said. "But no pocket protectors though."