IU junior expands computer business

For junior Noam Siegel, starting his own business is not a dream for his future but one he is living right now. \nSiegel, creator of the computer repair company NE Computing Services, started repairing computers his freshman year of high school. His growing business now offers the same services to IU students.\nSiegel repairs, upgrades, restores and fixes any computer and Internet problems for students. Hence his Web site slogan, “Any computer, \nAny need!”\nSiegel, an informatics student with a minor in business, said he has always been interested in computers. \n“I grew up with a computer,” Siegel said. “As you go along, certain things click \nwith people.”\nAs an eighth grader he set up the Internet in his home and networked his house. He began helping family and friends with their computers as well. He said he learned most of what he knows now through his experiences during his freshman and sophomore years of \nhigh school.\nSiegel started the business in Chicago, where he grew up, then brought the service to IU students. Siegel, along with Elisha Karan, founded NE Computing Needs in spring 2005. Along with its location in Chicago and here at IU, Siegel has also set up a remote server management in Milwaukee, Wisc., to back up important hard drive information. \nThis year, Siegel has been directing his services toward the IU freshmen and the greek chapters on campus. His flyers, attatched to condoms, have spread to all of IU’s sororities and half the fraternities, catching the attention of students.\nHe also handed out flyers during the summer \nfreshman orientations.\nSiegel said that the orientation services vary depending on the location. Here at IU, the services help students who are having Internet or printing problems, whose computers have viruses or who are having iPod-syncing problems. In Chicago, where he works in the summer, the majority of services are for homes and home-office users who need their computer or network upgraded. \nJunior Zach Rosenblatt worked with Siegel for a few months at the beginning of the school year. He said the business is convenient for students because its technicians will go to the students’ living quarters or fix the problem over the phone.\nHe said that Siegel and his business will do well because he “works hard and \ndoesn’t hold back.” \n“He is very good at customer service,” Rosenblatt said. “He will be there when you need him to be there.”\nThe success of his business, which is licensed and registered by the state, has made Siegel excited for the future. \nHe said his goal is to expand the business so that upon graduation, it can be his regular job. \nRates for the services depend, varying on the needs of students. Because Siegel is looking to expand his business, he is also looking to hire help.\nThe company’s web site, www.necomputingneeds.com, provides information on the services that Siegel offers, or students can contact him at noam@necomputingneeds.com