Local officials say it's a pillar of the shoreline community's tourist industry, drawing customers to restaurants, motels and gift shops.

NPR: Deal Requires Ferry To Stop Ash Dumping In 2 Years

With Ellison behind him Workman has picked quite the fight, taking on the computer storage industry with one little company, Pillar Data Systems .

FORBES: Giving Away The Storage

But the appointment as minister of the economy and industry of Mr Bemba, a rich businessman and pillar of the Mobutu era, shows what a turntable the region has become.

ECONOMIST: Congo

Like Blue Pillar, PowerSecure, a Wake Forest, NC-based veteran of the energy services industry, is also jockeying for position in the networked energy space.

FORBES: Digital Energy Networks: Pushing Power To The Edge