Lone Eagles spread wings

PULLMAN, Wash. -- Lone Eagles are entrepreneurs, free-lance professionals and other knowledge workers (e.g., writers, analysts, brokers, lawyers) who live by their wits and remain connected to the outside world by faxes, modems, express mail and airplane tickets. They are people who can live anywhere because they can export their work from any location.

I first discovered Lone Eagles in 1991 while doing a study of the future of the Great Plains. Our first Lone Eagle was a stockbroker from New York City who had nested in the little town of Superior, Neb. (pop. 2,500). Since my first Lone Eagle column on June 16, 1992, my writing has been based on interviews of Lone Eagles I discovered or who came to me, primarily through the Internet or the U.S. mail.

Now there is a new and important study of Lone Eagles by Washington State University researchers Don Dillman, Priscilla Salant and Lisa Carley. The study is based on a scientific sample from 78,500 households whose members turned in their driver's licenses as they migrated to Washington in 1994.

Taking into account how the sample is weighted, the authors "conservatively" estimate that during the 12 months covered by the study "3% or some 2,600 qualify as Lone Eagles (and) 7% or 6,000 as telecommuters." Telecommuters are defined as people with "jobs tied to a particular location but...(who) work at home some of the time, using telecommunications to stay in touch with a central workplace."

While the percentage for Lone Eagles is small, it is still a significant number, especially since these are people who "export" their products and services to non-local markets