BELFAST BRIEFING:IF YOU had to choose between sunny San Diego in southern California and the decidedly cooler Titanic Quarter in east Belfast, which would it be? asks Francess McDonnell

For most people the choice is obvious, but then Steve Orr is definitely not most people.

Northern Ireland-born Orr is an entrepreneur with a track record. He is a co-founder of one of the 500 fastest-growing private companies in the US, but he got "bored with the perfect weather and was missing the craic" and he decided to swap the US for the North.

Orr is fast becoming the poster boy for the government-backed campaigns to woo talented ex-pats home to boost the economy. The North's executive is keen to promote the new good life which is waiting for them at home.

Eight years ago Orr and two colleagues set up Kineticom - a company that describes itself as a "global technical talent firm"- in San Diego, matching people with companies. In just five years, Orr and his co-founders developed Kineticom to a company worth a potential $50 million.

How did they do it?

"By working ourselves to death and by being in the right market- place at the right time," he says.

Last year Orr came to a crossroads in life. He was and still is very involved in Kineticom but he wanted to do something else. It was either get involved in another venture or indulge his liberal streak, so he came home.

It is a decision he admits a lot of people do not understand - swapping southern California for east Belfast does not make a lot of sense, particularly when there is no personal profit in it.

He says though: "You can get bored lying on a beach - this is very personal for me. I always thought if I had the chance I would like to try and do something for Northern Ireland, to be involved in helping it to benefit by helping to create the right environment to make things happen."

Last summer he saw an opportunity to do just that by joining the Northern Ireland Science Park (NISP) as its interim director of enterprise development. NISP, which was founded in 1999, is a £100 million project to "convert science into business".

It is located in the Titanic Quarter in east Belfast on a 24-acre site. It will eventually provide 37,161sq m (400,000sq ft) of hi-tech space for companies and create up to 3,000 jobs.

It is already home to more than 20 businesses - including Microsoft and US financial services company, Citigroup.

Orr intends to help make the NISP vision a reality by bringing the Connect programme to life in Northern Ireland.

Connect, which was originally founded at the University of California in San Diego in 1985, is a non-profit initiative that exists to help hi-tech entrepreneurs.

It helps to match entrepreneurs with the resources they need to succeed, whether by teaming them up with experts in their fields or introducing them to new sources of money, technology or support.

Orr says there is a huge number of talented would-be entrepreneurs in the North who just need a helping hand.

"These initiatives only get started if someone is prepared to jump off a cliff - I am that someone. There is no lack of entrepreneurship in Northern Ireland - the potential is huge, what is missing is the support.

"People just don't know where to go to get the help they need. Entrepreneurs are often very focused on developing something they love but they don't just know how to build a business model, and that is where Connect comes in."

He is now helping build a network of experts in the North who are happy to provide their advice and experience on a pro- bono basis to help fledgling businesses and entrepreneurs.

"I've fallen into every ditch that every new entrepreneur does, I know how difficult it is keep going sometimes but what Connect can do is match entrepreneurs with experienced entrepreneurs and professionals who can make a difference and help them.

"There is a tremendous amount of goodwill in Northern Ireland and there is no shortage of capital available if you know where to look for it," Orr says.

Orr says his move back to the North is fundamentally "all about people for me". "If we can build the right environment, create excellent support for entrepreneurs here then the rest of the world is in trouble because it is all just waiting to happen."

He has no regrets about moving back and believes there will be more ex-pats to follow.

"It's certainly not barbecue weather but there is a Mexican restaurant which has opened in Botanic Avenue in Belfast where I can sit and sip Corona, so it's not all bad. The quality of life in Northern Ireland is fantastic - I am very optimistic about the future here."