Tampa : Innovation + Job News

With a focus on serving families with disabled members, Positive Behavior Supports Corporation (PBS) is building a network of professionals who can provide quality services in Tampa Bay.

The company strives to ensure stringent internal quality standards in order to impact the families and improve their quality of life, says Clinical Director Jennifer Agganis. The company is currently contracting with board certified behavior analysts, board certified assistant behavior analysts and behavior assistants, thereby offering an alternative for unemployed professionals having a specialized expertise. It also opens doors for teachers, psychologists, doctors and other certified professionals to pursue part-time and fulltime work opportunities.

Many of PBS Corp.'s clients are individuals or families with children who suffer from mental illness and other disabilities that may present behavior and basic skill challenges that limit functional abilities. The firm has a growing demand to support Autism Spectrum Disorder, which includes Asperger's Syndrome, PDD-NOS and Autistic Disorder. Particularly for individuals diagnosed with these disorders or related disabilities, it is important to have behavioral services provided to them in "their naturally occurring environment; it's where their world occurs,'' says Agganis.

In just over three years, the company's overall client base grew from 100 to 600. "It's a constant ebb and flow based upon what each of our clients need,'' says Agganis. One family with a child having specific behavioral needs may require between 8 and 40 dedicated hours, so PBS is "constantly looking for analysts and behavior assistants.''

Additionally, professionals will be offered on-going online training on different behavioral aspects as well as mentorship hours toward ensuring final certification for those that require it.

The firm is expanding its core Tampa Bay services to incorporate speech and language pathologists and licensed mental health counselors. Interested candidates can apply online. For more program information, contact the West Coast Regional Coordinator Milissa Yeagley at 855.832.6727, ext. 1013.

Writer: Kaye Brown
Source: Jennifer Agganis, PBS Corp.

Trash2Cash-Energy, a newly created company in the Tampa Bay Technology Incubator at USF Connect, created a process that converts landfill gases into fuel.

When trash in a landfill is biodegraded, methane gas is produced. The EPA requires landfills to burn this gas on site or convert it into carbon dioxide. There are currently more than 3,000 active landfills in the United States -- 60 in Florida alone -- many of which do not fully utilize the energy produced by the gas.

A team consisting of two faculty members and three graduate students at the University of South Florida saw an opportunity and developed technology that converts this gas into fuel. The revolutionary, patented new process not only provides a renewable source of energy but greatly reduces the amount of emissions produced by the landfills. 

The team is currently developing the process further to see if it can be made commercial. If the technology takes off, the implications for environmental impact are tremendous. The team estimates that the average landfill will produce approximately 7,140 gallons of fuel each day, creating enough diesel to fuel 25 garbage trucks for a week.

The company received $100,000 in initial funding from the Department of Energy as the first place winner of the 2012 MegaWatt Ventures Competition, an annual clean energy business plan competition, and is seeking additional funding from the Small Business Administration.

The next step is to build a pilot plant in the Tampa Bay area that will test the process to see if it's financially feasible for commercial use.

"If we are successful, it will have tremendous impact not just within the community here, but for all of Florida and beyond,'' says Babu Joseph, VP of research for Trash2Cash-Energy and professor at the University of South Florida. "We think we can offer a very lucrative solution that will solve a significant environmental problem and reduce our dependence on imported oil.''

Writer: Megan Hendricks
Source: Babu Joseph, Trash2Cash-Energy

In a continuing effort to develop local artists and integrate arts into the community, the Arts Council of Hillsborough County is offering seven grants of up to $2,000 each to individual artists.

"The arts are what give us a quality of life,'' says Teri Simons, director of program services for the Arts Council of Hillsborough County. "They bring us together as individuals. Creativity of a community is a pretty good measure of the quality of the community.''

Since 1989, the Council has awarded $600,000 in grants to individual artists through this program. Last year's winners included Erin Cardinal Wright, who choreographed and directed a dance film called "The Enormity of Two,'' which explores the common threads that bring two people together.  

"The goal is to enable the artists to pursue a project that will help them take their career to the next level,'' says Simons. "That might be through education, a specific medium or technique, or maybe equipment.''

The council is also looking for ways people can bring the arts back into the local community to benefit the citizens. For example, last year's grant winner Crystal Haralambou used the funding for education and support of Shakespeare Behind Bars, a nonprofit program that uses theater to help juvenile justice offenders develop life skills and successfully reintegrate back into society.

Funds for this year's grants are provided by the Hillsborough County Board of County Commissioners and the Council's FIVE by FIVE art event.

The Council also funds a grant program for arts groups and cultural organizations, which typically opens in August.

Requirements and an application for the individual artist grants can be found on the Arts Council website. The deadline to submit an application is Friday, January 18, 2013.

Writer: Megan Hendricks
Source: Teri Simons, Hillsborough Arts Council

Artists in Tampa Bay will soon have an additional platform to make their work more accessible to the public. Daniel Markovich, the most recent winner of Awesome Tampa Bay's microgrants program, is transforming dated novelty sticker vending machines into portable dispensers that will include things like prints, sticker art and photography created by local artists.

"Art plays a huge role in the culture of a city,'' says Markovich, owner and designer for Etchd Unlimited. "With so many talented people very often overlooked, I sought out to find a way to help distribute their work that is fun, affordable and engaging.''
 
The inspiration for the project came from Markovich's own experiences at art shows, where he always wanted to take something home with him but found the price tags on most pieces to be out of his range. The vending machines will provide a way for those on a limited budget to access local artwork.
 
Awesome Tampa Bay is an independent, self-funded community of philanthropists that aims to further Tampa Bay's awesomeness through the quarterly distribution of $1,000 microgrants. The grants are provided with no strings attached and no claims of ownership over the projects, giving the recipients more control and free range than with traditional grant programs.

"We select projects based on multiple criteria but specifically those that can have a big impact with a micro grant; Daniel's project does just that,'' says Razi Amador, dean of awesomeness for Awesome Tampa Bay. "It gives local artists visibility and local venues a chance to participate in the arts movement in a unique way, and we think that is awesome.''

The application deadline for the next Awesome Tampa Bay grant is February 1.

Writer: Megan Hendricks
Source: Razi Amador, Awesome Tampa Bay

Kavaliro Staffing Services, headquartered in Central Florida, is expanding into the Tampa market, creating more than 60 local jobs.
 
"Kavaliro is very excited about officially moving into the Tampa market,’' says Mark Moore, president of Kavaliro Staffing. "We have a substantial reach already into the Tampa/St Pete area, with more than 1 million dollars in revenue being generated in that market this year.  To expand our opportunities and better service our customers, this move is crucial to our growth and success.''
 
While the company will maintain its headquarters in Orlando, Moore says there is a great deal of growth planned for the Tampa office.
 
"Our intention is to see the same level of growth we have seen overall as a company in the last two years,'' he says. "We are expecting triple-digit growth for sure with a minimum expectation of 60 to 80 new jobs created.''
 
The positions that Moore plans to create with his company’s expansion will be primarily in the IT, administrative and accounting fields. He says there will also be some sales and human resources positions.
 
"These new positions will be created and spread out throughout 2013.''
 
Kavaliro’s local office is located at 1228 East 7^th Ave. in Tampa.
 
Writer: Kimberly Patterson
Source: Mark Moore, Kavaliro Staffing Services

Tampa Bay businesses now have a way to make sense of the often ambiguous analytical data available about their website and other digital media platforms. A franchise of E-Nor, a web analytics company originating in Silicon Valley, recently opened in Temple Terrace.

The company's name is derived from Noor, the traditional Mediterranean word for light. As a certified Google partner, the company's expertise is in bringing to light meaningful digital analytics that will help businesses better understand their market. Many companies already access data for free through Google analytics, but they might not realize the full potential of how valuable the data can be to their growth.

"The digital economy is really growing rapidly, and big data is a major part of its progress,'' says Bilal Saleh, principal partner for E-Nor and owner of the Tampa franchise. "With all that's going on online and with social media, companies have tons of data they don't have real access to or insight about.''

Saleh has worked in the telecommunications industry for the past 20 years at companies such as Motorola and MCI Communications. He and E-Nor's founder, Feras Alhlou, started their careers together at Precision Systems Inc (Psi) in St. Petersburg in 1990. Alhlou, an MBA graduate from the University of South Florida, moved to California. PSi was acquired by a California-based company.

The technical work is currently being done by E-Nor's parent office in California, but as the local office grows, the plan is to become a fully functioning operation, covering the southeastern U.S.
 
"The Tampa Bay area is really growing in the IT sector,'' says Saleh.

"There's a lot of emphasis on growing the IT talent in the area. We're very upbeat about the future of these services in the Tampa Bay area.''
 
E-Nor is hosting a two-day, hands-on training workshop focused on Google analytics January 22 – 23, 2013, in Tampa. The agenda includes in-depth information about market segmentation, data tracking and generating reports. For more information, visit E-Nor's website. 

Writer: Megan Hendricks
Source: Bilal Saleh, E-Nor

Have you ever tried to find something to do on a Friday or Saturday night, only to drive around from venue to venue and not find what you're looking for? Do you want to listen to live music, but not know where to find it? Or, maybe you want to know what's happening at the beach before you arrive.
 
St. Petersburg-based Eyecrawler is here to help. Download the free app on your Smartphone for access to a network of people currently at each venue. Content is created in the form of a "blink'' with the option for a photo and/or comment. Users see and interact with a live blink stream from locations in close proximity to their device, filtered by categories such as live music, sports or karaoke.

"We're creating a perspective so you can find out what's going on everywhere before you arrive,'' says Shaun Rubrecht, founder of Eyecrawler.  "It gives you a better idea of where to go and what to do.''

Unlike other social networks, you don't have to be directly connected to someone or "follow'' them in order to see what they have posted. The content is open to everyone, and users can interact with each other instantly. 

Companies can build and manage advertising campaigns directly through the app. There's also a widget that websites such as Hobnob St. Petersburg are using to post a content stream directly on their site.

The network eventually plans to add content to more categories such as family friendly (people are already adding blinks at the Saturday Morning Market in St. Petersburg) and then expand to all U.S. cities, eventually going global.

Eyecrawler's official launch will take place Thursday, December 13, at Naughty Noel, hosted by Nova 535 in St. Petersburg.

Writer: Megan Hendricks
Source: Shaun Rubrecht, Eyecrawler

EXMO, winner of Tampa's third annual Startup Weekend, represents the Tampa Bay region in the first-ever Global Startup Battle. The team is competing against 137 other regional Startup Weekend winners for a chance to travel to Rio De Janeiro for the Global Entrepreneurship Conference, as well as other prizes to help with the company’s launch. ?

EXMO is an interactive platform designed to facilitate communication between organizers, vendors, sponsors and attendees to help people EXperience MOre at conferences and other events. The app provides a localized feed that integrates with other social networks, allowing for real-time virtual interaction. Virtual conversations can occur pre-event, during and post-event, allowing for more personalized connections.

?The motivation for the concept came from co-founder Todd Goldberg, who was looking for a better way to connect with people at large events. As he prepared to attend Startup Weekend, he realized the only way to connect with other attendees was through Facebook or individual messaging. The original idea was to provide attendees with a way to communicate even if they didn’t know each other.

"During Startup Weekend, the concept evolved into a full conference solution that not only provides an amazing attendee experience, but also enables event organizers to offer more,'' says Nancy Vaughn, co-founder of EXMO and principal, pr & marketing director for White Book Agency.

The founders, all of whom reside in the Tampa Bay area, worked together for the first time at Startup Weekend Tampa. Their identification and understanding of the target customer ultimately led to their selection as the winner. 

The next step is additional feature enhancement and a beta release using Tampa Bay technology events, expected in late January. 

"The Tampa Bay area has a growing and diverse tech community, with many events bringing people together from all aspects of the industry,'' says Karl White, co-founder of EXMO and Founder of Charisma Studios. "We would love to be able to lead the way with a global flagship product, promoting both Tampa Bay’s technology events and its highly skilled community.''

Writer: Megan Hendricks
Source: Todd Goldberg, EXMO; Nancy Vaughn, White Book Agency; Karl White, Charisma Studios

Visual Alliance Media, Moonstruck Marketing Group and Good Dog/Bad Dog Creative Design will be merging to create Exakt Marketing, a full service marketing agency in Tampa. As part of the merger, the newly created company plans to create seven jobs.
 
"There are two overarching reasons to why we decided to merge,'' says Kerek Lee, CEO and partner of Exakt Marketing. "The first stemmed from the realization that we couldn't be experts in every aspect of marketing whether we wanted to or not. Also, coming together allowed us to bring together three organizations that were experts in their own respective areas of marketing. We can’t begin to stresss enough the importance of cohesive marketing strategy as it relates to a brand and an organization’s success.''
 
Visual Alliance Media specialized in social media marketing, while Moonstruck Marketing and Good Dog/Bad Dog specialized in creative design. Lee says that the merger will allow Exakt the ability to offer clients a full range of services including branding, graphic design, website development, search engine optimization and social media marketing.
 
In order to give clients the array of services Exakt plans to offer, Lee says the new company will need to expand right away.
 
"We are anticipating bringing on two sales positions prior to the end of this year,'' Lee says. "We’re also expecting to add two to three additional positions in the realm of social media management, web development and design. The remaining positions will be filled over an approximate 18 month period.''
 
Exakt Marketing plans to serve several different market sectors; with an emphasis on hospitality, health/wellness and conference planning.
 
Writer: Kimberly Patterson
Source: Derek Lee, Exakt Mareting

In a typical day’s work, software developers focus on specific tasks and end results, but may not have a chance to explore alternative approaches to the craft of coding.

Enter Global Day of Coderetreat. The day-long worldwide practice event on December 8, 2012, gives coders a chance to practice different approaches, styles and philosophies in a focused and intense environment.

The organizers aim to engage 3,000 developers in 200 cities around the world, asking them to solve the same problem, but in their own unique way.

Now in its second year, the Tampa area event is hosted by 8th Light, Inc. on North Dale Mabry Highway. Coders break into pairs and participate in six to eight sessions throughout the day, each with different challenges and learning opportunities. The challenges are designed so that the teams won’t finish them during each session, purposely encouraging questions and issues. At the end of each session, the group reconvenes for a retrospective -- discussing what they liked, didn’t like, achievements and frustrations.

“It’s more about the practice,” says Gavin Stark, VP of product development for Real Digital Media and co-founder of Tampa Coderetreat. “We’re getting people away to improve their development skills.”

The event attracts a wide range of participants, from experienced developers to those just starting their software careers. Developers code in whatever language they know, and some will try a new language or learn a new approach to coding.
Last year’s event spawned monthly coding practice nights in which Ruby developers continue to practice the craft outside of the constraints of the workplace. The group plans to eventually expand these monthly events and form software communities throughout Tampa Bay to include other coding languages.

“Any time the community can help people reinforce or improve their skills, we improve as a community,” says Stark.

Source: Gavin Stark, Real Digital Media
Writer: Megan Hendricks

Now there’s an easy way for parents to keep track of their children and monitor their online presence regardless of their technical expertise. The recently launched MamaBear app is the first of its kind to combine location tracking with monitoring of both social network usage and driving speed.

The inspiration for MamaBear came from a conversation co-founder Stuart Kime had with a parent who described keeping up with a child as a fulltime job. The parent company, geoWaggle LLC, had already designed location-based technology through GeoMofo, a customer loyalty app. The social media piece was added, ad MamaBear was born.

“Parents don’t realize the level of importance they should put on social monitoring,” says Robyn Spoto, president of MamaBear and a graduate of the University of South Florida and the University of Tampa. “There are some pretty explicit, open, public things our children have access to.”

The app’s four founders are all parents from the Tampa Bay region. “Our passion for wanting to protect our children became a big commonality, and MamaBear just took off,” says Spoto. “We knew it was going to help other parents.”

Those parents include a single mom of a 12-year-old and a 16-year-old. She uses the app to keep an eye on her children while she’s traveling for work, and a mom with an autistic son who was hesitant to give her son a phone, but now has a level of comfort she didn’t have before.

The app was recently recognized in the “GEW 50” – a list of the 50 most innovative new companies showing high-growth potential competing in the Startup Open during Global Entrepreneurship Week – and was also selected as one of 25 highlighted by CNBC.

The founders credit the connections they made in Tampa Bay with contributing to their success. “There’s talent here,” says Spoto. “To recognize that is really important. Many times we think we need to look outside of our own backyard for talent in the tech development area, but if you look hard enough you’ll be able to find it here.”

Writer: Megan Hendricks
Source: Robyn Spoto, MamaBear

T-Mobile plans to add 150 employees to its Tampa call center operations.

"We're investing in our Tampa facility, which we are expecting will be taking more calls as a result of increased sales,'' says Katie Bookey, PR representative for T-Mobile. "We’re staffing up in order to provide the first-class service we are known for.’

All of the positions that T-Mobile is looking to fill are full-time financial care representative roles. The company is looking for experienced reps, including bilingual reps who speak Spanish and English. Collections experience, as well as a history of work in a call center environment, is required.

The call center is open seven days a week from 6 a.m. to midnight, so there are plenty of shifts available to potential employees. T-Mobile offers employees a comprehensive benefits package, which includes medical/dental/vision coverage, matching 401(k) program and paid time off. In addition, employees receive mobile phone and service discounts.

According to Bookey, the company is actively recruiting and plans to fill all of the positions by the end of March 2013. Those interested in applying for the financial care representative positions can do so through T-Mobile’s website.

T-Mobile’s Tampa Call Center is located at 18205 Crane Nest Drive in Tampa.

Writer: Kimberly Patterson
Source: Katie Bookey, T-Mobile

Florida Hospital Tampa's Pepin Heart Institute is the first in west and central Florida and one of only a few in the nation to treat heart patients with a new LARIAT procedure.

The catheter-based procedure ties off the left atrial appendage, a major source of blood clots, using sutures. These blood clots can lead to stroke in patients with atrial fibrillation (AFib). Previous treatments for these clots have included medications and pacemakers, but the new surgical treatment helps prevent the clots without the need for those.

AFib is the most common heart rhythm disorder, affecting approximately 3 million adults in the United States and accounting for more than 20 percent of stroke-related deaths. The disorder can cause shortness of breath, fainting and discomfort.

The minimally invasive LARIAT procedure may eliminate the need for open-heart surgery, as well as for anticoagulants, long-term medications that can cause numerous side effects and frequent medical visits. 

Dr. Dilip Mathew, cardiologist at Florida Hospital Tampa is the only physician in the Tampa Bay region performing the procedure and has performed it four times thus far. Mathew, who has been practicing in the Tampa Bay region since 2004, specializes in the management of heart rhythm disorders. He is qualified to perform the procedure because of his extensive experience with trans catheter surgeries (2,000 to date).

The procedure "allows our patient population to avail of this new technology which will help people who cannot take anticoagulants but are still at risk of stroke,'' says Mathew. "Patients are extremely pleased with the outcome.''

Writer: Megan Hendricks
Source: Dr. Dilip Mathew, Florida Hospital Pepin Heart Institute

Foley & Lardner LLP was recently recognized in the InformationWeek 500, a list of the most innovative users of technology in the nation, for the seventh year in a row.

The recognition came primarily because of the law firm's adoption of the cloud-based Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI), a software program that allows employees to access corporate systems in real time, regardless of their geographic location or device. Because files are kept on a central vs. local server, employees can access the same programs, applications and data, and perform all of the same functions from any location. They can also access files and execute applications from any type of device, such as a smartphone, iPad or laptop.

"It has drastically reduced the amount of person power we need from an information technology help desk standpoint because everything is centralized,'' says Chris Griffin, Tampa native and commercial litigator for the firm. This means problems can be solved from the central server, allowing for a quicker response in a litigation situation when time is critical.
 
Employees also have the flexibility to choose their preferred work device. The company no longer purchases computers for its employees, but instead gives them an equivalent amount of money to spend on the device they are most comfortable with. It also provides more responsiveness and timeliness to meet client needs.

"As we look to keep Tampa's business community thriving, recognition of local businesses by organizations like the InformationWeek 500 list will help enhance Tampa's reputation as a city that will welcome and support companies like Foley, that work every day to improve business performance,'' says Linda Sanders, chief information officer for Foley & Lardner.

Writer: Megan Hendricks
Sources: Chris Griffin and Linda Sanders, Foley Lardner

INETICARE, a healthcare management company in Tampa, is currently hiring nurses, software engineers and administrative professionals. The company, which offers both care and claims administration services to employee groups, has grown steadily since its inception in 2004.

"When the company started in 2004, there were only three employees, today we have 50,'' says Ronnie Brown, VP of business development for INETICARE. "We’ve been able to grow quickly and successfully, and are very well respected in the healthcare industry, which is an industry that will continue to grow. There is a need for the technology solutions we provide.''

INETICARE was founded by CEO and President Joseph Hodges, who saw a need for innovative electronic solutions within the healthcare management industry. Today the company offers a variety of technology solutions related to claims services and care management.

There are currently two software engineering positions open at INETICARE. According to Brown, the company also plans to add to their sales staff and is currently looking for sales professionals. She goes on to say that due to the services the company provides, nursing professionals are often in demand.

"We are always looking to hire nurses because that is so much of what we do,'' Brown says. "Right now we are looking to hire two to three nurses whose function is to provide care to employees in our employee groups.''

INETICARE administrative offices are located at 400 North Ashley Drive, Suite 1550, in Tampa.

Writer: Kimberly Patterson
Source: Ronnie Brown, INETICARE