Staying Connected: A message from our President & CEO |
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Recently I have had the opportunity to speak with numerous founders and innovators regarding the impact of the pandemic on their businesses. While many adjusted their business practices to work remotely, they each noted their concern for the future of collaboration and innovation. Many questioned what they missed this past year and the impact it will have on their businesses.
It has been nearly a year since some of us started working remotely and we have been creative as an innovation society to keep the momentum going. We admit the longer it goes on, the more challenging it is to keep everyone engaged. This is why I am honored to be selected as a panelist for upcoming events recognizing women in technology. The Tampa Bay Innovation Center continues to partner with numerous organizations that provide virtual exchanges for innovators, founders and the entrepreneurial community. Programs such as the Florida Venture Forum’s Venture Capital Conference, Synapse Summit 2021, Women in Tech International, Tampa Bay Tech and Moffitt’s Business of Biotech 2021 have developed creative solutions to reach and engage a broader audience.
These events, along with the Innovation Center's programs, will engage entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, innovators, executives, investors and experts across the U.S. and beyond. We can only imagine the impact potential collaborations will bring. While most of us yearn to hold these events in person before 2022, we applaud the creativity and outreach of all the Tampa Bay organizations that keep innovation top-of-mind. Please take time to review our Events Section below for more details on the region's activities.
We look forward to meeting in person soon. In the meantime, we hope to see you at one of the upcoming virtual events.
Warm regards,
Tonya Elmore | President & CEO
Tampa Bay Innovation Center
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Grow Smarter Grant Opportunity |
The City of St. Petersburg Grow Smarter and Attract Talent program provides awards to companies with 49 employees or less that hire new employees at salaries above Pinellas County's average wage. Companies must be identified with one of the city's five target industry clusters: Marine and Life Sciences, Specialized Manufacturing, Financial Services, Data Analytics, and Creative Arts and Design.
For each new job created at 115% or more of the average county wage, the incentive amount is $3,000 per new job. Greater awards are available to companies paying higher wages. For each new job created and filled by a resident of the City of St. Petersburg, there will be a bonus $2,000 incentive paid and for each job created and filled by a resident of the South St. Petersburg Community Redevelopment Area, there will be a bonus $3,000 incentive paid. Employees hired under this Program must remain employed by the company for at least twelve months for the company to claim the incentive. The incentive will be paid at the end of the twelve-month period.
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Mentor Spotlight: Paul Hays, CliftonLarsonAllen |
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Paul Hays is an audit principal in the Tampa office of CliftonLarsonAllen, LLP and is the firm's franchising leader. Paul has more than 20 years of accounting experience. He specializes in working with retail industry and technology companies that are venture capital or private equity backed to assist them with financial reporting compliance requirements based upon their existing financing and equity arrangements.
Paul is very familiar with complex accounting issues related to mergers and acquisitions, revenue recognition and equity awards and transactions. He was hand-selected to assist three clients in successful exits of existing portfolio companies, all in excess of $60M each.
Paul has provided numerous hours as a mentor and presenter to the Tampa Bay Innovation Center's Accelerator and CO.STARTERS cohorts. Paul currently serves as Treasurer on the Center's Board of Directors and is active in many non-profit organizations throughout Florida.
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Clarity as a Service by Ken Evans, managing director
This week marks the half-way point of the third cohort of TBIC’s B2B accelerator program. The companies participating in the 12-week program meet online for weekly group workshops with plus one-on-one business strategy calls for additional mentoring and assistance.
Over the past few cohorts, the program content has evolved into three main disciplines vital for any growing venture: product, demand, and operations. While we would like to think the program is evenly balanced across these three subjects, admittedly, there is a strong bias towards getting the product right before founders are encouraged to work on other areas of their business. Tech start-ups are often focused on telling their story and or landing a customer, investor, or at least a favorable mention in the press that they often forget that their long-term viability as a business should be focused on solving real user problems that translate easily into business value.
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Synapse Florida will celebrate, discover and engage the innovators making an impact during a four day digital experience March 8 - 11, 2021. Experience the work of creative makers and doers and learn from thought-leaders and change-makers at Synapse Summit 2021.
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Tampa Bay Tech: Women in Tech Series |
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Join us for Tampa Bay Tech's Women in Tech Series, where Tampa Bay Innovation Center President & CEO, Tonya Elmore will join panelists Lakshmi Shenoy and Linda Olson along with moderator Jill St. Thomas of Tampa Bay Tech to discuss their innovation-focused companies and how they work to grow the local entrepreneurial eco-system. |
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Upcoming Innovation Center Events |
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Innovation Center Partner Events |
USF Connect: Women in Entrepreneurship, March 4th, 10 a.m.
SOFWERX: Disruptive Speaker Series, March 31st, 10 a.m.
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Tampa Bay Innovation Center has the space, resources, and programs startup founders need to build scalable tech ventures.
Fully furnished offices available with great views of downtown St. Petersburg.
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Thank you to our Platinum Sponsor, Pinellas County Government.
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See what's happening on our social sites: |
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