Tampa Bay Area Makes the Cut in High-Tech Ranking

From the December 18, 2000 print edition
Pamela Griner Leavy - Staff Writer


Bay made the top 60 list in Cybercities: a City-by-City Overview of the High Technology Industry, the latest technology survey to hit the streets.

Produced by the American Electronics Association and Nasdaq, it includes the AEA's definition of the high-tech industry -- high tech manufacturing, communications services, and software and computer-related services.

Tampa Bay ranked 40th in high tech workers per 1,000 workers and 29th in the rate of high tech job growth. It ranked 27th in high tech employment, 52nd in high tech average wage and 46th in Internet home use.

The report calls the University of South Florida "research and development" intensive.

Shawn Sommerkamp, business development manager in the Tampa office of Milwaukee-based Manpower Professional Inc. , expressed optimism about the newly released data.

"When you look at the density of (information technology) employees, it means we are moving away from manufacturing-based only, and that is a very big statistic to look at," said Sommerkamp.

“That should build confidence in the city of Tampa across the U.S. My forecast is that Tampa is going to be an explosive IT marketplace."

In tech news

Alltel Communications -- with an office in Tampa -- has merged all its Internet services into one Web site, http://www.alltel.net.

Alltel's dial-up access, high-speed digital subscriber line Internet customers now can use the Web site as an Internet starting point. Customers can access the site from a personal computer or wireless phone.

Alltel recently opened a retail store at the University Collections shopping center, 2782 E. Fowler Ave., Tampa.

NetWise Technology Inc., a St. Petersburg Web development firm, launched ProcessClaims.com, an Internet-based automobile insurance claims management system.

ProcessClaims automates the collision claims process including auto repair estimates, digital imaging and financial transactions between insurance companies, independent appraisers and collision repair facilities.

Allegiance Telecom Inc., a Dallas-based competitive local exchange email carrier, is targeting small and medium-sized businesses in Hillsborough and Pinellas counties with local calling options, long distance, international calling, high-speed data transmission, Internet and electronic commerce packages.

Tampa is the company's second market in Florida since Allegiance initiated service in the Miami area in June.

A local sales office has been opened at 4300 W. Cypress St., Suite 800, in Tampa.

A Detroit-based online sweepstakes, marketing and promotions company, ePrize, http://www.eprize.net, has entered into an agreement with Cox Target Media in Largo. Cox, a direct marketing company, will now be able to offer ePrize's online sweepstakes and promotions to its clients.

A new compression technology has been released by eCorp.com Inc. in Largo.

The company has been granted a global marketing license to market, distribute and promote a compression technology called mpX.

Its compressed video and audio files are said to retain the highest level of quality even though the compressed video files have been reduced from 44 gigabytes to 154 megabytes.

The mpX audio files do not need the use of proprietary decoding applications.

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