May 2005

Pinellas County Economic Development Moves to the EpiCenter May 24, 2005. PCED will join St. Petersburg College, the St. Petersburg-Clearwater Convention and Visitors Bureau, WorkNet Pinellas and the Pinellas County Arts Council at the EpiCenter, a collaboration of Pinellas County and St. Petersburg College. The 132,000 square foot building will house state of the art meeting rooms, St. Petersburg College’s Corporate Training Offices and the Collaborative Labs, a 9,000-square-foot facility designed to give local companies meeting space, technology, and trained facilitators to solve complex problems and develop new business strategies. Visit PCED and the Business Development Center at 13805 58^th Street North, Suite 1-200 in Largo, or online at www.siliconbay.org.

Does Your Manufacturing Business or 501 c(3) Organization Need Financing to Expand? If your business needs funding for a building, land, or equipment, Pinellas County Economic Development can help you obtain a tax-exempt Industrial Revenue Bond (IRB) for $1 million to $10 million. IRB’s are available for eligible projects and are arranged through a local bank with the assistance of PCED. Since 1999, 15 companies have financed over $59 million with the IRB program. For more information, click here or call Danielle Weitlauf at (727) 464-7398.

EnviroBusiness Collection Helps Businesses Dispose of Electronics and Chemical Hazardous Waste. Pinellas County Utilities encourages area businesses to participate in the EnviroBusiness Hazardous Waste Collection on Wednesday, May 11, from 9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. at the St. Petersburg Household Electronics and Chemical Waste Center, 2990 110^th Avenue North. To drop off chemicals, businesses need to qualify as small waste generators (produce less than 25 gallons, or 220 pounds, of chemical waste per month).  All businesses may drop off their hazardous electronics.  For more information, call (727) 464-7500 or click here.

Congratulations to St. Petersburg College: the Most Digitally Savvy Community College in the Country. SPC leads the short list in the Top 10 Digitally Savvy Community Colleges for 2005, named by the Center for Digital Education and American Association of Community Colleges. Over 200 community colleges participated in the survey which measured how colleges are deploying technology to better streamline operations and better serve their customers. Specific measures included: the availability of technology tools, online capabilities, strategic plans, and training for teachers and faculty. SPC is a four-year college offering associate’s and bachelor’s degrees, certificates and corporate training services. To view a complete list of the winners, click here.

Develop a Plan to Boost Sales at Marketing Your Business on May 18. Join the Pinellas County Business Development Center at Marketing Your Business, a class designed to help companies write a marketing plan and match marketing strategies with their products. Course participants will learn how to boost sales with low-cost marketing tips, and determine when, where and how much to spend on their marketing efforts. In addition, attendees will learn from industry experts and successful small business owners. The class will be held May 18, from 1:30 p.m. – 4:30 p.m. There is no fee to attend, but participants must pre-register by emailing businesshelp@siliconbay.org, or calling (727) 453-7200.

Register Early for the 2^nd Annual Florida Tech Transfer Conference, May 18^th and 19^th. The Florida Research Consortium, Tampa Bay Technology Forum, and the Central Florida Technology Partnership present the 2^nd Annual Tech Transfer Conference, an innovative event introducing companies to new technologies, products and business partners. Conference attendees will meet with industry and educational leaders to discover new business opportunities in high-tech industries including: Defense, Medical Manufacturing, Biomedical, Communications and Security. All events will be held at the Hilton Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando. To register, visit www.tbtf.org.

Product Marketing Grant Promotes Pinellas County. The St. Petersburg/Clearwater Area Convention & Visitors Bureau is pleased to announce the 2005/2006 New Product Marketing Grant. The grant will award up to $500,000 to market and promote a new event, festival, program, or project that demonstrates the potential to bring additional visitors to Pinellas County. Proposals must have the ability to attract tourists to the area; increase the frequency of visits; increase the length of stay of visitors; increase visitor per capita spending; increase the number of room night stays; and generate positive international, national, and regional editorial coverage for Pinellas County. To download an application, click here. All applications are due May 6, 2005.

St. Petersburg College Collaborative Labs Offers Businesses Interactive Solutions to Challenges. The Collaborative Labs is an innovative process that stimulates organizations to achieve meaningful results to business challenges quickly and effectively. The labs are staffed by expert facilitators and provide companies and their management teams with a specially designed facility to engage conversation for strategic plans, improved processes or brand awareness. Click here to view recent collaborative lab sessions or call Andrea Henning at (727) 341-3154 for more information.