Florida Governor Rick Scott will join the Flagler County Commission Tuesday morning in the ribbon cutting ceremony of Coastal Cloud, a cutting-edge Information Technology consulting company to be headquartered in Flagler County.
Scott will be the keynote speaker at the event at the Discovery Center in Hammock Beach at 9 a.m. Today (Feb. 26) , where Coastal Cloud is leasing space to begin operations. It is the second stop in Flagler in a little over two years of Scott’s governorship. For Coastal Cloud, a company that did not exist until December, it represents a huge publicity boost and at least the appearance of a governor’s endorsement.
Coastal Cloud plans to create 100 high-tech jobs and build its 18,000 square foot headquarters in Flagler. The company helps small to medium-size businesses optimize their information technology requirements without necessarily creating an IT department of their own. the company takes advantage of the innovation and agility offered by the latest cloud-based technology solutions by applying superior, cost-effective services. (For background on Coastal Cloud and its relationship to Flagler County, go here.)
Coastal Cloud Co-Founders Tim and Sara Hale appeared before the county’s Economic Development Council earlier this month in the culmination of a months-long relationship that helped them secure a location and labor leads. Coastal Cloud, a subsidiary of Graphene, a consultancy the Hales established a few years ago, has also qualified for tax subsidies from the state for every job the company will create. The Hales pledged to invest up to $3 million locally.
If the company provides a total of 98 jobs over a six year period it will receive a total of $586,800 in yearly increments from the under Florida’s Qualified Target Industry (QTI) incentive, a performance-based incentive directly related to the number of new jobs the company creates. The Flagler County Commission agreed to provide an additional $50,000 over a seven year period if the job goals are realized. During that same time period the county estimates that wages and investments would add over $29 million to Flagler’s economy.
“Many of our clients have found that off-shoring their technology services haven’t been as successful as expected. Our model offers highly skilled, U.S.-based consultants who are experts in the latest cloud solutions and industry best practices,” Hale said. “As an added bonus in Flagler County, employees can live at the beach and work in the cloud.”
“We are very pleased to be able to welcome Coastal Cloud to the community,” said Commissioner Barbara Revels, who chairs the Economic Opportunity Advisory Council. “Coastal Cloud is one of the target industries that we have worked very hard to attract to our County.”
bq says
Rick Scott our new Democratic Governor! Elections are coming, tick, tick, tick!
Donna Heiss says
I cannot seem to find a web-site for Coastal Cloud. Is one available?
farmer says
Hope it turns out better than CAKES ACROSS AMERICA 11111
Bob Z. says
http://coastalcloud.us/careers/
tulip says
http://coastalcloud.us/
Tulip says
here’s the web site http://coastalcloud.us/careers/….. OKAY listen up….. to be a employee you –Requires a bachelor degree in a related area, 3-5 years of work experience in the field and at least 1 year of consulting experience. I’m sure there going to hire from other counties/states & relocate here. But, I’m sure they’ll get all the incentives they have coming to them. This will certainly put a lot of people in Flagler County to work … LOL LOL LOL
tim g says
Wow is the governor that desperate to come to a start-up ribbon cutting? Sara Hale, congratulations, but this company has been in the community for a few years now. I guess it has grown to needing a physical location.
I hope the new economic development department can do more than process incentive paperwork for a company that has been in the community for years.
Abby Romaine says
Hi Donna! The web address is http://www.coastalcloud.us
Thanks for your interest in Coastal Cloud!
Any other questions? I’m happy to answer–
Abby.romaine@coastalcloud.us
Hope to talk to you soon! Abby
confidential says
When we have a “new arrival business receiving up front tax payers $$$” in Flagler County was always head to failure and leaving us holding the bag. Ginn (airport hangar), Centex resort-hotel, Palm Coast Data never materialized new jobs, Cakes Across our pockets half a million also of tax payers funds, etc.
Instead they should support the small local existing businesses (that never asked or received a penny of tax payers hand outs) and give them our tax generated contracts instead of outsourcing them and right there hundreds of jobs will be created.
Also influence and promote the large government and private or semi private enterprises that are sustained by profits generated by the local taxpayers, like schools, Daytona College Palm Coast Campus, The Chamber of Commerce, the Florida Flagler Hospital, Banks etc. to stop outsourcing and assign their contracted work to local suppliers to create several hundred jobs, because they don’t.
Jill says
Don’t hold your breath. Another free loader for the incubator handout.
Tim Hale says
Please visit us at: http://www.CoastalCloud.US
Thanks for your interest.