Along the Corridor

High Tech Lending
Orlando-based Xytrans Inc. has established a banking relationship with Silicon Valley Bank that will provide the company with a line of credit, the amount of which is undisclosed. Xytrans Chief Executive Rob Strandberg says the credit line will help fund the company's plans for manufacturing its transceiver product line. Xytrans was founded in 2000 by a team of former Lockheed Martin employees. It makes millimeter wave (MMW) transceivers used in the wireless broadband (high-speed) communications market. Strandberg says Silicon Bank "has an excellent reputation in high tech funding. They understand the technology market better than other banks and we look forward to a long partnership."

Rob Strandberg. Xytrans CEO

Silicon Bank is a subsidiary of Silicon Valley Bancshares. Jeff White, the bank's regional manager in West Palm Beach, says his bank provided the company with resources based on its vision and expertise. "Xytrans has created a truly pioneering platform for MMW transceivers and receivers." For more information, see www.xytrans.com This bodes well for Florida and state-based providers of broadband technologies, particularly this year as the federal government takes significant strides to spur the economy by reviving broadband connections to the Internet for consumers and businesses. The industry has been stalled for some time and has caused some companies to take measures to cut costs by trimming payroll. Others have closed their doors.

Raydon Wins Large Contract
Imagine climbing into one of the U.S. Army's Linebacker fighting machines ­ that move rapidly across battlefields to provide combat troops with cover by shooting down enemy aircraft. Soldiers will now be able to do that, even when they are in training, thanks to simulators being built by Raydon Corp. in Daytona Beach. It has won a $2.3 million contract from the Army to build 15 air defense simulators of the Linebacker machine to train gunners to detect, identify and shoot down enemy aircraft from battlefields. The simulators will allow soldiers to fire thousands of simulated missiles at simulated targets, reducing the cost of training using real missiles.

Incon to Bond With China
INCON Lighting Inc., a Sanford-based manufacturer of high tech and energy efficient commercial lighting systems, is negotiating to acquire an undisclosed Chinese manufacturing company. The company's president, Mark Hudson, says the merger could add $12 million to yearly revenues and 600 workers.

I.T. Spending Down
An IT spending report offers little hope for a rebound in corporate spending on information technology (IT) in 2002. The Meta Group Inc. report projects that annual U.S. corporate IT spending will fall for the first time ever by between 2 percent and 5 percent in 2002. Spending among non-U.S. companies is expected to remain flat at 2001 levels. The projected year-to-year decrease in IT spending is the first recorded since 1982, the first year in which Stamford, Conn.-based firm has data, says Howard Rubin, a Meta Group executive vice president and research fellow. Over the past 10 years, IT spending has averaged a 6 to 8 percent increase and reached a record high of 10 percent in 2000. The trend is a reversal from 2001, when U.S. corporate IT increased spending 8 percent and non-U.S. companies increased spending 6 percent, according to the report Worldwide IT Trends & Benchmark Report 2002. "We've gone from an exuberant technology economy to a highly reactive one," Rubin says. The expected drop-off in spending has its roots in the faltering economy of 2001.

Tech f.y.i.
The California Corrections Department is developing a program to track parolees via the Global Positioning System and has signed an agreement with Digital Angel Corp., a subsidiary of Applied Digital Solutions Inc. of Palm Beach, Fla. The Riverside, Calif., subsidiary makes devices for monitoring Š You can find Internet links to state legislatures at site: www.ncsl.org/public/leglinks.cfm The data base provides links to the 50 state legislative home pages and related information Š YourCleanMail.com promises to rid mail of anthrax and send you your mail digitally. Learn more at www.yourcleanmail.com

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