Watch out, eBay
CLEARWATER'S BIDVILLE (www.bidville.com),
an online auction site competing with eBay, recently
completed a $2.5-million preferred stock issue.
Barbara Pontello, VP marketing and business development,
says the cash is earmarked for marketing to increase
awareness about its site. "While eBay is a competitor,
we are focusing on a market space they are vacating
- that of person-to-person auctions." eBay has
roughly 147-million registered users and 60-million
listings. Pontello says the 12- employee Bidville
has nearly 1-million members (up from 71,000 in
2004), and 3.2-million items listed daily. "Many
people will be surprised to learn that we have
the second-largest auction site with this total
representing more than double the combined auction
items listed on Amazon, Yahoo and Overstock."
 With
200+ auction sites out there, she says, "We distinguish
ourselves in several ways." The first is pricing
structure because Bidville does not charge to
list an item, which can translate into substantial
profit margins for sellers. The second is personalized
attention to members with live 24-hour service.
Milking the Cash Cow
Are Florida's major universities becoming cash
cows? Investments in the state universities' technologies
were $2.4- billion in 2004, up $40 million over
2003, according to the Technology Transfer Office
at Florida State University. Invention disclosures,
patents, agreements, licenses and license dollars
were all also up year over year. George Gordon,
president of the Tampa Bay Technology Forum (www.tbtf.org)
and chairman and CEO of Tampa's Enporion (www.enporion.com),
sees no reason this growth cannot continue. "There
is definitely still room for improvement," he
says. More communication between business and
research communities is necessary, and the state
needs to lure more large companies.
Five constituencies, says Gordon, need to network
for such growth to continue - research universities,
government and economic development leaders, entrepreneurs,
tech companies and sources of capital. "We can
foster what I call a 'tech ecosystem.' Ideally,
these people will be networked and very passionate
about making the Tampa Bay region - and the state
- a place where technology can thrive."
Just Checking
In Sarasota's Teltronics (www.teltronics.com)
was recently selected by New Jersey's Waterford/Wedgwood
USA to supply the crystal company with its OmniWorks
software for its customer contact center's needs.
OmniWorks allows remote agents connecting over
the Internet to operate as if they were in the
call center.
Teltronics, a 35-year-old company with 227 employees
in the U.S. and the U.K., also manufactures telephone
switching systems and software for private industry,
government and 911 public safety communications
centers. It manufactures products for itself and
companies such as Honeywell, Harris, ATK and Windermere.
CEO Ewen Cameron says it also sells alarm management
systems to Verizon, SBC, Bell South and others.
Big 4
Cyberstates 2005: A State-by-State Overview of
the High-Technology Industry - a new analytical
report released by the American Electronics Association
(www.aeanet.org)
- says Florida remained the fourthlargest state
by technology employment (based on the latest
2003 data). The state employs more than 270,000
high-tech workers with an average wage of $53,666,
or 70 percent higher than the state's average
private sector wage. Maryann Fiala, executive
director of AeA's Florida Council, says in a press
release that high-tech exports in Florida grew
by 18 percent in 2004 for a total of $9.4 billion.
"This export growth foreshadows a turnaround in
Florida's technology industry."
Tech FYI
Advertising Age chose Tampa's Bayshore Solutions
(www.bayshoresolutions.com)
as one of its 2005 Top US Interactive Agencies
for the third consecutive year. Bayshore was the
highest-ranked in Florida and among the top three
in the South. COO Doug Pace was nominated by Consulting
Magazine as one of the country's most influential
consultants ... Glacier Tek (www.coolvest.com)
of Melbourne introduced its next generation RPCM™
Cool Vest™ using patent-pending technology that
is completely biodegradable and free of hazardous
chemicals … Lockheed Martin Aeronautics chose
Clearwater's Smiths Aerospace (www.smiths-aerospace.com)
to participate in a first phase testing the F-35
JSF program.
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