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- Title
Location Strategies of Business Technology Companies in Tampa.
- Authors
Ahlers, Shane
- Abstract
Since the late 1990's high technology firms have been moving into the Tampa Bay area resulting from local business incentives coupled to low state taxes, the favorable climate and proximity to recreational facilities, as well as the population growth in the area. Then in 2012, Florida Polytechnic University was created as an independent university with a primary focus on Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). As high-tech firms generally require their employees to have STEM-type upper-level (BS, MS) educational degrees, these firms generally also locate near those higher educational facilities. This study was designed to spatially analyze the relationship between high-tech firms and local colleges and universities. In this study, the locations of 20 high-tech firms were identified and geolocated using Esri ArcGIS Pro. Firms were selected to represent a broad crosssection of technology firms from small firms with three (3) employees, to large firms with more than 250 employees. Then all educational centers (=colleges and universities) within a 5-mile radius from each of the 20 selected technology firms were identified. Roads, travel times between firms and educational centers, along with daytime and nighttime populations were analyzed to determine the relationship between the firms and the educational centers. The spatial analysis indicates that larger high-tech firms are located away from the downtown Tampa area but within a 5-mile area of an educational center, and all but one firm, a small start-up firm, is located more than 5 miles from the nearest educational center. In general, it appears that the high-tech firms tend to be located near colleges and universities, perhaps where they can easily recruit employees, provide internship opportunities and interact more directly.
- Subjects
TAMPA (Fla.); TAMPA Bay (Fla.); SMALL business; INDUSTRIAL location; RECREATION centers; HIGH technology industries; EMPLOYEE recruitment
- Publication
Florida Scientist, 2023, Vol 86, Issue 3, p470
- ISSN
0098-4590
- Publication type
Article