Tech assistance program 'grows' businesses
By Bob Koslow, Business writer
February 18, 2011 12:05 AM
DELAND -- GrowFL, the state's first attempt at "economic gardening," helped create 418 direct jobs last year, including three light manufacturing positions here at Advanced Manufacturing & Power Systems.
Welders Charlie Cummins, left, and Hugh Light work at Advanced Manufacturing & Power Systems in DeLand recently. The company has hired three production workers through a state GrowFL program. (N-J Sean McNeil)
"I'm impressed with the effort," said company owner Joe Scofield. "I filled out the paperwork and then nothing for two weeks and then I got a call on a Thursday for a conference call on Friday. They asked me what they could do and then barraged me all weekend. I couldn't keep up with the e-mails and calls as they went to work for me."
An e-mail about a year ago from Bob Turk, DeLand's economic development manager, cued Scofield to the new program aimed at providing technical assistance to existing companies poised to expand beyond their initial stages.
"We try and keep our businesses up to speed on what's available to them," Turk said. "These resources are important to businesses, but you never know how they're going to work out and how they meet with the business's cycle and the type assistance they need at that point."
Scofield was looking for assistance with the company's Web presence and new customer development. The goal was to expand the business, which is primarily making UL-certified aboveground and underground fuel storage tanks and generator enclosures that meet hurricane storm stress standards. Customers include wastewater treatment facilities, hospitals and vacation resorts with casinos -- almost anyone who needs a reliable and immediate source of backup power.
Associated jobs include generator trailer repair, installation assistance, fuel tank maintenance and polishing. It also builds aluminum stairs and platforms and is a manufacturer's distribution representative for several companies.
Scofield started Advanced Manufacturing & Power Systems in 1999 by leasing a 40,000 square-foot building on Bennett Drive in the DeLand Business and Industrial Park. The facility was bought in 2001 for $1.1 million and a 2.4-acre lot next door was bought in 2005 for $140,300. Partner Randy Weimer oversees sales.
Then the economy sank.
"Like everyone else, our whole industry was adversely impacted. We're based on long-term planning, where projects are going to be developed. When projects are put on hold, it's like a food chain, it hurts us all down the line," Scofield said.
The company survived by being able to maintain the equipment it's installed in Florida, Georgia and Alabama, and by adding some new business in the Caribbean where foreign investment had not slowed as bad as domestic investment, Scofield said.
The Legislature in 2009 created the Florida Economic Gardening Institute at the University of Central Florida and gave it $1.4 million for GrowFL to provide small and existing companies with a wide array of technical expertise.
It's the alternative to more costly recruitment efforts and higher risks of helping startups.
Over a weekend, and the following two weeks, Scofield was inundated with questions and suggestions.
"They analyzed what we were doing and what we might tweak and were able to search databases I did not know about for potential new customers," Scofield said. "It was helpful getting an outside look at what we were doing and how we come across from the outside."
GrowFL also assisted Advanced Manufacturing qualify for a state economic development low-interest loan to help train the new employees that included a welder, electrician and assembler. The company has grown from 30 employees two years ago to 37.
GrowFL's technical experts are provided by its many partners, including the Florida High Tech Corridor Council that includes many universities and institutions between Daytona Beach and Tampa.
The council reviewed the GrowFL initial year and reported 1,458 jobs were directly and indirectly created by the $1.4 million investment. The jobs have an estimated economic impact of $280 million.
"The result of this program demonstrated how economic gardening can be used as a part of a successful economic development strategy to grow jobs and strengthen the small business landscape," said Randy Berridge, council president.
GrowFL was given $2 million this year. Scofield recommends companies look into using its resources.
"Whether or not you utilize the information, it forces you to look at the way you do things, otherwise they won't let you sleep until you do," he said laughing.