High-tech strides earn high marks
A study again ranks Florida No. 2 among the fastest-growing high-tech hubs in the nation.
By BY MADHUSMITA BORA
Published April 24, 2007
Florida's multibillion-dollar effort to position itself as a tech haven is bearing fruit.
For the second consecutive year, the state clinched the No. 2 spot as the fastest-growing high-tech hub, according to AeA, a national technology trade association. The study released today ranks Florida as the fourth-largest high-tech state in the nation for 2005. It also singles out Florida as having the highest growth rate for high-tech jobs.
To be sure, Florida still has a long way to go in the shadow of trailblazer states like California, which boasts more than three times the number of high-tech jobs. And the Sunshine State's high-tech pay scales continue to rank below the national average. But the study indicates Florida is making its mark.
"It's amazing," said Bill Archey, president and CEO of AeA. "Because no one really thinks of Florida as a high-tech state."
Florida's achievements didn't surprise Kaushal Chari, chair of information technology at the College of Business Administration at the University of South Florida.
"There's a great demand for IT jobs here," Chari said. "A lot of companies in the financial service sector are moving to the Tampa area and expanding."
Nationwide, the high-tech industry is making a comeback, slowly recovering from the beating it took after the 2000 dot-com bust.
The industry added 150,000 jobs in the country in 2005, according to AeA. While sectors such as software services and engineering received a boost, one group struggled: telecommunications.
"It was the most affected because of consolidation and overcapacity in the industry," said Matthew Kazmierczak, a vice president at AeA.
California led the nation in net job creation, but Florida grew faster, posting a 4 percent increase.
The state's high-tech industry added 10,900 jobs for an industry total of 276,400 tech workers in 2005.
The average wage for those jobs was 70 percent more than the average private sector wage. Still, Florida's average high-tech annual wage in 2005 of $61,100 was well below the national high-tech average of $75,500, according to AeA.
The state ranked in the top five in half of the 16 industry segments, netting a high-tech payroll of $16.9-billion.
"What this indicates is some of the hard work is coming to fruition," said Chris Steinocher, COO and senior vice president at the Tampa Bay Partnership.
Florida leaders have aggressively wooed high-tech and biotech players in recent years, eager to diversify the state's reliance on call centers, theme parks and agriculture.
"This is a very positive story," said Randy Berridge, president of the Florida High Tech Corridor Council. "I think our strength lies in our diversity."
The challenge now is for industry and state leaders to highlight the state's new incarnation as a high-tech hub, some say.
"The high-tech industry is so diffused in the state that people don't see it," said Archey of AeA. "But there must be much more going on besides the weather."
Madhusmita Bora can be reached at (813) 225-3112 or mbora@sptimes.com.