ReliaQuest, Xcelience CEOs Bullish on Tampa’s Future; Adding 155 New Jobs

March 16, 2015

When it comes to sharing their love for Tampa and Hillsborough County, the CEOs of two rapidly growing companies that announced expansions this month need no encouragement.
 
Derek Hennecke, CEO of international pharmaceutical development and manufacturing company Xcelience, and Brian Murphy, CEO of information security firm ReliaQuest, are more committed than ever to keeping their companies here.
 
“Tampa is a great place to build a base of scientific capabilities,” said Hennecke. “Exciting things are coming down the pipeline for Tampa, for Xcelience, and the exciting new medical treatments we are developing with our clients.” Hennecke, who founded Xcelience in Tampa in 2006, has expanded his company’s operations in multiple locations across the United States and Europe. Last week, Governor Scott announced that the company is investing $9 million in a new 71,000 square foot headquarters, adding 6,000 square feet at its existing facility, and hiring 100 new, high wage positions. While Hennecke did look at other communities for possible relocation, Tampa’s unbeatable lifestyle, supportive, pro-business leadership, state and local incentive packages, and proximity to Tampa International Airport – one of the best in the country – smoked the competition. “The warm climate attracts a stable workforce, and the government at all levels is eager to help us grow and prosper,” he said. “Our location puts us just a mile from the airport, making it easy for out of state clients to find us.”
 
Xcelience’s expansion is another exciting win for entrepreneurial companies in Tampa and Hillsborough County. Xcelience, which provides preformulation, formulation development, analytical services, GMP manufacturing, small-scale commercial manufacturing, and global clinical supplies packaging and logistics to help companies move a drug into clinical trials, is getting the workforce training assistance, sales tax exemptions, and Qualified Target Industry (QTI) incentives from our state and local partners that will help to fuel its growth here.
 
Keeping our homegrown, successful companies in Tampa and Hillsborough County is a mission the EDC shares with the Tampa Bay Technology Forum (TBTF).  The regional advocacy group has been the voice of the region’s tech industry for nearly 15 years and is beginning to see more local fast-growing tech companies resist pressure from larger customers and investors to leave the area.  Brian Murphy, CEO of ReliaQuest and 2015 Chairman of TBTF, has personally experienced that pressure. “Our rapid growth and the demand for our managed and co-managed IT security services caused us to seriously consider relocating the new ReliaQuest SOC (security operations center) in Tampa to an area more central to our entire North American customer base,” he said.
 
ReliaQuest provides consulting services including network design, data migration, information security and systems integration. Founded in Tampa in 2007, the company quickly developed an extensive roster of clients across the country and picked up numerous awards for business excellence, community service, dedication to hiring veterans, and local technology community leadership.
 
Earlier this month, Governor Scott announced ReliaQuest’s addition of 55 new, high-wage information technology jobs at their Tampa headquarters.  Thanks to the City of Tampa’s and Hillsborough County’s match of the state’s QTI program allocation, ReliaQuest will receive a total of $330,000, to be paid out once the jobs are created at the annual wages promised – which in this case exceed $63,000.
 
“We are committed to expanding our base of operations in Tampa and helping to highlight this region as one of the top information technology sector destinations in the United States,” Murphy said. “The support we have received from the city, county, and state has been tremendous, and will greatly enhance our ability to attract and retain the world class talent our organization needs to thrive here.”
 
Now that sounds like a recipe for long term business success.