Tampa Bay News Briefs

TAMPA BAY, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

News briefs concerning economic and business growth in the Tampa Bay region from the Tampa Bay Partnership:

IRX Therapeutics Relocation Expected to Bring 280 Jobs to Tampa Bay

IRX Therapeutics, Inc., a leading research and development firm specializing in immune therapies designed to treat cancer and related diseases, recently announced its relocation from New York to St. Petersburg, FL. The growing company expects to create 283 jobs with an average salary of over 200% of the Pinellas County average wage over the next six years. IRX developed its early cancer immunotherapy at the University of South Florida in Tampa and its relocation back to Tampa Bay is a big win for the region's life sciences industry. (Contact: Stacey Swank, 727-464-7425, sswank@pinellascounty.org)

UK-based Global Components Selects Tampa Bay for U.S. Manufacturing Hub

Global Components Inc., a division of United Kingdom-based plastic component manufacturer TCB-Arrow, has selected Manatee County for its U.S. operations and plans to create 50 jobs over three years. “Manatee County is a great jumping-off point for our expansion into Central and South America. We plan to begin hiring in Manatee County by early 2012,” said Global Components President Lindsay Rolfe. (Contact: Suzette Jones, 941-544-6557, 1suzettejones@gmail.com)

Solstice Sleep Expands, Adds Jobs

Solstice Sleep Products™ has leased 90,000 square feet of industrial space in Tampa to accommodate company expansion plans. Tampa Hillsborough Economic Development Corporation assisted the mattress maker after one of its key partners, Tampa Bay Partnership, referred the company inquiry. Solstice Sleep Products™ has hired 25 employees and is anticipating adding up to 60 new hires within the next six to eight months. (Contact: Keith Norden, 813.218.3301,knorden@tampaedc.com)

Laser Rite Business Systems Plans Expansion in Sarasota County

Laser Rite Business Systems, a Sarasota company providing printing equipment and document management systems for businesses, is expanding its facility and plans to add 12 jobs over the next three years; most to be added in the next six months. Laser Rite is a great example of the county's job-creation strategy that focuses on helping successful existing companies expand. (Contact: Bobby Mallow, 941-955-2737 ext. 248)

Crystal Clear Technologies Plans Expansion

Crystal Clear Technologies, named the number one Fastest-Growing Government Services Company and number five Overall in Inc. Magazine's Inc. 500, plans to expand in 2012. The company, which provides information technology (IT) services and data communications to the Department of Defense and other clients, has purchased a new headquarters site in the 5000 block of Central Avenue in St. Petersburg. (Contact: Sophia Sorolis, 727-893-7787)

Polk County Welcomes Raider Environmental

The Central Florida Development Council (CFDC) has announced the location of Raider Environmental into Polk County. Raider is an environmental services provider specializing in waste water treatment, environmental remediation, petroleum recovery and recycling. The company will create 10 new jobs above average wage initially and expects that number will grow in time. The CFDC assisted the company with their site selection process, community information, referrals for county services and workforce recruitment through CFDC's Workforce 2020 partners. (Contact: Tony Machado, 863-425-4411, Tony@RaiderEnvironmental.com)

Claro Scientific Named Top “Early Stage Investment”

St. Petersburg-based technology company, Claro Scientific has won the highly regarded ‘EARLY/Stage Shootout' competition at Southeast BIO's (SEBIO)13th Annual Investor Forum held in Durham, North Carolina. Claro was selected from among 60 early-stage medical device, drug and biotechnology companies. The company is advancing SpectraWave, a low cost, easy to use point of care diagnostic system licensed from the University of South Florida in Tampa, FL. (Contact: Thomas McLain, 727-568-1213, thomas.mclain@clarosci.com)

Tampa International Airport on CNN's ‘Most Loved' List

Tampa International Airport (TIA) appears at number six on a list of the “World's Most Loved Airports” published by CNN go.com, a CNN international travel and tourism website. TIA was the only U.S. airport on the list, which cited the airport's tram system, “affable” staff and “tasteful galleria of stores, boutiques and restaurants.” TIA also announced that in addition to nonstop flights to Havana, ABC Charters will fly nonstop from Tampa to Holguin, becoming the second city in the U.S. to serve multiple destinations in Cuba. The airport has also added Edelweiss Air to its airline roster with new twice-weekly nonstop service to Zurich, Switzerland. (Contact: Janet Zink, 813-554-1460, JZink@TampaAirport.com)

Port of Tampa Reports Single-Day Record for Cruise Passengers

The Port of Tampa, the nation's eighth-largest cruise port, set a single-day record for passenger throughput on November 20^th when an estimated 12,623 passengers embarked and disembarked on three cruise ships. Tampa's robust cruise activity bodes well for what the port authority projects to be a record year for number of passengers, around 940,000. Cruise lines have continued to see Tampa Bay as a strong market, reflected in the arrival of a new customer and several upgraded vessel deployments in recent months to serve this demand, including Norwegian Cruise Line, which began home port operations in Tampa with Norwegian Star in October. (Contact: Andrew Fobes, 813-905-5132, afobes@tampaport.com)

Port Citrus Looking Toward Feasibility Study, Potentially Adding Up To 400 Jobs

In 2011, the Florida Legislature designated Citrus County as a Port District. The new Citrus County Port Authority is proceeding with a feasibility study slated for completion in 2012. Funding amounting to $92,000 was allocated toward the study by the Florida Seaport Transportation and Economic Development Council; the Citrus, Levy and Marion Workforce Connection; the Citrus County Economic Development Council's private funds and the business license tax reserve fund. Pending positive results from the study, it's anticipated that the Port will develop quickly into a functional commercial port providing ready access to the Gulf of Mexico and potentially adding between 200 and 400 permanent jobs at above averages wages for Citrus County. (Contact: John Siefert, john@citrusedc.com)

Tampa Bay Higher Education Institutions Collaborate to Expand Educated Workforce

Pasco-Hernando Community College (PHCC), Hillsborough Community College (HCC) and St. Petersburg College (SPC) have joined a consortium with the University of South Florida (USF) to facilitate the transition of their graduates to USF and to help expand the educated workforce in the region. USF will guarantee Associates in Arts (A.A.) and Associates in Science (A.S.) graduates of the two-year colleges, who meet grade point average requirements, admission to the university and give them preferential admission. (Contact Lucy Miller, 727-816-3448, millerl@phcc.edu)