High-Tech Firms Keep Talent at Home
Published Oct 22, 2009
Advanced technology has moved out of the incubators and into the mainstream throughout The Research Valley, and the entire region is taking notice.
By providing technology and services to a growing sector of government and private clients, Fibertown is one such success story. The company, which began in the late 1990s and provides office space, storage/backup network capabilities and a host of other related services, has now launched a $3.2 million expansion to its downtown Bryan center.
This comes on top of some $18 million the firm has already plowed into its local operation, and shows how much confidence it has in the area, says Randall Spradley, executive vice president of development for Fibertown.
“We have two Tier 2 and one Tier 4 data centers downtown, and we serve people who have a tech bias, people who need the bandwidth and who want to have an urban experience,” Spradley says.
Proximity to Texas A&M University is an asset, as is the city’s physical relation to the coast – near enough to Houston for convenience, but far enough inland to survive a hurricane.
“We are very popular with a lot of Houston-based companies that have very specific and demanding backup requirements,” he says. “We also have several hundred working stations for disaster recovery and business continuity, spaces that are built specifically for companies and that are not shared.”
Also raising its local and regional profile is StarVision Technologies Inc., which was founded in 2003 and designs, develops and manufactures intelligent electro-optic technologies and products for unmanned vehicles, government and commercial satellite and advanced missile-system markets.
In 2008 the company received the Texas Emerging Tech Fund Grant Award, which brought a $750,000 infusion to help complete the SpeedStar™ product, a new altitude determination sensor system that improves the performance and reduces the cost of satellites.
The recognition is the latest success for the homegrown company, a spinoff of Texas A&M University’s initiative to commercialize intellectual property. These days it continues to work on its research and development, as well as serve as an anchor for a growing high-tech sector in the region, says Michael Jacox, president and founder.
“The Research Valley’s appeal for start-up and growth is collaboration with faculty that are engaged in cutting edge research, some of it ripe for transition to products,” Jacox says.
The availability of graduate students who have conducted faculty research creates a pool of young, entry-level employees, but the area is also attractive for more seasoned professionals who want to put down roots in a region that is rich in technology-based companies, Jacox says.
“Those people who have a lot of experience like to know they have options, and the Brazos Valley is starting to grow more of these companies,” he says.
It’s a sentiment echoed by Spradley. “We are impacting the growth of a sustainable tech community here,” he says. “Texas A&M is one of the most important research centers, and something that Fibertown and other companies can do is put into place a reliable tech infrastructure. We are creating an environment where professionals can work, and stay, with confidence.”
Story by Joe Morris
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