Coastal Cloud Named as One of Fifty 2015 Florida Companies to Watch

PALM COAST, Fla. - Sept. 21, 2015 - PRLog -- Coastal Cloud is among 50 statewide companies expected to see signiticant growth over the next several years. Coastal Cloud was selected from more than 500 nominees. Florida Companies to Watch^SM is a statewide program managed by economic development group GrowFL, in association with the Edward Lowe Foundation. This means that they are among 50 statewide companies expected to see significant growth over the next several years.

Coastal Cloud’s management team, competitive market position and strong community involvement were among several factors that put them in contention for the award.

“These stand-out companies are all led by entrepreneurs, and have demonstrated their capacity and intent to grow,” said Dr. Tom O’Neal, executive director of the Florida Economic Gardening Institute and associate vice president for the University of Central Florida’s Office of Research and Commercialization.  “They all have critical intellectual property or a niche position that gives them a competitive edge in their markets,” he said.

The 50 companies named the 2015 Florida Companies to Watch generated a total of more than $1.2 billion in revenue and added nearly 1,000 employees between 2011 and 2014. Together, the companies project a 23 percent increase in revenue and 19 percent increase in job growth in 2015.

“This is a strong group of companies that deserve this special recognition given annually to the state's top second stage companies,” said Dr. O’Neal.  Second-stage companies are defined as those with six to 99 full-time employees and between $750,000 and $50 million in annual revenue. There are many programs and incubators promoting start-up businesses; GrowFL is the only Florida program that focuses exclusively on second-stage companies.

“We are extremely proud to have been selected to be among GrowFL’s list of the 2015 Florida Companies to Watch. We believe the Software as a Service (SaaS) technology revolution has disrupted the IT consulting model,” says Tim Hale, Coastal Cloud Managing Partner and co-founder.  “SaaS implementations are not well suited for offshoring.  Time zone, communications, staff turnover and other issues associated with offshore IT significantly undermine the nimbleness which is the hallmark of SaaS implementations.  We are proving that a nimble, high-touch, deeply skilled US team at a reasonable price point can provide more value than offshore providers and expensive consultants in the large metro areas,” Hale added.

“Reaching 100 clients in such a short period while maintaining a 100% customer retention rate speaks volumes about our business model and our team,” said Sara Hale, also a Coastal Cloud Managing Partner and co-founder. “Our commitment to have 100% of our technology team Salesforce.com Certified with an intense focus on client satisfaction has paid off.”

Coastal Cloud employs a “hub and spoke” model to best serve its customers. Half of its consulting and development team are concentrated in the company’s SaaS (Software as a Service) solution center, or hub, in Northeast Florida, where the lifestyle is outstanding but living costs are substantially below those of traditional high tech cities. Other team members (spokes) can be found near Coastal Cloud’s clients, providing a local presence from D.C. to Denver and Hawaii.

Coastal Cloud ranks first in customer satisfaction among all Salesforce.com partners in the southeast and second in the number of Salesforce.com certifications earned by its consultants. They were recently recognized as a Salesforce.com Gold Level Cloud Alliance Partner, making the company the only Salesforce.com partner based in the southeastern U.S. to achieve that level.

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About Coastal Cloud

Coastal Cloud was founded in 2013 by Tim and Sara Hale. Coastal Cloud is built on a next generation consultancy and delivery model that maximizes the value available from SaaS solutions.   Embracing the concept of rural-sourcing, the company’s ‘SaaS Solution Center’ is based in a lower cost area of Northeast Florida that provides its employees with an exceptional quality of life and an affordable cost of living.  Coastal Cloud team members live at the beach and work in the cloud, both literally and virtually. In only 2 ½ years, Coastal Cloud has grown to 75 employees and 100 private and public sector clients from healthcare, telecommunications, high tech, real estate, economic and workforce development and non-profits. The company is located at 1 Hammock Beach Pkwy in Palm Coast, FL. Learn more at www.CoastalCloud.us.

About GrowFL

GrowFL provides strategies, resources and support, including strategic research and peer-to-peer CEO mentoring and leadership development, to second-stage Florida companies.  Created by the Florida legislature in 2009 and grounded in the philosophy of Economic Gardening® —  growing existing businesses in a community, region or state — GrowFL is a critical component of the state’s economic development strategy and Florida’s entrepreneurial ecosystem. GrowFL is certified by the National Center for Economic Gardening through the Edward Lowe Foundation.  Website: www.growfl.com. Finalists are listed at http://growfl.com/flctw15/meet-the-winners/.

About the Edward Lowe Foundation:

Established in 1985, the Edward Lowe Foundation is a national, nonprofit organization that supports entrepreneurship through research, recognition and educational programs, which are delivered through entrepreneur support organizations (ESOs).  The foundation focuses on second-stage companies — those that have moved beyond the startup phase and seek significant, steady growth. In addition, the foundation has a second mission of land stewardship and is committed to preserving the natural resources and historically significant structures at Big Rock Valley, its 2,600-acre home in southwest Michigan.