Date: Mar 31, 2008 Author: Alexis Muellner Source: bizjournals (
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Laser spectroscopy sounds like the latest iPod gadget. It's the use of light properties to determine the composition of things -- like bombs lurking in containers.
Alakai, a company specializing in the technology, will graduate later this year from STAR TEC, the business incubator at the Young-Rainey Star Center in Largo, a large R&D complex that's home to many emerging businesses. The company has gone from two people to 12 in just a few years and is hiring away PhD's from "first tier aerospace houses," said Ed Dottery, president.
The company's mission is to protect soldiers, which has already lead to several U.S. Army contracts and expansion at Fort Leonard Wood, Mo., where Iraq street patrolling skills are taught.
Job growth in Tampa Bay, once well above the national average, is down to earth. But at the incubator, a company like Alakai has been able to forge partnerships that have lead to increased capabilities and, in turn, contracts, growth and high-paying jobs, Dottery said.
amuellner@bizjournals.com
