TBIC Nurtures 2 New Innovative Companies

The Tampa Bay Innovation Center (TBIC-formerly STAR TEC) in Largo helps innovative Florida entrepreneurs get their businesses launched. The Pinellas County-based center, created in 2003, lists dozens of businesses among its successes.

Among its latest innovative clients: MilitaryParts.com and Talent Sprocket. Both businesses participated in the center’s IDEA camp in April. At the camp, TBIC took notice of the two startups and is now offering its help to grow each business.

MilitaryParts.com has a monitoring system for government contracts that matches a company’s qualifications to federal, state and/or county government contracts. The system maintains government purchasing history, which helps businesses find a contract that will work for them. It also monitors government contracts expiration dates.

Talent Sprocket offers an automated analytics service that helps employers find their ideal employee using a candidate screening tool.
“Talent Sprocket is like an e-Harmony for employers,” says Danielle Weitlauf, manager of TBIC. “When an employer has several job candidates for a position, Talent Sprocket gives the potential employees a questionnaire. The screening tool analyzes the responses and lets the employer know how closely matched the candidate is with the ideal candidate.”

While both businesses are in the market, TBIC is helping each company grow.

“Militaryparts.com is in our incubator program currently,” Weitlauf says. “They are working on their business plan and doing beta testing. Once they finish that, they will go into our accelerator program, which is where Talent Sprocket is currently. Our accelerator program is made up of a board of advisers who volunteer their time back to our center. They give advice to the owners on how to accelerate the growth of their
business.”

Writer: Kimberly Patterson
Source: Danielle Weitlauf, Tampa Bay Innovation Center