The end of the year means wrapping up presents, but also wrapping up open positions within startups.
Companies welcomed new CEOs, COOs and board directors in November along with bulking up partnerships throughout the Tampa Bay region. We've got the full rundown below.
• Catalina, the St. Petersburg-based digital marketing company with a focus on retail analytics, named Wayne Powers as its new CEO. Powers comes from Michigan-based Valassis Communications Inc., where he served as the president. He will be replacing Jerry Sokol Jr., who will remain on board as a strategic advisor.
• Junior Achievement of Tampa Bay is creating an entrepreneurship academy and lab with Embarc Collective, the innovation and startup hub slated to be finished by the end of the year in downtown Tampa.
The JA Entrepreneurship & Lab at Embarc Collective will educate and encourage middle and high school students within the region about entrepreneurship and innovation. While Junior Achievement currently has an entrepreneurial program, the new academy and lab will give it a home base and also access to real-life entrepreneurs. Students will also learn skills — such as product evaluation, speaking, sales, leadership, creativity and teamwork — from the Junior Achievement staff and startup leaders.
• Tampa software provider ConnectWise made some shifts among C-level executives.
Continuum's CFO Geoffrey Willison will become COO at ConnectWise, according to Channele2e. The change comes after ConnectWise acquired Continuum in October. Willison stepped into Continuum's CFO role in May 2017 after replacing the company's founding CFO. He previously worked at The Boston Consulting Group and was the CEO for Valore, an e-commerce and digital textbook publisher.
• NetDirector, a Tampa-based cloud-based data exchange, teamed up with the North Carolina Medical Society Foundation to fight the opioid epidemic.
The foundation will use NetDirector's data integration for its virtual recovery and treatment program for patients with Opioid Use Disorder. The virtual treatment allows patients in rural areas to still receive help.
• Morgan Hill Partners welcomed four new operational partners to its team: Tania Tawil, Matt Campbell, Basit Hussain and Pete Peterson.
Zach Duffy, a co-founder of High Tech Connect, was also hired as an associate partner.
Morgan Hill Partners works with financial sponsors and growth-stage companies to help entrepreneurs achieve success. All four partners have over 20 years experience in the entrepreneurial field
• Junior Achievement of Tampa Bay also teamed up with BlockSpaces, which does everything from host panels on how to use blockchain within specific sectors to meetups for tech professionals. The duo will kick off its partnership with a Blockchain for Teens workshop on Feb. 20, 2020 at the #PAY Tampa Bay fintech event.
• Gerhard Watzinger was the latest to join KnowBe4's board of directors. Watzinger is one of now seven board members. He also serves as the chairman of CrowdStrike, a California cybersecurity company. He previously served as the executive vice president for corporate strategy and mergers and acquisitions of the McAfee business unit of Intel Corporation until March 2012.
• Florida Funders and the University of South Florida created the SEED Florida Early Stage Investment Fund through a U.S. Economic Development Administration grant to the university. The fund will work with The Institute for Commercialization of Florida Technology, a $23M fund through Florida Funders.
“The combination of the SEED Florida Fund, the institute and our crowdfunding platform has the potential to create millions in capital for seed-stage companies within the next five years,” Tom Wallace, managing partner for Florida Funders, said in a statement.
• Steven Currall, president of the University of South Florida, was chosen for the National Commission on Innovation and Competitiveness Frontiers, headed by the National Council of Competitiveness. The council is made of more than 30 university presidents, CEOs and national laboratory directors who advise on private sector actions along with measurable policy recommendations to bolster talent, infrastructure and tech throughout the nation.
