Xcelience to expand Tampa HQ
TAMPA, FL (August 15, 2011) – Xcelience, a Tampa, FL-based contract research organization, is expanding its footprint and more than doubling its employment over the next three years.
“We have weathered the economic crisis and feel honored by the confidence our long-term clients have shown in us throughout. Now, as our business experiences a strong rebound, we are poised to ensure that we have the capacity and staff to maintain the highest level of quality for our rapidly-expanding customer base,” says CEO and President Derek Hennecke.
Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn applauded the expansion as a boost to local efforts to grow the Tampa Bay area’s biotechnology industry. Says Buckhorn, “Xcelience’s expansion further demonstrates that Tampa is the perfect environment to successfully start and grow biotech companies. We are extremely proud to join in today’s announcement and look forward to the company’s continued success.”
Xcelience will be expanding its 24,000 square feet existing facility with the addition of nine rooms (1,000 square feet), as well as developing a brand new 24,000 square feet facility a short distance away to help accommodate 45 new employees. The new jobs made the company eligible for a Florida Qualified Targeted Industry Tax Refund incentive award of $135,000. To qualify for QTI, the new jobs must pay average salaries meeting or exceeding 115% ($46,833) of the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater MSA’s average annual wages. “Xcelience’s expansion is great news for the state of Florida as well as for Tampa,” says Enterprise Florida President Gray Swoope. “It demonstrates the successful outcomes we’re achieving toward job creation, thanks to strong partnerships between our local communities and the business, economic development and government sectors.”
Xcelience headquarters is located in Tampa where there is a good base of talented workforce to build upon. “Our goal is to remain in this community”, says Hennecke. “We are excited to be a part of the local economic turn-around that we see beginning to occur in the Tampa Bay area.” Hillsborough County Commission Chairman Al Higginbotham thanked the company for expanding in Tampa and says, “We welcome Xcelience’s news of its expansion within Hillsborough County, and look forward to many years of future success from this good corporate neighbor. Nurturing the life sciences industry and support for firms such as Xcelience, will provide dividends to our economy and quality job opportunities for our citizens.”
Xcelience is poised to begin hiring, and is currently seeking chemist-II and manager positions for preformulation/formulation. Jobseekers may find more information and apply for open positions on the Xcelience website, at www.xcelience.com/formulation-development-careers/ .
Xcelience wishes to recognize each of these important institutions for the role they play in stimulating sustainable capital investment in the Florida community. Harak Associates, a local incentives management consulting firm, is an excellent resource for companies needing assistance with applications and reimbursement processes for state, regional, and local tax and training grant incentive programs. The Tampa Hillsborough Economic Development Corporation is officially designated by Enterprise Florida as Hillsborough County’s primary business recruitment economic development team. The EDC partners with Hillsborough County and the cities of Tampa, Plant City, Temple Terrace and private Investors. Its primary mission is to create jobs that pay above average wages and to broaden the tax base by generating new, sustainable capital investment.
About Xcelience:
Xcelience deals in early-stage pharmaceutical development challenges, and has been improving client outcomes by reliably expediting drug development for more than a decade. Established in 1997, Xcelience (www.xcelience.com) is a contract research organization that provides formulation development, preformulation, analytical, and clinical trial manufacturing to a global client base. For more detailed information contact: Kim Black-Washington, Director, Marketing & Strategic Development , 5415 West Laurel Street, Tampa, FL 33607; PH: (813) 286-0404; CELL: (206) 218-7714; E-Mail: Kim.Black-Washington@Xcelience.com; Twitter: Xcelience; FB: Xcelience
