Launch Tally celebrated their recent launch with a “Liftoff” event on March 23 in the FSU Turnbull Conference Center. The College of Communication and Information is a founding member of this initiative that brings together Tallahassee’s technology companies, non-profits, government agencies, universities, and entrepreneurs to create awareness and resources around technology opportunities and talent in our community.
Tallahassee, while often overlooked, has a rapidly growing tech sector with over 100 local tech companies. One goal of Launch Tally is to bring together these local companies to help them grow and to bring awareness to the many opportunities in tech in the Tallahassee area.
“The creation of Launch Tally is really important because it helps continue to drive awareness of Tallahassee’s growing tech sector. Over the last five years that sector has grown by 13% and is projected to grow by over 7% in the next five years,” Cristina Paredes, Director of Tallahassee-Leon County Office of Economic Vitality, shared with CCI.
CCI works directly with Launch Tally both to support an important industry to our local community as well as to create and share opportunities for our students who often are unaware of the abundance of local tech companies and the opportunities they provide. Lauren Scala, a current CCI student who attended Launch Tally’s “Liftoff” event, stated, “I think it’s really important for companies to utilize the student populations that we have at FAMU, FSU, and TCC to go forward with their companies and keep people involved in the Tallahassee community.”
The connection between local college students and tech companies is both vital and mutually beneficial. The local tech industry is growing quickly, creating a need for more IT talent here in Tallahassee, and students are always on the hunt for internships to prepare them for their future as well as post-graduation jobs to launch their careers in tech. The current issue is that many students believe they need to go elsewhere to find those opportunities, while, in reality, they exist in their own backyard. This is one of the goals that Launch Tally hopes to solve by building visibility for the Tallahassee tech industry.
Bryan Gibson, owner and principal of i2x Solutions, spoke on the desire to engage local students saying, “We’re hoping doing things like this, getting them engaged in the community, seeing other businesses, seeing other people work in the same positions that they have, that they’ll stay, that they’ll form bonds, they’ll form relationships, they’ll set roots, and then we get another generation of technical people here in Tallahassee.”
Ebe Randeree, Associate Dean in the College has been working with local and national tech companies for many years. He said that “CCI has built strong connections with local companies, and this effort will help build and grow the community to support the technology industry in town with a direct benefit to FSU students.”
To learn more about or get involved with Launch Tally, visit https://www.launchtally.com/
To get connected to the local tech community, join the platform: https://tlh.ramenlife.co/