Escambia County Business Journal SPEC I A L R EPORT
TARGETS OF OPPORTUNITY FloridaWest reaches out to mobile cybersecurity professionals BY STEVE BORNHOFT
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n the economic development business, “targets of opportunity” as Scott Luth likes to call them, don’t stand still. They change and come and go in response to market forces, innovation and local, national and global events and trends. Luth, the longtime CEO at the FloridaWest Economic Development Alliance, also has found that narrowly targeted prospecting efforts succeed better than broad spectrum ones. Those considerations were very much in play when FloridaWest began focusing attention on cybersecurity as a source of jobs in 20ı5. “It’s a growth opportunity that complements the military presence here,” Luth said. “Pensacola is known, of course, as the ‘Cradle of Naval Aviation’ and as the home of the Blue Angels, but less well known is the fact that we are the cradle of cybersecurity. Early cryptology
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was taking place here back in the early ı950s, work that was the predecessor to modern-day cybersecurity efforts.” Through recent years, FloridaWest has been instrumental in making Pensacola the capital of the “Cybercoast.” Cybersecurity businesses rely on talent, and for that reason, Luth has been pleased to see schools at all levels in Escambia County add curriculum and programs that will produce the kind of highly skilled employees those companies require. He cited cybersecurity academies in K-ı2 schools, the cyber program at the George Stone Technical School, construction of a new science/ technology building at Pensacola State College and the heralded Center for Cybersecurity at the University of West Florida. Pensacola and Escambia County, then, are “growing their own” even as Luth & Co. work to attract established cybersecurity professionals
from around the country to the area. In that connection, FloridaWest has launched a website, cybercoastflorida.com, and is embarking on a “Remote from Here” campaign that appeals to people with the capacity to work from anywhere. “The campaign has three targets,” explained Sena Maddison, the communications director at FloridaWest. “We think of it as ‘Bring Your Laptop, Bring Your Dog, Bring Your Company.’ ” That is, someone with a job in cybersecurity and living in a cold, expensive locale might be tempted to move to Pensacola and work with the soothing sound of a lightly crashing surf in the background. “If you don’t have a job, there are a lot of great companies hiring here, so just bring your dog and we will find you a job,” Maddison said, adding that FloridaWest has created an express lane for people with security clearances because they are in such high demand. “Or
