UK Software Company Selects Indian River County FL

July 7, 2011 - PRLog -- A U.K.-based computer software and services firm has selected Indian River County, FL as its U.S. corporate headquarters.  “SMI Telecoms, a specialist provider of OSS and IT Service Management solutions to global communications organizations, announced their decision based upon the recent approval of the County’s Local Jobs Grant,” stated Helene Caseltine, Economic Development Director for the Indian River County Chamber of Commerce.  
Working with the Chamber, SMI Telecom (http://www.smi-t.com/) recently applied for a Jobs Grant.  The company is creating new job positions for its operations center in Indian River County and will be recruiting over the next several years.  Based on the wages paid, companies are eligible to apply for the county’s Local Jobs Grant program if they create, or plan to create, new jobs paying higher than the county’s average wage.  The grant is payable over a 3-year period after the jobs are in place.  The Board of County Commissioners approved SMI Telecoms' application at their regular meeting on July 5.  The county’s Economic Development Council had unanimously agreed to recommend the application for approval at their regular meeting in June.
Phil Brooks, CEO of SMI Telecoms, explains that “Indian River County offers our business the opportunity to create a U.S. team that is dedicated and loyal to our business objectives.  We have undertaken local analysis and believe that there is the required talent and future potential to establish robust operational capability to support our growth in the Americas.”
Helene Caseltine, the Chamber’s Economic Development Director, noted that the company initially explored locations in the Southeastern U.S., until NetBoss Technologies’ CEO, Jim Odom, encouraged the company to look at Indian River County.  SMI Telecoms recently signed a partnership agreement with NetBoss (http://www.netboss.com/).  Crediting Odom with this company recruitment, Caseltine added, “This is a perfect example of how to cultivate that vendor-supplier network with our existing industry base.  Through our business retention activities, and our county embracing new business, we have developed a positive environment for new job creation.”
   Odom remarked, “SMI Telecoms has been a great partner. When I mentioned to Phil that he needed to make Sebastian his U.S. Headquarters, he looked at me and said, ‘That is a great idea’. We made a few calls and arranged for SMI Telecom to share space in our facility located in Liberty Park, west of the city of Sebastian.”  County Commissioner Peter O’Bryan adds, “This is the culmination of several years of hard work laying the foundation whereby a local business owner can recommend Indian River County to a partner business as a great place to locate your National Headquarters. It shows that Indian River County is truly business friendly.”
For more information on locating or expanding a business in Indian River County, call Helene Caseltine at the Indian River County Chamber of Commerce at 772-567-3491 or visit http://www.indianriverchamber.com/.

# # #

The Indian River County Chamber represents hundreds of businesses providing our members and the community with valuable services to keep our county competitive into the next century.