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Cloud Coverage: CoastalCloud IT company expands in Flagler

An information technology company’s plan to hire up to 100 within the next three years in Palm Coast at average salaries of $46,500 a year has been a ray of sunshine for Flagler County, which has struggled with one of the state’s highest jobless rates in recent years.

Veteran IT management specialists and entrepreneurs Tim and Sara Hale launched their CoastalCloud firm earlier this year.

Cloud computing companies charge customers for handling some or all of their digital data, which is dispersed among multiple secure computer-servers and protected with encryption. The Hales, who outlined their plans to the Flagler County Economic Development Council, say their firm will serve small and medium-size businesses at first before expanding into the government sector.

CoastalCloud is leasing space locally for now, but the Hales expect to build a headquarters in Flagler within the next two years if the startup goes well, local economic development officials say. The company was approved for state and local incentives, to be paid out along with tax breaks over a period of years if it meets various hiring and payroll goals.

The company’s goal is to hire up to 15 full-time-equivalent workers and generate revenue of $2 million in its first year. By the end of the third year, the goal is to have 100 employees on board and gross $14 million in revenue.