Vince Mayfield and Louis Erickson found the the right environment for business success in Northwest Florida. [Photo: Ray Stanyard]

In Austin, Texas, they were just two guys running a computer software firm from home. But in Fort Walton Beach, Florida — with its affordable class A office space, a lower cost of living, less traffic and proximity to several universities and colleges — Vince Mayfield and his lifelong friend Louis Erickson became two business owners who returned to their home state of Florida to find the perfect location and grow their firm into something beyond either’s wildest expectations.

In less than 10 years since they started working together, Mayfield and Erickson went from two ordinary guys in a garage to the savvy owners of Bit-Wizards Custom Software Solutions, which in 2009 ranked No. 1617 on Inc. magazine’s list of the “Top 5000 Fastest Growing Privately Held Firms.” Their company generated $2.4 million in revenue in 2009 and, in 2010, was named one of “Florida’s Best Companies to Work For” by Florida Trend magazine.

Regional Assets Universities/Colleges • Chipola College • Florida A&M University • Florida State University • Gulf Coast Community College • Northwest Florida State College • Pensacola State College • Tallahassee Community College • University of West Florida Airports • Northwest Florida Beaches ? ? International Airport • Northwest Florida Regional Airport • Pensacola Gulf Coast Regional Airport • Tallahassee Regional Airport Seaports • Port Panama City • Port of Pensacola • Port St. Joe Marina

Not a bad feat, says Mayfield, considering they were never in this for the money. “We didn’t start this company to get rich quick,” he says. “We started it because we wanted a great place to work.”

That’s not to say that the last 10 years have been completely rosy. Bit-Wizards nearly closed its doors in 2002 after a downturn in the economy but managed to survive until 2003, when Mayfield and Erickson made their first hire. Today, Bit-Wizards has 23 employees, including that first person hired in 2003.

Mayfield credits the company’s success to a combination of factors: dedication and persistence among the owners and staff, plus the concerted efforts of local economic developers who, he says, work as hard to keep existing businesses in the area as they do trying to attract new ones.

Mayfield admits that neither he nor Erickson had much in the way of business experience before launching their firm; both came from strong engineering backgrounds. “But we knew what we didn’t know,” he says acknowledging that Bit-Wizards was helped along the way by the Small Business Center at the University of West Florida, which offers fledging entrepreneurs all-day business courses. Mayfield enrolled in two courses: one on proper bookkeeping methods, the other on county licensing and permit requirements.

In 2009, Bit-Wizards received a $40,000 WIRED grant from Florida’s Great Northwest, the organization charged with distributing more than $30 million in federal grant money and matching funds to underwrite workforce development initiatives throughout Northwest Florida in certain targeted industries, such as information technology. For its part, Bit-Wizards matched the grant with $127,000 to ensure that staff members have the most up-to-date Microsoft and developer certifications as well as training to build their management skills.

Bit-Wizards experienced an explosive 198% increase in revenue between 2006 and 2008, and from Mayfield’s perspective there’s no better place to make growth happen than Northwest Florida. “In general, there’s a great climate here in Florida in terms of business,” he says. “I think it’s one of the world’s best-kept secrets.”

Demographics for the Northwest Region can be found at Business Florida's interactive map of Florida.

From education to economic development

Higher education and the research it generates provide the fuel that powers Northwest Florida’s economic engines. This 16-county region includes three nationally recognized research institutions: University of West Florida in Pensacola and, in Tallahassee, Florida State University (FSU) and Florida A&M University. In addition, Chipola College, Gulf Coast Community College, Northwest Florida State College, Pensacola State College and Tallahassee Community College supply a steady stream of skilled workers to companies across the region.

The commercialization resulting from university-based research activity has spawned a number of startup companies in Florida’s Northwest, including Tallahassee-based CICEFT Inc. Founded in 2008 by Tom Painter, an engineer at FSU’s National High Magnetic Field Laboratory — the largest and highest powered magnet laboratory in the world — CICEFT produces advanced cable-in-conduit (CIC) magnet components, which are typically used in large-bore, superconducting magnets for high-tech applications.

Numerous R&D institutes contribute to a cooperative support system for aerospace and defense technologies in Northwest Florida. In Gulf Breeze, the Andrews-Paulos Research & Education Institute applies sports-based research to enhance the performance of elite commandos and rehabilitate injured soldiers. [Photo: Andrews-Paulos Research & Education Institute]

In 2010, CICEFT was awarded a $5-million federal contract to be the U.S. supplier of cable to the ITER Magnetic Fusion Project, a joint venture of seven countries, including the United States, Russia, South Korea and India, to develop a sustainable alternative energy resource. As a result, CICEFT is growing. Now, in addition to offices and shop space at the FSU Entrepreneurial Center (incubator facility), CICEFT is leasing two hangars at the Tallahassee Regional Airport to accommodate cable assembly and testing for the project.

“I’ve always had an interest in becoming an entrepreneur,” says Painter, who came to FSU from Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1992. “I also liked living in Tallahassee; the lifestyle is laid-back and the environment can’t be beat. I’ve got some of the world’s best beaches just an hour-and-a-half away.”

Energy upgrades

Northwest Florida’s wide open spaces are particularly appealing to companies on the cutting-edge of alternative energy.

In Milton, work has begun on a new 250,000- square-foot light manufacturing, assembly and warehousing facility owned by Gulf Cable LLC. Gulf Cable and its related companies specialize in the design, production and installation of electrical systems for transmitting solar and wind energy from the point of generation to the power grid.

D. Craig Bowman, executive vice president of New Jersey-based WTEC and several of its sister companies, including Gulf Cable, says Milton proved an attractive location for the new facility for many reasons, including the fact that the company had an existing presence in the area. “We already had a management team there, and Milton offers a comfortable and productive work environment,” he says.

An attractive incentive package from Santa Rosa County and the state of Florida plus Northwest Florida’s location, which offered ready access to customers in nearby states that are on the cutting-edge of alternative energy production, helped to further solidify the deal.

Other developments in Northwest Florida’s energy sector:

Key market sector growth

Life sciences: Pensacola-based Pall Life Sciences, manufacturer of grade filtration membranes, has completed a $37.5-million capital investment in Ellyson Industrial Park, expanding its manufacturing and lab space by 40,000 square feet and hiring an additional 50 employees.

Aviation/aerospace and defense: With seven military bases, Florida’s Northwest is highly dependent on the aviation/aerospace and defense sectors for its economic well-being; in fact, aviation/aerospace and defense support service companies number approximately 1,900 across the 16-county region. One of them is Applied Research Associates in Panama City, where researchers have developed and refined a biofuel process that converts renewable oils from plants and algae into jet and diesel fuel. While developed specifically for military use, the process is expected to also have commercial applications.

Entrepreneurial Spirit

Arthur and Pamela Aveling built a booming tool business around their shared passion for King Arthur. [Photo: King Arthur's Tools]

Northwest Florida provides a welcoming environment for entrepreneurs. Consider the example of Arthur Aveling who, with his wife Pamela, launched a multi-million-dollar tool business from a Tallahassee garage.

In 1990, while tinkering in his garage, Aveling came up with the “Lancelot,” a revolutionary woodworking tool that consists of a 4-inch chainsaw blade between two steel discs attached to a hand-held angle grinder. Thanks to this tool, carpenters and artisans can toss their chisels and hammers, yet still perform fine detailing work and in half the time.

Over the last 20 years, King Arthur’s Tools has expanded from that single garage to an 8,000-square-foot facility where more than 200 tools — all named after Knights of the Round Table or other medieval period characters — are assembled and shipped to more than 50 countries. Why the King Arthur theme? It’s a play on Aveling’s own first name and, he says, just clever branding.

In December 2009 King Arthur’s Tools increased the size of its Tallahassee assembly plant by 50% and grew its staff by three. In the first half of 2010, company revenues were up 24% from the same period in 2009, and the company was pre-approved to do business with the federal government.

Aveling, a native Australian who came to Florida via Saudi Arabia, finds Tallahassee ideally situated for his tool assembly and distribution company. While the parts for his tools are made elsewhere, all assembly and distribution operations are headquartered in Northwest Florida, largely due to the ready availability of a skilled and affordable full-time workforce. For specialty projects, Aveling also is able to draw interns from nearby Florida State University.

“Entrepreneurs or businesses looking to come here will find great resources to draw on,” says Aveling. “Also the costs of land and buildings are very affordable. This is an ideal place to do business.”