Fire 
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TAMPA BAY INNO'S 2019 COOLEST COMPANIES
Tampa Bay's startup scene doesn't need bean bag chairs or fake grass — although it's got that, too.
The startup scene has Instagram-worthy perks, yes, but most Tampa Bay entrepreneurs are focused on the building blocks of creating a solid culture for its employees. This means healthcare completely covered by the company, large amounts of PTO and paying for certification and training courses.
Because Tampa Bay's startup scene is still emerging, business owners have the benefit of letting trendy perks pass while paying attention to the ones that matter.
"If you look out West, who have dry cleaning and paid cafeterias perks — I don't know if that's reached here yet," Chon Nguyen, who founded both Newgentek and FusionPrep, said. "But I think some of the things that we’re doing is just becoming table stakes. When folks come in to interview, if you don't have healthcare, it’ll hurt you."
Perhaps the biggest perk offered to employees is also the one that can benefit the Tampa Bay economy for years to come.
"With profit sharing, it gives folks a sense of ownership and skin in the game," Nguyen said. "It gives them an ownership mentality, because they have the stake in the outcome. And there's been exits with companies like ConnectWise and some employees go the larger companies — so as Tampa matures as a city, they're hanging around and participating in other startups and that helps the ecosystem as a whole."
Profit sharing has become a large trend in startups, most notably with ConnectWise. The company, which recently became a billion dollar unicorn, was acquired. Because CEO Arnie Bellini strongly believed in being a completely employee-owned company, the acquisition redeemed $270 million in stocks, creating roughly 70 millionaires.
"It’s generating lots more jobs in the area — more high-tech jobs — and a whole bunch of young millionaires,” Bellini said in a previous interview with Tampa Bay Inno. “We see it as a seminal event, as a tipping point. I’m hoping part of the legacy of ConnectWise is, when we look back in 50 years, people will say, ‘That’s the company that kickstarted things.'”
Now, flip the cards to check out why we chose these 10 startups with the coolest culture.
A-LIGN
A-LIGN employees are a unique blend of innovation and dedication. The company values people as much as results — every A-LIGN employee is recognized, encouraged and celebrated around their creativity and innovation. Employees’ opinions, their unique voice and ideas are valued across all levels of the organization from executives to interns. The organization is fast-paced, and the people are ambitious with enthusiastic mindsets. The Tampa-based company strives to build a collaborative culture that embraces its employees and their ideas.
Why do employees love A-LIGN so much? One reason that stands out is the top-tier benefits, including unlimited paid time off, vacation bonus, month-long sabbatical after five years of employment, highly personalized training programs, certification reimbursement, paid health care benefits, 401(k) employer matching, the opportunity to work remotely from anywhere and a technology allowance. Additionally, A-LIGN encourages each employee to take a paid day off to volunteer at a nonprofit organization of their choice. The company wants to help the Tampa Bay community and encourage its employees to do the same.
One of the favorite perks and contributions to the culture is the three-day CLIMB event training and team-building event. This year, the company celebrated its 10 year anniversary in Denver. During the three-day event, employees organized a charity 5K challenge that benefited two local non-profit organizations, attended trainings, had educational opportunities and free time to explore the city with their families. Unlike other corporate training events, CLIMB demonstrates how important family life is to the success of its employees. By inviting families to this event, they reward employees with family time away from home and creating a unique way to celebrate the company-wide accomplishments together.
BeniComp
BeniComp isn’t your traditional health insurance company. You won’t find employees in blue blazers and khakis. They've been called the “the cool health insurance company," not only because they were riding scooters before it was cool (and continue to do so with passion) but because at their core, they are an ever-moving force for positive culture.
Their mission is to fix health care so that it helps people live healthier and wealthier lives through prevention, innovation and transparency. They do so by not adhering to traditional work trends, but instead doing initiatives like “athleisure wear” Mondays and Fridays, which let employees feel comfortable and agile in the office. This initiative is part of their belief that impacting our nation’s health care and inspiring others to take control of their health.
At BeniComp, there is the culture to work together to overcome challenges and celebrate wins. Everyone collaborates with one another, from executives to assistants. All are encouraged to take initiative and strategize solutions to fill gaps and challenges they see. Employees are empowered with personal and professional development as they are intentionally given unique roles that leverage their skills and passions to meet success.
And despite being a “58-year-old startup,” the office is more Silicon Valley. There are four distinct sections: the creative lounge, the think tank, the nutrition lab and the communication station. Each has their own treasures (white board walls, bean bags, cornhole, scooters, snacks, stand/sit desks, gongs, bells, footballs and yoga balls to name a few). Each encompasses BeniComp's spirit for tackling America’s healthcare crisis through various approaches.
Clickbooth
As the entire Clickbooth team attests, their greatest asset isn’t a physical product or intellectual property, it’s their people. And they're working hard to create a culture in which they can thrive.
When asked why they love working at Clickbooth, the 250 total employees repeatedly cite the interpersonal relationships that develop within the team. In its most recent company survey, 98 percent of respondents agreed or strongly agreed that they feel proud to tell people where they work.
They work hard and play hard, and it shows in both the bottom line and employee tenure. The Sarasota-based work environment is relaxed and supportive - there's flexible scheduling, generous PTO time, an “open-door” policy with the leadership team, fun incentives like Brew Bus, Beer Cart Fridays and much more.
With multiple acquisitions in recent years, the company is quickly expanding. This past month, they moved to a new office in order to accommodate the growth. The new space is complete with a 14-piece couch, a moss wall, a jungle gym (designed by the architect of Google’s office decor) and private “plug and play” offices. As a company that employs many young parents, they also have a private wellness room for new mothers to pump. During the summer, there are ‘early out’ Fridays where employees leave at 2pm or, if the sales teams meet their goals, noon.
From the incredible benefits package to the fun work environment, creative incentives and a progressive approach to business, Clickbooth is, by far, one of the coolest places to work in Florida.
Homeowner’s Financial Group
Homeowners Financial Group likes to say its initials (HFG) also stand for the core values of homeownership, family and giving back.
HFG treats its employees – which they also call “homies” – like family and shows its appreciation through awards, peer recognition, annual trips, gift cards, meals and company events, including office potlucks, holiday parties, happy hours, charitable events and more.
Culture is placed top of mind through the culture committee, which was established to maintain and expand its award-winning corporate culture. The committee is broken out into four regions, and the culture is so strong in HFG’s Tampa branch that the group lead for the entire Florida region is in Tampa.
The company has a policy that allows employees to volunteer their time during work hours. Each year, HFG hosts two seasonal charity initiatives to give back to the local community. In winter of 2018, the Tampa branch partnered with the charity Sincerely Santa and donated 55 presents, valued at over $600, to underprivileged children.
In 2018 and 2019, HFG’s Tampa branch was honored as a “Best Place to Work” by the Tampa Bay Business Journal. The overall engagement score was calculated at 97 percent.
KnowBe4
From company outings to in-house celebrations, KnowBe4 always look for ways to encourage a positive, thriving working environment. The company has a team dedicated to making this vision a reality. The employees love to work at the Clearwater-based company for several reasons, mainly because they are engaged on a daily basis and valued as stakeholders of the company. The CEO begins every day with a company-wide meeting to interact with employees, update everyone on the daily activities of the company and practice radical transparency with employees.
The extensive benefits include a 3.5 percent 401K matching, company-wide monthly bonuses, fully paid medical insurance, gym memberships, yoga, dance lessons, $10 massage Thursdays, 6 weeks paid time off, competitive parental leave, tuition reimbursement, certification completion bonuses, relaxed dress code, end of the month lunches, movie nights, beach days, family mingles, theme park visits, evening boat cruises, an on-site life coach, frequent internal promotions, a no door policy and opportunities for all employees to participate in regular AMA (“ask me anything”) session with the CEO and lunches with him.
There's also numerous local efforts to give back to the community including: Humane Society of Pinellas pet adoption drives, school supply drives for in-need schools, Earth Day community clean ups, Red Nose Day, breast cancer awareness donation drives, blood drives, Habitat for Humanity house building projects, Toys for Tots, Angel Tree donations, participation in the local pride events and events to support veterans looking for jobs.
MyArea Network
As a startup, Tampa-based MyArea Network employees get to use their talents in multiple ways. They're challenged and inspired every day while also having a good time and enjoy working with the diverse team who love and respect each other.
The company has engaging weekly training sessions, free snacks and beer and a supportive culture that helps them create, grow and set employees' dreams to action. Even their intern, Leah Foreman, felt included in the company's culture.
“Little did I know when I accepted the internship that I would be welcomed into a wonderful, zany, close-knit family," she said. "I couldn't have picked a better place to get my feet wet before jumping into the workforce.”
Its "Comparably Culture Score" is 90 and their CEO Scott Conlon ranks 99.
Power Design Inc.
It doesn’t take long to walk the GRID – the name of the campus headquarters of St. Petersburg-based Power Design Inc. – to realize the company culture is exceptional.
Featuring an on-campus fitness center and sport court, access to innovative technologies, a 16,000 sq. ft. training and best practices facility, and robust corporate charitable programs, it’s no wonder more than 50 percent of PDI’s new hires were from employee referrals last year.
Power Design has a strong “work hard, play hard” mentality showcased in its events — ones that are so large they have an entire group dedicated to creating them with its employee engagement team. Employee appreciation is shown throughout the year with a newly-opened, employee-exclusive food truck, as well as weekly on-campus hair grooming and dry cleaning services.
Managers are trained to take a holistic approach to their colleagues’ lives. For example, employees are not seen as an 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. machine and often, schedules are altered to fit seasonal life needs with flexible work hours and work-from-home days. The family-owned company is on a mission to treat employees like true family, and in return, receive loyalty, trust and hard work.
Rising Tide Innovation Center
A scientist and a veteran, both attorneys and impassioned entrepreneurs, decided to quit dumping cash into a fancy Tampa office and do something meaningful with their money instead. They set out to create a coworking space called Rising Tide Innovation Center, where professionals, startups, entrepreneurs, tech companies, wellness coaches and creatives could interact, co-create and thrive.
An old downtown St. Pete hotel was transformed into a picturesque space with living walls, artist-created furniture, amazing artwork, rockstar staff and everything a company would need. Their hard work and investment has created not only an incredible physical place, but a vibe and a true community that is second to none.
In addition to free snacks and drinks, the space offers free education and connecting with public and private partners of the space. They also host events for the clients include Military Monday lunches every week and CEO exchange lunches.
SourceToad
When Greg Ross-Munro created Sourcetoad, he wanted it to be a place where nerds who felt like they didn't fit in the typical corporate environment could come and feel appreciated for their geeky selves.
There's much more to Sourcetoad than the awesome workspace, which includes a beer fridge and laptop treadmills. The company strives to make sure everyone feels welcomed and happy. When a new 'Toad' comes in, they are greeted with a desk full of products. One-on-ones with upper management are a regular thing so that everyone has the chance to express any concerns or just catch up. Every month there is an event planned whether it's game night, movie night, axe throwing or a Ray's game.
The Sourcetoad rule is "log 30 hours of billable time per week." This means that there are about 10 hours that employees have for other activities like learning new skills, performing client work or helping others. This leaves roughly 65 days a year for lunches, side projects, vacation, etc. That's pretty close to an unlimited vacation policy. Another perk is that since the company works within the cruise tech industry, employees get reimbursed up to $1,200 for cruise travel so that they can have first-hand experience with the technology they are working to improve.
Validity
Several things make Validity’s culture cool, not the least of which is the people.
Validity is a great place to work because it’s filled with people who are fun to be around and passionate about what they do. They celebrate each others' wins and they're there to support each other when needed. Many of them have said they are friends outside of work and all enjoy getting to know each other during regular team and company outings, at holiday parties or ice cream socials, or while playing games in the company game room.
The company appreciates work/life balance and get that with the huge perk of unlimited PTO. And they are passionate about getting together to give back, whether it’s to volunteer for a local charity, participate in a walk, or support a drive to collect toys at Christmas or back-to-school supplies in the summer.
And lastly, the culture is cool because of the feeling of ownership in the company. Part of that feeling comes from employee stock options that give employees a literal stake in the company’s growth. But the other part comes from leadership trusting that they’ve put the right people in place and showing appreciation for the talent they’ve surrounded themselves with. Leadership’s willingness to encourage creativity and allow individuals to run with their ideas has contributed greatly to the company’s ability to innovate quickly, and it’s certainly how Validity's attracted and retained such dedicated employees.
