The Next Silicon Valley

Everybody knows Sarasota is a great place to retire. Our famous Siesta Key Beach has some of the whitest sand in the country. We enjoy more cultural attractions than most small cities in Florida. Even our peak-season traffic is nothing compared to Tampa, Orlando, or any stretch of I-95.

Sarasota is the crown jewel of Florida’s west coast. So why can’t we be the next Silicon Valley?

Is it the lack of technology titans; life-as-we-know-it-changing businesses like Microsoft and Apple, Google and Amazon?

Every tech titan started out as a small business. Their storied beginnings, in garages and in dorm rooms, are always fraught with frequent failures and a dire lack of funding. The difference isn’t luck. More of than not it simply boils down to persistence and timing.

Is it the lack of major research institutions; breaking down barriers, pushing the envelope, and churning out next-generation job applicants?

Admittedly they both have small enrollments, but between New College of Florida and Ringling College of Art and Design we have two world-renowned educational facilities located in town. There are another half-dozen colleges and universities in Sarasota, and Florida, the third most populous state in the country, has a dozen public universities in our state system.

Is it a lack of entrepreneurial spirit, the next big idea, or startup capital?

Sarasota’s retirement community is a melting pot of corporate success stories and a brain trust of business experience. Albeit a much smaller segment of our population, we have our share of millennials and digital natives who seem to be hard-wired risk-takers when it comes to their careers. When it comes to investable assets, here are a few numbers:

Sarasota County (according to taxexemptworld.com)

Total number of non-profit organizations = 3,145
Total income amount from non-profit organizations = $1,843,039,619
Total asset amount from non-profit organizations = $3,355,357,224

Based on my experience of working in technology for 15 years and living in Sarasota for almost 30, I would say no, it’s not a lack of tech titans, higher education, better ideas, or funding. The reason why Sarasota can’t become the next Silicon Valley is a lack of vision.

There are two sides to our vision problem. On one side we lack leadership, and on the other side we lack followers.

In my opinion the leadership must come from the business community. Our local elected officials are either too busy arguing about noise ordinances or too inept to park cars (on a leased lot, in a new garage, or at a meter), let alone lead Sarasota towards a more diversified economy.

Likewise the followers must also come from the business community. Every job creator and every job seeker should rally behind this concept of Sarasota becoming the next Silicon Valley because the opposition, those who deny the possibility, is the same well-organized group who don’t want developers to build more neighborhoods, don’t want to pay for more roads, and don’t see the point of educating children.

I’m not pointing my finger at retirees, although I suspect they make up a majority of the opposition just like the demographics of Sarasota County.

I’m referring to the kind of people who move downtown to enjoy the lifestyle and then complain about the nightlife. They’re like the people, whose family emigrated from somewhere a generation or two ago, who complain about immigrants.

The opposition has a clear vision for Sarasota, and it’s, "We're closed for business."

We have many business organizations in town; from the Greater Sarasota Chamber of Commerce and the Economic Development Corporation of Sarasota County to dozens of industry-specific groups and professional associations. Most are too busy competing with regional counterparts, or too focused on their issue du jour to foster visionary leadership for Sarasota.

However, if you believe Sarasota could become the next Silicon Valley, then you should support the Suncoast Technology Forum. STF is a small group of technology businesses and professionals in Manatee, Sarasota, and Charlotte Counties who are dedicated to growing and diversifying our economy.

Like most volunteer organizations STF struggled for many years with an identity crisis, regionalism, issues du jour, a lack of leadership, and not enough followers. Three years ago we rebranded the organization and aligned our membership rates with the Tampa Bay Technology Forum.

The move didn’t spur the growth we wanted, but we learned an important lesson about the value of collaboration. By working with local leaders from Barcamp Sarasota-Bradenton and Spark Growth and regional groups like TBTF and the Florida High Tech Corridor Council we identified differentiators and built relationships.

This week STF is conducting a focus group with about a dozen technology professionals, local businesspeople who are not currently members of the organization. The purpose of the meeting is to learn how STF can provide value to their businesses so they become stakeholders in the organization.

Next week STF’s Techbyte Luncheon speaker is Jesse Biter, a technology leader who shared his ‘Silicon Valley’ vision for downtown Sarasota at last month’s Lakewood Ranch Business Alliance meeting. Be sure to register online today to hear Jesse’s inspiring story.

And the week after that Milestone Marketing Associates will launch the new STF website. Of course we think it’s a dramatic improvement over the old website, but we’ll let the members be the judge.

Will Sarasota ever become the next Silicon Valley? Perhaps not, and one might argue that’s a good thing. If you prefer state income taxes and more business regulations to go with your quality of life then you can move your company to California.

Other than the opposition, there’s no reason why Sarasota can’t become the Silicon Suncoast. We just need visionary leaders and dedicated followers to make it happen.

Until next week,

Matthew Anderson, President
Milestone Marketing Associates, Inc.