Some of those in attendance as speakers: Mayor Craig Lowe, Paula Delaney, Bernie Machen, Mike Gallager, Florida’s Lt Governor
A packed room full of business owners at the Hilton celebrated the new addition of MindTree. Also, as a community we’ve brought Silverwing Airways and helped Prioria establish a home at the GRU facility.
Mitch Glaeser, Chair of Chamber of Commerce, spoke – This project began under Tommy McIntosh’s leadership. Mitch introduced Scott Staples, Co-Founder and President Americas, MindTree. Scott wore a Florida Gator
tie, which everyone loved.
Scott said we are your new neighbor and that they’re glad to be here. MindTree is a global software company, provide services to Fortune 2000 companies. They do work for Ebay, Home Depot, Proctor & Gamble, Microsoft, etc. They were the best mid-size company and they are from
India. They build and test software. They have 11,000 employees around the world. They have revenues of $100M a quarter. They have revenue growth of 20% per year. They are the 2010 most admired company. Ranked #2 in Asia for Coprorate Governance. They are known for their culture,
with unwavering dedication, and they worship integrity. Integrity is #1. Clients come to them for their abilites but companies stay with them because of their culture.
One of the cool things he likes is that he can say “Yaw” in Gainesville. The whole U.S. was in the running for their presence but they narrowed it down to the Southeast. They called all the major Universities next. The State of Florida had fantastic statistics about the success of the companies located here, many of whom were their clients. They needed a community that thrived on innovation and action. He said Gainesville was the most well orchestrated message he saw in the entire State.
Tim Tebow sent him a signed football and said Gainesville was good to him and it will be good for MindTree too. Scott will be sending the same thanks to Tebow that NJ was just as good for them and will be good to Tebow.
Other states and communities wanted them. He said Gainesville needed them and they needed Gainesville. They need help hiring good people. They are bringing 400 jobs over the next 5 years. They are gonna renovate the Ayers building and asked Ed Poppell how the building permit
was going. Everyone laughed. He congratulated Brent Christensen and said he was fantastic during the whole orchestration. Scott gave Brent a conductor piece award.
Scott gave an analogy of how important this was for the community. Long story short, he wants to win a national championship and bring 500 jobs, 600 jobs, and so on. This has to be a success because their clients want it and they want it. He wants to make Gainesville the Silicon Valley of the southeast. The world is watching.
Mitch then introduced Jennifer Carroll, Lt. Governor for Florida. She talked about how good a decision Scott made to bring MindTree here.
Mitch then introduced UF President Bernie Machen. He said MindTree is the exact company we were all looking for to spark our movement. Bernie told Scott that Gainesville has really taken he and his wife and made them part of this community. He said UF is here to do what it can to help them anyway they can. He introduced their head of the College of Engineering to discuss the training their students go thru.
She said this introduction is exactly what their College looks to create. In the last 5 years, College of Engineering has produced $300M in outside funding. She thanked Scott for their decision.
Mitch introduced County Commissioner Paula DeLaney. She talked about how incredible Innovation Square is.
Mitch introduced Mayor Craig Lowe who jokingly told Rick Drummond to make sure the permit is ready for MindTree in Ayers. He thanked GRU for their help in infrastructure, among others. He was very thankful to MindTree for their decision.
Mitch ended by thanking a number of companies for making this happen and singled out Ed Poppell, Brent Christensen, and David Ramsey.