Categories: Business

Fred Voccola, CEO Of Kaseya, Explains Why Florida Is An Ideal Business State

From spring breaks to theme parks, Florida is known for many things, but being a tech hub hasn’t been one, until recently.

That’s changing more each year, and Kaseya CEO Fred Voccola was ahead of the curve when he moved the company’s headquarters to Miami in 2018.

IMAGE: UNSPLASH

The cybersecurity and IT management software company spans multiple floors across four buildings in Miami’s Brickell neighborhood, also known as the area’s Financial District. It’s far from where the company was founded in Silicon Valley, but Voccola emphasizes the benefits from the move.

According to Voccola, one of the biggest perks of the Sunshine State is the people.

“We’re finding really dedicated employees,” said Fred Voccola. “Especially in Miami, the city is full of a lot of first-generation immigrants that want to work hard to support their families, grow their careers, and transform their lives. We weren’t finding talent like that anywhere else.”

And Kaseya isn’t afraid to make a pledge to these driven individuals. In fact, the company plans to hire 3,400 people in its Miami office alone over the next three years – with a county grant of $4.56 million to help them do it.

This initiative is the largest technology job creation economic incentive package supported by Miami-Dade County.

But where can Kaseya find over 3,000 qualified individuals? It all starts by working with local universities.

Kaseya boasts partnerships with multiple colleges and universities in the Miami area, including Florida International University and Miami-Dade College, among others.

The company works with these universities to inform curriculum and give current students on-the-job training, with hopes of hiring them after they graduate. And once hired, it’s not uncommon for Kaseya employees to return to their alma mater to talk to current students about their expertise and what the “real world” is like.

This ensures a pipeline of qualified applicants that know about Kaseya’s mission before they even start at the company.

Securing the naming rights to the Miami HEAT’s arena certainly didn’t hurt either – in fact, the company has seen a 60% increase in applications for all Miami-based positions since their name graced the building of the 2023 NBA Eastern Conference Finals.

Of course, with economic uncertainty plaguing business owners and inflation causing the cost of living to rise, labor is getting more and more expensive every day.

And Florida is seeing a rise in the cost of labor, just like everywhere else. Miami’s rates, however, are miniscule when compared to other tech hot spots like Silicon Valley, New York City, and Boston.

This is one of the reasons Kaseya can proactively hire while so many other tech companies are laying off employees.

While many think of Florida as a great place to travel for pleasure, it’s quickly becoming the next business hot spot – and Kaseya is ahead of the curve.