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Despite the United States and Florida, in particular, becoming COVID-19 hotspots, foreign-based companies remain eager to expand here. In late July, for example, not one, but two firms — one based in Columbia, the other in the U.K. — announced the opening of offices in Tampa.
Incofilt, a maker of industrial filters, signed a lease for space at Regus, a co-working space in Tampa’s Westshore business district. The Colombian company will do business in the United States as Delasierra Filters Technology.
According to a press release, Delasierra plans to invest $1.5 million in its Tampa operations, including hiring up to 10 support engineers. The company says it spent several years on market research and strategic planning before selecting Tampa for its U.S. headquarters. Tampa, it says in the release, was chosen because of its convenient port access, open-market trade agreements, a diverse pool of highly qualified talent, a strong university system and a thriving industrial market.
“Tampa provides all of the business advantages we need from a strategic and logistical point of view, but the supportive business environment we found here was an added benefit,” states Jose Sierra, Incofilt’s director of engineering, in the release. “From the very beginning of our research and prospecting, Tampa has opened its doors to us in an exceptional way. We are convinced that with this great support, we will quickly meet all of our objectives.”
Also setting up shop in Tampa is iO Associates, a British staffing and recruiting firm that specializes in filling IT roles for companies in the financial services, insurance, medical and defense sectors. It plans to employ up to 40 people in Tampa, according to another release.
Mark Lloyd, iO Associates’ managing director, will lead the Tampa office launch. The firm is part of Precision Resource Group, headquartered in Bristol, England, with additional offices in London.
“We are thrilled to be expanding into the U.S. cloud technology space and to be introducing something new to the Tampa staffing market,” Lloyd states in the release. “Our success in the U.K. has cemented our position within the marketplace and we look forward to welcoming our new U.S. client base.”
Delasierra and iO Associates join Brazilian snack maker Cicopal Group, U.K.-based Frank Recruitment Group and Danish accessibility products manufacturer LiftUp as foreign firms that have established their U.S. headquarters in Tampa in the past two years.
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