Tampa Bay has seen a large increase in the number of high-tech firms in the area and it may be due to the presence of the University of South Florida. Last year, the university's re-searchers had a record-breaking year with more than $181 million in contracts and grants.
     
      The university is working on a $2.2 million federal grant to test a vaccine for Alzheimer's disease. H. Lee Moffit Cancer Center is managing a $5.7 million molecular oncology project funded by the National Cancer Institute. Researchers are also developing a stormwater atlas for Hillsborough County and hope to create a watershed atlas for Seminole County.
      The local work force is growing, and local companies may periodically be forced to look outside the area for highly specific engineering graduates. Local officials are hopeful the situation will change. "I think we're in very good shape," says Dennis Colie, an economics professor at the University of South Florida. "We have a very good university here capable of putting out this so-called 'intellectual capital.'"
      Last November a German tissue-engineering firm, Co.don AG, chose the Tampa Bay area for a site. The company will invest $4 million within the next two years. Company officials developed a relationship with officials at the University of South Florida's Office of Economic Development. The company then landed an external grant through the Florida High-Tech Corridor Council. "It excited me to know that there was a focused effort to bring high-grade technology to Tampa Bay," says Tim Ganey, president of the U.S. subsidiary of Co.don AG.
      VLOC, a high-tech manufacturer of optical components, announced this spring an expansion into Pinellas County. The company plans to spend $5 million, and officials say they moved into the area because of its relatively inexpensive labor, and access to community colleges which will help them train and recruit employees.
      John Hancock opened this spring an information technology site in east Tampa. The 47,000-sq.-ft (4,366-sq.-m) facility will employ nearly 200. Merck-Medco will open this fall a 140,000-sq.-ft.(13,006-sq.-m.) prescription processing center at netp@rk.tampabay, the old Eastlake Square Mall. Company officials cite park amenities such as a child-care facility within the park, corporate dining facilities and available mass transit. Home improvement giant Home Depot plans to open a call center in east Tampa this fall. Company officials plan to employ 1,000 by fall of 2002.