Merck-Medco, the leading supplier of prescription drugs in the U.S., recently opened a new 125,000-sq.-ft. (11,625-sq.-m.) call center in Tampa. At capacity, the complex will accommodate 1,000 workers by 2003.

Biomedical Takes Root
In Tampa Bay

If more high-tech employment is the goal of EFI, then there is no better example of it than in the Tampa Bay region, where corporate executives are ushering in a new era of biomedical expansion.
        At Merck-Medco, the prescription for growth can be found at two Class A facilities in Tampa: netp@rktampabay and the Hidden River Corporate Park. Altogether, more than 2,500 jobs were created, expanded or saved between the two locations.
        The payroll at Merck-Medco's new business unit at Hidden River will top $32 million.
        Merck-Medco, the nation's No. 1 provider of prescription drugs, opened a new 125,000-sq.-ft. (11,625-sq.-m.) customer-care call center at the Hidden River complex at the intersection of Fletcher Avenue and I-75 in northeast Tampa in late 2001. At capacity, the call center will house 1,000 workers by 2003. The deal represents the largest single private job-creation initiative in Tampa in nearly two years.
        "Even though it will likely never dispense a single tablet, this center will be licensed as a full-fledged pharmacy because it dispenses something every bit as valuable -- one-to-one patient care for the millions of Americans who depend on Merck-Medco for convenient, safe, high-quality prescription drug care," said Greg Hansen, vice president of customer services for Merck-Medco. "Given the strategic importance of this center, we could think of no better place than Tampa, where we have been a growing part of the business community since 1987."
        The building, which is being leased from SBC Telecom, was originally built in 1992 as the world bond trading headquarters of Salomon Smith Barney.
        "The complexity of our business requires access to a high-quality work force," added Hansen. "Tampa has continuously provided us with exceptional people to service our clients and their members at a level of excellence unsurpassed in the industry."
        In the 13-county area of Central Florida known as Florida's High-Tech Corridor, more than 10,000 jobs have been created by biomedical companies and medical device manufacturers. High-Tech Corridor medical manufacturers generate more than $1.3 billion in revenues a year.
        About three-fourths of all med-tech companies in the High-Tech Corridor are based in either Hillsborough or Pinellas counties. A study conducted by the University of South Florida showed that Tampa Bay ranks first in Florida in production and acquisition of medical patents. And the region's med-tech cluster ranks among the nation's top five.

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