xByte Technologies Plans to Double Footprint, Add 38 New Jobs in Manatee County

BRADENTON -- xByte Technologies, a reseller of Information Technology (IT) equipment, plans to more than double its footprint in Manatee County and add 38 new jobs in the next five years, according to Stephen Jaynes, chief operating officer and vice president of sales. The Manatee Board of County Commissioners recently approved a $76,000 performance-based incentive grant to help facilitate the company's growth.
 
"Sales are up in 2011 and we are forecasting continued growth as we add more manufacturers' product lines to our inventory," said Jaynes, who currently has 20 full-time employees. "Our current warehouse is maxed out, and we are looking now for a larger facility. As we grow, we'll be adding employees throughout the organization."
 
"xByte Technologies relocated to Manatee County in 2003, and we are encouraged to see that the company is experiencing strong forward momentum, even in a slow economy," said Eric Basinger, executive director of the Manatee Economic Development Council, which assisted the company in applying for the county grant.

"Because xByte is in the secondary market of refurbishing and reselling quality IT brands, the demand for their products from cost-conscious businesses makes sense."

The company, formerly known as The Old Store Inc., rebranded with the xByte Technologies label in August to better reflect its core business. Currently, the company specializes in Dell, HP and IBM equipment. Jaynes said the business has more than 100,000 network servers, data storage solutions and parts in inventory, all inspected and refurbished by xByte employees. The company maintains supplies of parts for several generations of the manufacturers' products, which allows customers to gain a longer life from their existing systems.
 
Jaynes said one reason for the company's uptick in sales in 2011 is a new website with an e-commerce function that he says is unique in the IT secondary market. It allows customers to customize and select computer servers, storage devices and parts. Then the program recalculates the price in real time.

"This system saves our customers a lot of time," said Jaynes, adding that employees are available to assist customers by phone or online chat, as well.

"This is a great region for us, and we are growing our sales locally, as well as nationally and internationally," Jaynes said.

The company has been challenged to find qualified technical sales staff and has reached out to the EDC and Suncoast Workforce for assistance in recruiting employees. xByte also is involved with the Suncoast Technology Forum and the Manatee Chamber of Commerce technology committee to support IT education and training in the region, Jaynes said.

"Performance-based incentives are helping Manatee County's growing businesses add jobs for local residents," said Ed Hunzeker, Manatee County administrator. Employers receive funds only if they add and retain employees at an annual average wage that is at least 15 percent higher than the county average, he said.  

Manatee County offers several incentives to businesses wishing to relocate or expand in Manatee County. A list of Manatee County's economic development incentives is available at www.mymanatee.org/econ_dev.
 
About xByte Technologies Co.:
xByte Technologies (http://www.xbyte.com) is a premier reseller of IT equipment with a history of quality service for nearly 10 years. They specialize in servers, storage, and parts for Dell, HP, and IBM. With over 100,000 parts and servers in stock, they can have orders delivered in less than 24 hours.