PRESS RELEASE: RTPARK APPROVES 10 COMPANIES TO DATE FOR FY2020 DESPITE COVID CHALLENGES


Published Tuesday, August 25, 2020

St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands August 25, 2020 - The Research and Technology Park (RTPark) announced the steady attraction and activation of new technology companies in the midst of COVID-19 pandemic with a total of 10 new firms reviewed and approved by its Board of Directors over the course of Fiscal Year 2020 thus far. Nine of the ten activated companies have been approved since March when the territory began their public response to the novel coronavirus disease.  RTPark Executive Director & CEO Peter H. Chapman said that the organization’s team has been very aggressive in their business attraction efforts prior to and during the pandemic which has translated into the RTPark hitting key performance indicators and goals.

“We’ve built a business attraction pipeline of more than fifty prospective new client companies from across all of our target sectors and have made particular progress in advancing discussions with sustainable development companies, especially those specializing in agriculture and solar technology,” said Chapman during the RTPark’s recent annual update to the Legislature Committee of Finance on August 6th.  “As a result, we are on track to activate 14 firms as traditional new client companies this year, which would be a slight improvement over the previous year when we activated 13 traditional new client companies.

Brief Company Profiles
 
Seagrape, LLC is a financial technology-focused consultancy, independent software vendor, and proprietary investment firm.

Lifestyle Crashers, LLC is an internet wellness coaching company using an interactive website combining weight loss products and strategies, with the focus being to provide its clients with education, motivation, coaching and awareness related to weight loss and overall health improvement.

Armstrong Media and Technology, LCC  provides technology and media expertise and support to their clients.  Services include consulting in advertising endeavors, media purchases, social media activity and technology. They also host and produce radio shows and other media events.

Cresson Management VI, LLC provides proprietary, technology-driven project management and value-added services to a suite of technology portfolio companies.

Cascade Strategies, LLC is a technology business services and consulting company, which facilitates management of services in the areas of government partnerships, marketing, sales, advertising, firm management in all aspects of development and investment, and effects of government policy on business growth and to provide ongoing expertise to provide solutions for its customers.

Verimode, LLC is an innovative “software as a service” (“SaaS”) company building a next-generation logistics management platform targeted towards the healthcare and government transit markets.

Reach Right Digital Marketing, LLC utilizes and implements direct response advertising to put professional fundraisers in touch with large numbers of potential donors who are likely to be receptive to their respective messages.

TPS Management Services, LLC provides outsourced management services across the TPS Family of Staffing Companies, performing a variety of functions including information technology, sales and marketing through the optimization of cloud-based software to provide a customer relationship management solution, and financial consulting and support.

McEwen, LLC is a medical informatic tech operation, which helps the victims of certain types of medical injuries better access medical records in their legal cases.

Castaway Group, LLC is a consulting and trading company which provides online international brokerage services as well as buying and selling commodities, products and services around the world.

RTPark Board Chairman, Edward Thomas, said that these companies are an important contribution to building resiliency within the Territory’s economy.

“The RTPark’s mission of diversifying our economy is so important now more than ever. As we continue to recover from the 2017 hurricanes, and now the impacts of this pandemic, we welcome these companies to our community to help build a sustainable economy in the years to come,” Thomas said. “The success of this year’s business attraction efforts is proof that the U.S. Virgin Islands have something great to offer the tech community, even during these difficult times.”

About the RTPark: The RTPark is an innovative economic development organization established in 2002, but which became fully operational in 2006, to help diversify and expand the economy of the USVI through efforts to promote the attraction, retention and growth of technology, knowledge-based and sustainable agriculture-related firms within the Territory. The RTPark also works to broaden the capabilities of the University of the Virgin Islands (UVI) by providing the university with financial support and training opportunities for UVI students.

For media and partnership inquiries or interview requests, please contact RTPark Business Intelligence & Marketing Manager Sydney Paul at Sydney.Paul@uvirtpark.net.