TAMPA — Tampa data security company ReliaQuest announced Tuesday that it will create at least 150 new jobs at its new headquarters on Harbour Island this year.
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ReliaQuest CEO Brian Murphy offered tours to community leaders Tuesday afternoon of its new headquarters at the One Harbour Place office building on Harbour Island. The company moved into the new location about a month ago. It features a large room called the RQ University, where up to 80 employees can be working or training at computers with three monitor screens each. Additional television screens line a wall near the front of the room.
"It feels like it wasn’t that long ago when we made a similar announcement last year," Murphy said. "While there is a shortage and skill gap for professional workers in cyber security, there is no shortage of professionals who want to be in this industry."
The new jobs will allow the company to introduce new advanced monitoring solutions for its security operations and build a new research and development department. ReliaQuest did not receive any economic incentives related to the latest growth spurt.
Previous coverage: IT firm ReliaQuest expands Tampa headquarters, adds up to 55 jobs
This is the fourth major expansion the cyber security firm has announced since the company was created in 2007. In 2015, ReliaQuest announced it would add 55 jobs at its Tampa office. Last year, the company secured $30 million in funding from a private equity firm.
Previous coverage: Tampa data security provider ReliaQuest to receive $30 million in funding
Murphy said that the company is on par to double in size again in a year. ReliaQuest has already begun to expand its Las Vegas-based security operations office, just four months after expanding there. Murphy said he anticipates the company to outgrow its new office space on Harbour Island before its lease expires.
"Look at the talent that’s in this room," Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn said to ReliaQuest employees and others that gathered for the announcement. "We used to be a donor city where young people would leave to find jobs in Austin or Raleigh or Boston. But now we’re a city that’s growing every day and becoming that place in America that we always thought we could be."
Tampa Bay Lightning owner Jeff Vinik, who also attended to give his support, said he hopes that ReliaQuest’s success will help recruit more technology-related companies that employ millennials to Tampa Bay. His real estate venture, Strategic Property Partners, hopes to lure a major corporate relocation to downtown Tampa as part of a $3 billion redevelopment of the urban core. SPP hasn’t announced an office tenant yet.
"Tech is alive and well in the Tampa Bay area, and we’re doing what we can to help jump start the tech ecosystem here," Vinik said. "It’s companies like ReliaQuest that are bringing high-paying jobs to Tampa."
Founded in 2007, ReliaQuest sells technology and services that protect Fortune 200 to regional-sized clients in the health care, retail, utilities, telecom and financial services fields from data breaches.
Contact Justine Griffin at jgriffin@tampabay.com or (727) 893-8467. Follow @SunBizGriffin.
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