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Pittsburgh Post-Gazette TechTalk Column

Posted on: Tuesday, 16 August 2005, 12:00 CDT

Aug. 13--GROWING VIVISIMO SCOURING REGION FOR WORKERS: Rapid customer growth has Squirrel Hill-based Vivisimo CEO Raul Valdes-Perez saying he's spending 80 percent of his time these days scouring the region for technical and marketing talent.

While he's not averse to searching nationally, Valdes-Perez feels strongly about giving local talent a first shot at these opportunities.

"The recent round of layoffs [at other companies] have probably displaced some serious talent and we'd love to capture some it for Vivisimo."

Meanwhile, Valdes-Perez hired Joseph LeBas as vice president of sales. Prior to joining Vivisimo, LeBas was managing director of North American sales at Beaverton, Ore.-based PolyServe Inc. At last count, when it moved into larger quarters in June, Vivisimo employed 25.

SABEUS SENSOR SYSTEMS, a Calabasas Calif.-based maker of specialized fiber optic equipment, opened a 15,000-square-foot manufacturing and research and development facility in Freeport, Armstrong County, yesterday. The company has 15 employees and expects to double its work force in 2006.

ON MONDAY, the Tobacco Settlement Investment Board will meet and possibly vote on who will receive the remaining $10 million in funds allotted for investment in Western Pennsylvania-based life science firms.

The remaining contenders are Commerce Health Ventures, the collaboration between the Pittsburgh Life Sciences Greenhouse, led by Doros Platika, and King of Prussia-based private equity firm NewSpring Capital, and Downtown-based iNetworks LLC, the firm helmed by Tony Lacenere and Charlie Schliebs. Insiders are refusing to hint which way the board's votes could go.

SPEAKING OF the Life Sciences Greenhouse and Chief Executive Officer Doros Platika, the coming months are critical for the bio-focused tech generator as it nears its fifth anniversary and must secure additional funding to stay alive beyond the 2006 fiscal year.

As Platika reportedly continues to fine-tune and shop around his "Evergreen" business plan -- meant to lure big name biotech and life science companies to the region in hopes that they will spin off promising new ventures -- it's critical, say insiders, that regional stakeholders see some successes.

IT'S THE DOG DAYS of summer, but everyone is doing deals. Expect several deals to come down the pike in the coming weeks. It's out with the old and in with the new -- a local high-tech star will be sold and an unnamed computer firm will be choosing whether to locate in Fayette County or the Boston area.

Got tech buzz? Contact high tech reporter Corilyn Shropshire at cshropshire@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1413.

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Source: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

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