This year, over 500 Florida-based companies were nominated to receive the prestigious “Florida Company to Watch Award”. Few companies were selected as winners, including GloFX. This award serves to honor businesses and entrepreneurs whose leadership and ambition has impacted the growth of Florida’s economy. The combined impact of the winners of this award equates to the creation of 1,200 new jobs, and over $1,000,000,000.00 (yes, billion) in revenue. It is an honor for GloFX to be able to shine such a positive light on the EDM community around the world.
Amongst those who gathered at the award ceremony at Hard Rock in Orlando, FL were entrepreneurs accepting the award on behalf of their successful companies.
Each of these companies’ reputations is backed up by their impressive approval ratings, and has earned them outstanding merit by their peers. GloFX is privileged to be able to share this distinction.
The following statistics provided by GrowFL is a testament to these companies’ prosperity:
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From 2012 through 2015, these companies generated more than $1.1 billion in revenue.
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Added nearly 1,200 employees into the local Florida job pool.
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Reflected a 119 percent increase in revenue and 122 percent increase in jobs for the four-year period.
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A 30 percent annual growth in both revenue and employees.
Who Are the Companies to Watch?
Making a list of 50 companies from a selection pool of over 500 is a challenging task. Choosing the winners requires a knack for identifying special qualities and innovations possessed by the nominees. This claim is expressed by a statement made by Dr. Tom O’Neal, executive director of the Florida Economic Gardening Institute and Associate Vice President for the University of Central Florida’s Office of Research and Communication:
“These stand-out companies are all led by entrepreneurs, and have demonstrated their capacity and intent to grow.” – Dr. Tom O’Neal
Nothing can support this testimony more than some of our most notable achievements:
Within the company:
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Sales growth of over 1,000% in 4 years.
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In the past year, GloFX doubled in staff size.
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Exceeded more than 2,000 resellers in 30 different countries.
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Maintains a comprehensive in-house staff and controls all product manufacturing, fulfillment, marketing, sales, customer service, PR, and more.
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Forged partnerships with over a dozen Fortune 500 Companies, including some of the largest festival organizations in the world.
Within the industry:
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GloFX innovated the highest quality and largest selection of dimensional eyewear in existence. This includes the development of over 500 new eyewear models, some covered under US Patents.
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Sold over 1,000,000 pairs of GloFX Glasses.
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In 2016, GloFX produced and launched a custom line of LED products, the Lux Series. Its design was built upon a foundation of integrity, and has raised the bar for microlight technology.
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GloFX was featured as an Amazon Exclusive Seller and broke a company sales record for a single 24-hour period on Amazon’s “Prime Day” in 2016. The Black Kaleidoscope Rainbow Glasses are the best-selling dimensional eyewear product of 2016.
Within the community:
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Every year, GloFX provides prospective students with an annual College Scholarship for audio engineering.
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GloFX developed a recognized internship program at the Florida State University.
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GloFX offers an abundance of local jobs.
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GloFX has worked with a variety of non-profits including the Habitat for Humanity, Colon Cancer Foundation, and others.
A Word from the Governor
The impact made by these companies stretches nationwide and even globally. Of the fifty companies featured by the award, only one makes Tallahassee its home, GloFX. GloFX brought honorable mention to Tallahassee by being one of the GrowFL winners, and the Capital City has shown its gratitude. Governor Rick Scott formally thanked GloFX for its contributions to the local and state economy, which are emphasized in the following statement:
“Since December 2010, more than one million private-sector jobs have been created. Our unemployment rate is the lowest rate since November 2007, and Florida’s annual job-growth rate has outpaced the nation’s for 54 consecutive months.” – Rick Scott, Governor of the State of Florida
Decline in Unemployment in Florida 
Governor Scott’s words convey an optimistic message to middle-class citizens of Florida. The state’s diminishing unemployment rate has made The Sunshine State a beacon of hope for job-seeking individuals and their families. As Florida’s presence on the economic map continues to grow, more people will be enticed to come to Florida seeking work. GloFX is proud to play an influential role in propelling job growth along with the other companies that helped catalyze this.
This award reveals power in second-stage companies. Though we comprise a small portion of the total quantity of Florida-based companies, our contributions to the economy are much more significant. This is represented in the following statistic featured on the GrowFL website:
“Second-stage companies represent about 6 percent of the Florida headquartered companies, but generate 30 percent of the jobs“ – YourEconomy.org
The growing popularity of e-commerce businesses indicates a rising market influence in our domain. Justifiably, the value of having an educational background in marketing will increase as a result of this upward trend. GloFX aims to cultivate this by creating opportunities for individuals to achieve success in the business world.
Our internship program has provided students with the knowledge and experience needed in order to prosper in the business world. In addition, our continuing expansion will sprout new employment opportunities in Leon County.
Over the years, GloFX has seen tremendous growth internally and externally. Our family has continued to grow in response to the increasing popularity of our brand within EDM culture. The immense support from the community has been overwhelming to say the least, and we are always humbled by the large number of people endorsing our company.
We’d like to recognize a few sources to which our success can be attributed:
1. The leadership of our CEO, Dan Watkins, has navigated this company through countless treks, taking no shortcuts along the way. He manages an expanding crew with professionalism and shows the utmost respect towards the staff. His guidance and positive attitude is what makes GloFX a great place to work.
2. Our excellent staff consists of dedicated workers who take extreme measures to ensure every job gets done with the highest quality in mind. GloFX wouldn’t be the well-oiled machine it is without the individual gears that keep it running. The combined efforts of the entire team are what will take GloFX to new heights.
3. The GloFX Promoters Program has spawned a community of passionate individuals dedicating themselves to spreading our message and cultivating our brand across countries around the world.
The GloFX Promoter Program extends as far as Australia, and has become an international icon for Diffraction and Kaleidoscope Glasses. Our gratitude towards these individuals who have helped us cross these distances is eternal.
4. Our partnerships with other companies and individuals alike have brought massive attention to our brand. Their endorsements have greatly contributed to our success and have helped us reach more people through their influence.
5. Most importantly, our customers are the true heroes of our story. Without them, we wouldn’t have a purpose and because of that we are truly grateful for their support.
These contributions evidently show success is a result of different elements working together in order to produce a desired outcome. Because of this, our achievements belong to everyone else who was involved in making it a reality. We like to look at the bigger picture. The EDM community has shown its value to the economy. This industry is gaining respect from other industries by proving it can financially impact an area and accelerate economic growth. This is a win for all of us, and we are happy to share this accomplishment with all of you. As long as there is light in the world, we will continue to enhance people’s experiences through 2017 and beyond.
As the start of a new year approaches, so does the formation of new companies aspiring to reach the levels of success seen in the 2016 Companies to Watch. For aspiring entrepreneurs, the road is long and tough, but Mr. Watkins has some advice to help guide them on their path:
“When starting a business, you need to be laser-focused on developing the highest quality products, creating strong business systems, and you must find and train good employees to operate those systems. Stay organized and focused on those three things; that is what made my business successful. It may sound easy, but you need to work hard every day and push yourself to be the best.” – Dan Watkins, CEO
Did you know GloFX also won the 2017 Sterling Manufacturing Business Excellence Award? Click here to read the article.
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