Southern Technology Leaders serves to connect senior professionals in technology industries and highlight the successes of technology companies with the South.
The existing city and state networking groups (e.g. Technology Association of Georgia) serve as good resources for networking with others within your city. Southern Technology Leaders bridges the gap between these groups. We offer a way to connect with others across the wider region through our community and help to bring increased investment to the industry and region.
Technology in the South
The growing technology base, skilled labor force, low cost of doing business and lucrative state and local incentives combined with a friendly living environment within southern states has helped to foster a large technology industry. Outside of Silicon Valley, several southern states have quietly been developing an ever larger technology base.
Did you know that Huntsville, AL is one of the larges aerospace and defense hubs in America, with largest campuses for Northrop Grumman, EADS, the Marshall Space Flight Center and Redstone Arsenal? Add to this the technology companies supporting Birmingham and Atlanta’s banking hubs, the expansion of the automotive industry (Honda in Talladega, Mercedes Benz in Tuscaloosa and Hyundai in Montgomery) and the large number of web start-ups.
The cities and the states in the south are not trying to ‘catch up’ to Silicon Valley, Seattle or any of the other alleged “tech centers” throughout North America. The region has its own DNA and its own style that sets it apart. This is the reason that so many people and companies choose to make this their home.
The Southern Technology Leaders Team:
- Kurt B. Uhlir (LinkedIn) – President and CEO: Kurt has lead umbrella teams within and working with numerous Fortune 500 companies and startups to define corporate strategy, drive M&A activities and develop new technologies in a variety of industries. While he has spent 10+ years working with companies on six continents, the South is home.
- Martin Swinney (LinkedIn) – Director of Content, Co-Editor: Martin has more than 20 years progressive technology leadership experience across multiple industries such as law enforcement, military, telecommunications, market research, publishing, consulting, and healthcare. During his career, he has worked on numerous global projects, primarily in Asia and Europe, and led a number of diverse technology teams. During the course of his career and travels, Martin has come to see the South as an underutilized economic engine with a well-educated workforce and reasonable labor and resource costs that has a strong business friendly government.
- Jerry Walter (LinkedIn) – Co-Editor: Jerry is a Carnegie Mellon graduate that found his way back to Atlanta and has immersed himself in the tech world of the South. Having worked in international companies to small non-profits and everything in between he finds himself enamored with how technology can not only bring new sources of revenue to an organization but can help streamline business processes.
- Barbara Call (LinkedIn) – Writer, Researcher:
Notes: The views expressed on this site and its feeds are the personal opinions of the individual authors, which do not necessarily reflect the views of any specific company
