Ormond entrepreneur invited to White House


  • By
  • | 11:28 p.m. April 19, 2014
Ormond entrepreneur invited to White House
Ormond entrepreneur invited to White House
  • Ormond Beach Observer
  • Business
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High tech company plans growth, seeks employees.

Ormond Beach is a long way from Silicon Valley, but it’s no stranger to high-tech, computer based business.

Beachfront Media, a video technology company located in the Aliki Plaza, 400 S. Atlantic Ave., located here in 2010 from Los Angeles and is actively seeking employees in high-tech positions. They hope to double their 15-member staff this year.

Frank Sinton, CEO and founder, has become well-known in the technology field, and was one of 45 business leaders in the U.S. chosen to participate in a meeting at the White House on April 10.

Senior officials from the Obama Administration met with technology entrepreneurs to find ways to help them be more successful. Called Business Forward, themes of the conference included education, immigration reform, student loans and regulations.

“I was impressed that they wanted to hear from small business,” Sinton said. “You think only lobbyists and big companies get their ear. They were asking how they can remove barriers. It was an honor to be invited.”

Sinton and his wife, Lisa, started a company called MeFeedia in 2007 in Los Angeles, and transplanted their family to Ormond Beach in 2010. After working with the city Economic Development Department to find office space and resources, they started Beachfront Media.

Lisa is from Ormond Beach and graduated from Seabreeze High School, but there were several business reasons for moving to the area, including the number of universities turning out potential employees.

Depending on growth, Sinton said, he could have 60 employees by end of 2015. He is actively seeking workers in account management, business development, customer service, technology, software developers and ad operations.

Sinton said the large number of high-tech companies in California creates a lot of competition for graduates. Here, he has a larger pool to draw from.

“Colleges are turning out highly educated people,” he said. “It’s a great funnel of talent. Let’s keep these graduates here in Florida.”

Another reason for the move to Ormond Beach is the quality of life that is available. He said he can offer the graduates a high-tech job, with a world-wide company, in a small town near the beach.

Also making the area desirable is that it’s on the East Coast. Sinton works with advertisers and most advertising dollars “flow through New York,” he said. In fact, he plans to have a branch office in New York.

Beachfront Media helps publishers and advertisers distribute video across all mobile, tablet, desktop and TV screens. He distributes the content and figures out how to make money with subscriptions or pay-per-view.

The company has partnered with some of the largest video publishers in the world including CBS, Hulu and new media companies such as Maker Studios and Big Frame.

Sinton said accessing video on various devices is the wave of future and is replacing network television.

“My kids are 10, 8 and 4,” he said. “They never watch TV. They watch video on their I-Pads”.

Fragmentation of the audience is another trend. He said in the 1980s, a good rating for a TV show was 30-plus and now four is a good rating.

“We’re at the forefront of that change,” he said.

 

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